Improving Tertiary Students’ Academic Performance and Appreciation of the Life and Works of Jose Rizal Course through Digital-based Biographical Museum Simulation

The life and works of the Philippines’ national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal is one of the mandatory social science courses that college students must be enrolled in adhering to the Republic Act 1425. However, some students take the mandated course for granted due to the traditional method of learning delivery and less appreciation of the history-related subjects. As such, the integration of digital learning into pedagogy is suggested. In this regard, the study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the digital-based biographical museum simulation on the student’s academic performance using the quasi-experimental research design. A qualitative research design was also employed to determine the effects of proposed innovative learning tool to the students’ appreciation of the Rizal course. The participants were fifty (50) college students who underwent a match-pairing process. Eight simulated stories revealing the life journey of Rizal from his childhood up to the printing of his novel “Noli Me Tangere” were created. Content presentation was guided by GAT RISAL appreciative-based instructional planning framework. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between the formative test mean scores of the experimental and comparison groups. There were also significant differences between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of both groups. Moreover, the results revealed that there was an improvement in the students’ appreciation of the Rizal course because of the following reasons: presents multisensory learning, enhances independent acquisition of knowledge, anchors authentic assessment, increases learning engagement, and discusses the Rizal’s life in a clear, enjoyable, and interactive manner.