A PHENOMENOLOGICAL INQUIRY OF DIGITAL RESEARCH ADVISING

Remedios Cabaral Bacus; Michelle Mae Olvido; Laurence Garcia

doi:10.32890/10.32890/mjli2026.23.1.4

Authors

Remedios Cabaral Bacus Cebu Normal University, Faculty of the College of Teacher Education, Cebu City, Philippines
Michelle Mae Olvido Cebu Normal University, Faculty of the College of Teacher Education, Cebu City, Philippines
Laurence Garcia Cebu Normal University, Faculty of the College of Nursing, Cebu City, Philippines

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32890/10.32890/mjli2026.23.1.4

Keywords:

Digital research advising, lifeworlds, research advisers, remote advising, phenomenological inquiry

Abstract

Purpose – Digital research advising to address the emerging needs of student researchers across different levels has become popular in recent times. This phenomenological study is aimed at exploring digital research advising as it is experienced by senior research advisers.

Methodology – Using a hermeneutic phenomenological design, the participants’ lifeworlds, their lived body, lived time, lived space, lived human relations, and lived things were analyzed using Van Manen’s contemporary model. Data was collected through in-depth interviews. Categories of themes were identified after the process of linguistic transformation.

Findings – The following five themes captured the lifeworlds of the research advisers: acknowledging corporeal connections, redefining academic space, humanizing digital advising, leveraging the digital toolbox, and investing time.

Significance – This study renders value to academic institutions and active researchers who want to appreciate and understand the meaning ascribed to the nuanced experiences of senior research advisers transitioning from traditional to digital advising. It also offers a foundation of initial insights to inform future research in diverse academic settings.

Author Biography

Remedios Cabaral Bacus, Cebu Normal University, Faculty of the College of Teacher Education, Cebu City, Philippines

REMEDIOS C. BACUS, PhD is an Associate Professor IV at Cebu Normal University (CNU). She finished her Doctor of Philosophy in Education major in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of San Carlos, Doctor of Education in English Language Teaching at CNU, and Master of Education in English at the University of the Philippines-Cebu. She was a recipient of the Best Dissertation Award in 2016, CHED Graduate Education Scholarship Grant in 2016, and Cebu City Government Scholarship Grant in 2009. As an advocate of quality, she is an accreditor of the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP), an ISO Internal Quality Auditor of CNU, and a Curriculum Quality Audit Specialist.

She is also a writer, researcher, research adviser, and trainer. She co-authored books in Reading and Writing for Senior High School, Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum, and The Teacher and the School Curriculum and designed prototype syllabi for BSED-English major courses. She has published her researches in internationally refereed and indexed journals and has been a resource speaker in many seminars and workshops in various Teacher Education Institutions and the Department of Education.

Currently, she is designated as Lead Mentor and Program Chair of the College of Teacher Education-Graduate Studies, where she also handles English Language Teaching courses along with Professional Education courses in the undergraduate studies.