IMPACT OF OUTCOME BASED LEARNING ON TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

Dr. Sunita Wadikar, Principal – Pillai College of Education & Research, Chembur

[email protected] „If a child can‟t learn the way we teach, may be we should teach the way they learn‟.

- Ignacio Estrada In most educational institutions today, the focus is mainly on graduating students with academic capabilities only. No doubt that we want all the students to develop competence in basic knowledge and skills since these form the foundation for further learning. Further, in this competitive world , we also want our students to develop more sophisticated skills and higher levels of knowledge to compete as global citizens. But the question is whether we are successful in doing so. Organisations today expect teachers to be able to identify learning objectives on the basis of curriculum and accurate assessment information about individual students. Contrary to this the futuristic approach would be a total departure by aligning learning and assessment to the learning outcomes.

Outcome Based Education emerged from the objective movement of the 1950‘s. Spady was a leading disciple and defined it as, ‗Outcome based education‘ means organizing for results: basing what we want to achieve‘ ( Spady,1988)

Since the last four decades, a lot of educationists have worked towards this movement. Very often the terms OBE is used synonymously with competence-based education, criterion- referenced learning, mastery learning and authentic assessment. However, there are

There are significant differences between the ‗instructional objectives‘ debate of the 1960s and 70s and the emphasis on ‗learning outcomes‘ today.

Characteristics of „Outcome Based Learning‟:-

Clearly defined learning outcomes

Design of the Curriculum, learning strategies and learning opportunities tailored to ensure the achievement of the learning outcomes

An assessment process matched to the learning outcomes at individual level Provision for appropriate remediation.

As against the conventional methodologies implemented very often in classroom teaching, the Outcome-based education (OBE) is an educational theory that has its basis revolving around goals (outcomes).

How is OBE different from the traditional system of education?

In a traditional system, content and performance expectations are based primarily on what was taught in the past to students in a given span of time. Also students were given grades and rankings compared to each other. The main goal of the education was to disseminate the knowledge and skills which were pre-determined. The process paid little attention to whether or not students learnt any skill or material.

Whereas, in outcome based education the curriculum planners need to work in reverse direction once the outcomes have been decided. They should decide upon the knowledge and skills to be imparted to reach the outcome and then design the curriculum accordingly.

Definition of Outcome Based Education:

Outcome based education as defined by Spady (1988) as a ―way of designing, developing, delivering and documenting instruction in terms of its intended goals, knowledge and outcomes‖. Exit outcomes are a critical factor, in designing the curriculum. Spady suggests ―You develop the curriculum from the outcomes you want students to demonstrate, rather than writing objectives for the curriculum you already have.‖ Since the outcomes are well specified there is enough clarity of the delivery mode of the content and its assessment, the results therefore become more tangible and easily measurable which forms the basis of an effective assessment and accreditation process.

Definition of Learning Outcomes:

Learning outcomes are statements that describe significant and essential learning that learners have achieved, and can reliably demonstrate at the end of a course or program. In; other words, learning outcomes identify what the learner will know and be able to do by the end of a course or program.

Learning Outcome statements may be broken into three main components namely: i) having an action word which gives the performance to be demonstrated, ii) a learning statement which identifies what learning to be demonstrated in the performance and

Learning outcomes statements are specified for various course outlines which reflect a movement toward outcomes based learning (OBL) in the entire educational system. Through the creation of outcomes statements, and the evaluation of learner performance in relation to those statements, it is believed that a more accountable educational system will result.

As an Outcomes-based education is thought to provide greater consistency in course offerings across the educational system and accountability as expectations for learning are clearly stated, the frequent assessment processes help the student as well as the teacher identify progress toward attaining the outcomes. In fact, this clarity helps in bringing about more objectivity and precision in any assessment and accreditation process.

Learning Principles of OBE:

There are different definitions for outcome-based education. The most widely used one is the four principles suggested by Spady (1994).

An OBE curriculum means starting with a clear picture of what is important for students to be able to do, then organizing the curriculum, instruction and assessment to make sure this learning ultimately happens. The four basic principles are (Spady, 1994):

• Clarity of focus

This means that everything teachers do must be clearly focused on what they want students to know, understand and be able to do. In other words, teachers should focus on helping students to develop the knowledge, skills and personalities that will enable them to achieve the intended outcomes that have been clearly articulated.

