"This study is a response to the challenge of Development Communication (DevCom) scholar Felix Librero to analyse the status and trends in UP Los Baños DevCom research that may help in reinvigorating the research thrust of the college attuned to the needs of time. As a rejoinder to previous efforts ... of DevCom scholars Gomez and Librero, the authors looked into 35 graduate research studies: 19 Masteral theses and 16 Doctoral dissertations that were produced from 2008 to 2015. The papers were evaluated according to a) Communication Tradition b) DevCom Thread c) Theories used, and d) Research Method employed. The review also revealed that DevCom research is primarily inclined to the Cybernetic tradition, still predominantly influenced by the modernisation paradigm, as demonstrated by the heavy use of linear, one-way communication models and theories such as diffusion of innovations, two-step flow, or extension approaches. This is more evident in the classification of Devcom research into the typologies of Colle and Quebral. Majority of the researches can be classified in the extension thread, although there is a growing interest in community participation theme. On the other hand, following Quebral’s typologies, most of the MS researches are people research, while PhD dissertations are varied and cut across people research, normative and policy researches. The quantitative method, which has been a preferred approach since 1985 when Gomez declared it dominant in DevCom research and even until 2012 in Librero’s review of researches from 2001 to 2010, remained popular among more than half of the researchers while the rest ventured into qualitative, except for a few who tried mixed methods." (Abstract) more

"Nora Cruz Quebral's passing on 24 October 2020 came at the heels of a mild frenzy when a Philippine senator said that the discipline attributed to her is “cute and archaic" (Nakpil, 2020 para. 1). This prompted various higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly the University of the Phili ... ppines Los Baños (UPLB) College of Development Communication (CDC), to issue statements that it is alive, thriving, and relevant (Magsambol, 2020). The UPLB CDC statement stressed that development communication (devcom) remains important for three reasons: “First, devcom has a long and established history, which is recognized by thought leaders around the world. Second, devcom is a vibrant academic program being offered by numerous local and international academic institutions. And third, driving positive social change through communication has always been at the heart of devcom. For as long as there are social issues to be addressed, devcom will remain ever relevant" (UPLB Devcom, 2020, para. 2). Quebral, or simply NCQ to her colleagues and students, is recognized for founding the discipline of devcom. In 1971, she delivered the paper “Development Communication in the Agricultural Context" (Quebral, 2006) to honor the outgoing dean of the UPLB College of Agriculture, Dioscoro L. Umali. She coined development communication to mean “the art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and the mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth that makes possible greater social equality and the larger fulfilment of the human potential" (Quebral, 2006, page 101). At this time Quebral was chair of the UPLB Department of Agricultural Communication. In 1973, the department was renamed Department of Development Communication and the degree Bachelor of Science in Development Communication was approved to be offered." more