Outcome–based Education (OBE)

Assalamulakum...

Today the issue is little bit interesting. Do you know OBE? OBE is a method of curriculum design and teaching that focuses on what students can actually do after they are taught.In recent years greater attention is being paid to evaluate the outcomes of education to account for the returns of investments made in education (particularly public education). These increasing calls for accountability were a major reason for the rapid spread of various forms of outcome-based education in countries such as USA, UK and Australia during 1980 and 1990s. Likewise in Singapore, the recent development in the educational reforms towards knowledge economy and higher order economic efficiency call for quality and accountability in education. OBE addresses the key questions as:

-What do you want the students to learn?
-Why do you want them to learn it?
-How can you best help students learn it?
-How will you know what they have learnt?

Thus, the OBE’s instructional planning process is a reverse of that associated with traditional educational planning. The desired outcome is selected first and the curriculum, instructional materials and assessments are created to support the intended outcome (Spady 1988; 1993). All curriculum and teaching decisions are made based on how best to facilitate the desired final outcome.

Why OBE? OBE is able to measure—‘what the students are capable of doing’—something which the traditional education system often fails to do. For example, assessment methods in a conventional education system often grade students based on their ability to choose a correct answer from a group of four or five possible answers. Such practices do not allow students to demonstrate what they have learnt. Then, OBE goes beyond ‘structured tasks’ (e.g. memorisation) by demanding that students demonstrate his/her skills through more challenging tasks like writing project proposals and completing the projects, analyzing case studies and giving case presentations etc. Such exercises require students to practice and demonstrate their ability to think, question, research, make decisions and give presentations. Thus, OBE involves students in a complete course of learning—from developing their skills in designing to completing a whole process (Spady, 1994a, 1995). OBE also identifies higher levels of thinking (e.g. creativity, ability to analyze and synthesize information, ability to plan and organize tasks). Such skills are emphasized especially when students are assigned to organize and work as a community or entrepreneurial service teams to propose solutions to problems and market their solutions.

So, OBE promises high level of learning for ALL students as it facilitates the achievement of the outcomes, characterized by its appropriateness to each learner’s development level and active and experienced-based learning. Moreover, knowing that this system is going to be used would also give students the freedom to study the content of the course in a way that helps them learn it. OBE must involve administrators, educators, parents, teachers and students for successful implementation.

p/s..before and after...