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The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) approach in enhancing the problem solving skills in Chemistry of Grade 9 students in a public high school in the Philippines. The level of problem solving skills of the students in the non-PBL and PBL group before and after their exposure to non-PBL and PBL approaches was determined respectively. The comparison of their levels before and after the intervention was done to determine the effectiveness of the non-PBL and PBL approaches. Then comparison of the effectiveness of non-PBL and PBL approach was assessed. Using the descriptive-comparative and pretest-posttest experimental design in processing the data from 96 students, the following revelations were obtained: (1) the level of problem solving skills before and after their exposure to non-PBL approach is generally very low; (2) the level of problem solving skills was initially very low but was comparatively increased to low after exposure to PBL; (3) there was a significant difference in the level of problem solving skills of the students in the PBL group; (4) between these two approaches in this study, the PBL approach of teaching the chemistry concepts to Grade 9 students was proven more effective than the non-PBL approach.

Fungal endophytes reside within tissues or between cells of living plants. These fungal endophytes protect their hosts through the production of secondary metabolites that can deter pathogens and herbivores. The continuous search for new drugs brought about by the reemergence of infectious diseases and the rise of antimicrobial resistance and cancer cases has led natural product researchers to tap these fungal endophytes as potential sources of biologically active compounds. This is best exemplified by the discovery of the anticancer drug, taxol, from fungal endophytes associated with the Pacific yew Taxus. In this paper, we highlighted studies that documented the diversity and biological activities of fungal endophytes associated with terrestrial plants, mangroves, macroalgae, and seagrasses collected from Indonesia, the Philippines, and other countries. It is estimated that Indonesia is home to 10% of the world’s known plant species, while the Philippines has 5% of the world’s flora and about 820 species of macroalgae. These represent vast hosts for the isolation of many potentially novel fungal endophytes. This chapter therefore serves as a springboard for further exploration of plant- and seaweed-associated fungi in the Southeast Asian region for drug discovery programs.

Two new benzopyranones, diaportheone A (1) and B (2), were obtained via bioassay-guided isolation of the secondary metabolites from the endophytic fungus Diaporthe sp. P133 isolated from Pandanus amaryllifolius leaves. Their structures were determined from spectral analysis including mass spectrometry, 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance. Both 1 and 2 inhibited the growth of the virulent strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 100.9 and 3.5 μM, respectively.