• Designing down

It means that the curriculum design must start with a clear definition of the intended outcomes that students are to achieve by the end of the program. Once this has been done, all

instructional decisions are then made to ensure achieve this desired end result.

• High expectations

It means that teachers should establish high, challenging standards of performance in order to encourage students to engage deeply in what they are learning. Helping students to achieve high standards is linked very closely with the idea that successful learning promotes more successful learning.

Considering the individual differences and the learner diversity, teachers should provide ample opportunities for all students. Most students can achieve high standards if they are given the right opportunity.

The OBE Process:

'Constructive alignment' is the process that we usually follow when we build up an OBE syllabus. It is a term coined by Professor John Biggs in 1999, which refers to the process to create a learning environment that supports the learning activities appropriate to achieving the desired learning outcomes. The word 'constructive' refers to what the learner does to construct meaning through relevant learning activities. The 'alignment' aspect refers to what the teacher does. The key to the alignment is that the components in the teaching system, especially the teaching methods used and the assessment tasks are aligned to the learning activities assumed in the intended outcomes.

Benefits of OBE: Clarity:

The emphasis on outcomes to be accomplished gives the knowledge of what needs to be achieved at the end of the course. Curriculum planners need to work backwards once the outcomes have been decided. They should decide upon the knowledge and skills to be imparted to reach the outcome.

Flexibility:

Basically Outcome based education being a student – centered learning model the whole emphasis is on student engagement. Hence the teacher has the flexibility of teaching their students using any method and more importantly, with the clarity of the outcomes to be accomplished can structure their strategies around the student‘s needs. Co-operative and Collaborative methods involving extensive group work can be some of the methods to be implemented. Instructors are meant to be facilitators helping and guiding the students understand the material in any necessary way to facilitate students learning.

Comparison:

The predetermined learning outcomes allow institutions to assess the student‘s achievements leading to increased movement of students. OBE can be compared across different institutions. On an individual level, institutions can look at what outcomes a student has achieved to decide what level the student would be at within a new institution . On an institutional level, institutions can compare themselves, by checking to see what outcomes they have in common, find places where they may need improvement , based on the achievement of outcomes at

other institutions. A potential employer can look at records of the potential employee to determine what outcomes they have achieved. They can then determine if the potential employee has the skills necessary for the job.

Involvement:

OBE being learner centered approach, student involvement remains at the epicenter of all transactions. Students are expected to do their own learning, so that they gain a full understanding of the material thereby allowing them to feel fully responsible for their own individual learning. Infact, this approach leads to better retention of the content internalised and towards student autonomy and ensures that students will be prepared for life after school

Drawbacks of OBE:

Outcomes could be interpreted differently by different instuctors A holistic approach is lost as only specific outcomes are outlined.

At times learning could be reduced to something that is specific, measurable and observable.

Conclusion: It may be said that OBE is need based and relevant, it motivates to learn, is highly interactive and reflective in nature, and provides feedback instantly thereby leading to objective, verifiable outcomes. The Curriculum plays an important role for the all-round development because it works as the medium for the interaction between teacher and student and the fact remains that the final outcome of any transaction should be the attainment of the set goal. More importantly, what actually matters is what is learned rather than what is taught. Hence it becomes necessary to set objectives in terms of its learning outcomes. Content to be taught, the teaching methods to be adopted and the assessments to be conducted need to be aligned with the intended learning outcomes. After all the quality of teaching is ultimately judged by the quality of learning that takes place. The teacher in this futuristic approach as apposed to being the repository of knowledge, must now be a facilitator of learning.

References:

•http://liad.gbrownc.on.ca/programs/InsAdult/currlo.htm

•http://cei.ust.hk/teaching-resources/outcome-based-education/institutional-resources/obe- principles-and-process.

•Shirley Lesch, Learning outcomes, learning achieved by the end of a course or program, knowledge – skills – attitudes, George Brown College,

GIFTING A LIFE: A QUASI EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF ATTITUDES AND