Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Week 1 NBA, SAR and OBE (Keywords: NBA, SAR. Good Engineer, Education, Teaching,
Learning, Instruction, Assessment, OBE and Accreditation)
Need
The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) requires, since 2015, all engineering programs attain
the Program Outcomes, and demonstrate that they are continuously improving their
performance.
Most Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) offering UG and PG programs in engineering want their
programs to be accredited by the NBA.
Draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 requires that programs and institutions should be
accredited by 2022.
All teaching and learning activities in HEIs should be planned and conducted to facilitate the
students to attain well defined and measurable Outcomes (OBE). This is a new requirement for all
faculty members of engineering colleges.
Accreditation and Outcome Based Education (OBE) became the foci of higher education in India
since 2015.
Engineering teachers should also meet the requirements of NBA accreditation.
NATE
This course is designed to enable the teachers in engineering programs to facilitate their students
to become good engineers, and facilitate teachers understand their role in getting their program
accredited by the NBA.
The course is offered in three Modules:
At the end of this course (three modules) the learners should be able to
Module 1
CO1. Understand the requirements of accreditation of UG engineering programs by the NBA and the
nature of Outcome Based Education.
CO2. Understand the Revised Bloom Taxonomy of learning, and the three domains (Cognitive,
Affective and Psychomotor) of learning.
CO3. Write outcomes of a course in an engineering program, and identify the Program Outcomes and
Program Specific Outcomes addressed.
Module 2
CO4. Design a course in an engineering program in the Instructional System Design framework
of ADDIE.
CO5. Design assessment that is in good alignment with course outcomes.
Module 3
CO6. Design instruction for attaining the course outcomes ensuring good alignment between course
outcomes, assessment and instruction.
CO7. Understand the NBA accreditation criteria.
Engineers architect/plan, design, develop, manufacture, test, install, operate, and maintain
technological products and systems.
Engineers provide services using technological products.
Groups of engineers and non-engineers solve socially relevant complex technical problems.
Engineers are required to operate and behave as per well-defined professional and ethical
standards.
Good Engineer
Knowledge
Skills
Attitudes
That facilitate the graduates of 12th Standard to acquire the characteristics of a good engineer
MIU2
Understood the nature and outcomes of the course NATE. Teachers of engineering colleges need
to understand the requirements of NBA accreditation and the role they need to play. Teachers are
required to conduct teaching-learning activities from the perspective of outcome based
education.
M1U2 Outcome
Understand the nature of NBA Accreditation process, and the conditions under which
accreditation is awarded to an engineering program.
Are offered as per the regulations of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Are offered by Tier 1 (Academically Autonomous) and Tier 2 (Academically Non-autonomous)
Institutions.
At present more than 90% of engineering colleges are academically non-autonomous, i.e., Tier 2
institutions.
Washington Accord
Accreditation
Purpose of Accreditation is
Not to find faults with the institution but to assess the status-ante of the performance
Not to denigrate the working style of the institution and its programs but to provide feedback on
Benefits of Accreditation
An outcome of an education is what the student should be able to do at the end of a program/
course/ instructional unit.
Outcome-based education is an approach to education in which decisions about the curriculum
are driven by the exit learning outcomes that the students should demonstrate at the end of the
program/ course.
Outcomes provide the basis for an effective interaction among stakeholders.
Levels of Outcomes
Program Educational Objectives: PEOs are broad statements that describe the career and
professional accomplishments in four to five years after graduation that the program is preparing
graduates to achieve.
Program Outcomes: POs are statements that describe what the students graduating from
engineering programs should be able to do at the time of graduation.
Program Specific Outcomes: PSOs are statements that describe what the graduates of a
specific engineering program should be able to do at the time of graduation.
Course Outcomes: COs are statements that describe what students should be able to do at the
end of a course
SAR is compilation of such data and information pertaining to a given program for its assessment
(identifying strengths and weaknesses) vis-à-vis accomplishment of NBA defined POs and PSOs
by the program.
SAR has two parts
Part -I seeks Institutional /Departmental information
Part –II seeks information on ten criteria and Program Educational Objectives, Program (Specific)
Outcomes, Programme Curriculum, Students’ Performance, Faculty Contributions, Facilities and
Technical Support, Academic Support Units and Teaching-Learning Process, Governance,
Institutional Support and Financial Resources, Continuous Improvement in Attainment of
Outcomes
NBA reconfirms or differs from the assessment of the institution, using a mechanism of peer
review, in its evaluation report.
7. Continuous Improvement 75 50
o Academic Processes
o Information on the status of the Institute
Criteria 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8 are related to Vision and Missions of Institute and Department, design of
curriculum, teaching-learning activities, attainment of outcomes and processes for continuous
improvement.
Criteria 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 are related to data on student performance, faculty, facilities, student
support systems and governance and management
Information regarding all the criteria is to be presented for two graduated batches
The Unit M1U3 presents what outcome based education is in the context of undergraduate
engineering programs.
Understood the nature of NBA Accreditation process, and the conditions under which
accreditation is awarded to an Engineering Program
M1U3 Outcomes
Policy makers and stakeholders in several countries have been emphasising since 1970s on the
need to develop instruments to obtain comparable information on what students actually learn
across schools and HEIs.
The term Outcome Based Education was first presenteby William Spady in 1994 through his book
“Outcome–Based Education: Critical Issues and Answers”, American Association of School
Administrators.
ABET, in 1997, adopted Engineering Criteria 2000 (EC2000) which shifted the focus away from
the inputs (what material is taught) to the outcomes (what students learned).
William G. Spady
Outcomes of Learning
What is an Outcome?
An outcome is what the learner will be able to do/perform as a result of some learning experience
In the context of formal education:
An outcome is what the student should be able to do at the end of a program/ course/
instructional unit
Outcomes provide the basis for an effective interaction among stakeholders
Outcome Based Education is an approach to education in which decisions about the curriculum,
instruction and assessment are driven by the exit learning outcomes that the students should
demonstrate at the end of a program or a course.
In outcome-based education, “product defines process”.
It is the opposite of input-based education where the emphasis is on the teaching and the system
is happy to accept whatever is the result.
Advantages of OBE
Clarity: An explicit statement, of what the educational process aims to achieve, clarifies the
curriculum for both students and teachers, and provides a focus for teaching and learning.
Provision of a Framework: Outcome-based education provides a robust framework for integration
of the curriculum.
Guide for Assessment: The outcomes provide the framework for student examinations.
Facilitates Curriculum Evaluation: The outcomes provide benchmarks against which the
curriculum can be judged.
They are clear about what they should be able to do at the end of a course
Assessment is in alignment with what they are expected to do
Instructional activities are designed and conducted to facilitate them to acquire what they are
expected to achieve
Levels of Outcomes
PEOs are broad statements that describe the career and professional accomplishments in four to
five years after graduation that the program is preparing graduates to achieve.
POs are statements that describe what the knowledge, skills and attitudes students should be
able to demonstrate at the time of graduation from an engineering program.
POs (12 in number) are identified by NBA and are applicable to all UG engineering programs.
They address both disciplinary and professional competencies.
Sample NBA PO
PO3. Design/Development of Solutions: Design solutions for complex engineering problems and
design system components or processes that meet the specified needs with appropriate
consideration for the public health and safety, and the cultural, societal and environmental
considerations.
COs are what students are required to demonstrate at the end of a course.
COs should be observable and measurable.
A course outcome addresses a subset of POs and PSOs.
Sample
Understand the Divide and Conquer strategy for designing algorithms including Merge sort and Quick
sort.
Exercise
Give two examples of outcomes of the undergraduate program in which you are participating,
paying attention to all the features of an outcome.
Give two examples of outcomes of an undergraduate course offered by you paying attention to
all the features of an outcome.
We thank you for sharing the results of the exercise at nate.iiscta@gmail.com
M1U4
Understood the origins of Outcome Based Education and the most important features of an
outcome statement.
M1U4 Outcome
SAR Criteria
7. Continuous Improvement 75 50
10 criteria and a total of 1000 marks for both Tier I and Tier II institutes.
However, marks for individual criteria differ.
Even when the marks for a particular criterion are same, the sub-criteria and associated marks
may vary from Tier I institute to Tier II institute.
Example:
Criterion 5: Faculty Information and Contributions
200 marks for both Tier I and Tier II institutes.
However, there are 10 sub-criteria for Tier I institute while there are 9 sub-criteria for Tier II
institute!
Depending on whether the institute is Tier I or Tier II, the preparation of SAR and the focus areas
change.
NBA recognizes the critical role of teachers in facilitating the learning by students.
Maximum weightage is given to the Criterion 5 : “Faculty Information and Contributions” - 200
out of the total of 1000 marks
It considers several factors including Student-Faculty Ratio, Faculty Cadre Proportion, Faculty
Qualification, Faculty Retention, Innovation by the Faculty in Teaching and Learning,
Participation in Faculty Development Programs, Research and Development, Faculty
Performance Appraisal and Development System, and Visiting Faculty.
While faculty operate under several constraints, what they do can and does make a great
difference to the students.
There are several academic activities to choose from depending on one’s interest.
Students
Governance
Several criteria in SAR are based on defined formulae that use the quantitative data provided by
the department in the SAR to compute the marks to be awarded.
Example: 5.3 Faculty Qualification – 25 Marks (Tier II Institutes)
FQ =2.5 x [(10X +4Y)/F)] where
X is no. of regular faculty with Ph.D.
Y is no. of regular faculty with M.Tech.
F is no. of regular faculty required to comply with Student faculty ratio of 20:1.
The values of FQ are calculated for three consecutive academic years and the average is the score
awarded under this criterion.
The department itself can calculate this value unambiguously.
Academic Processes
There are several elements of SAR that need to be addressed following well defined processes.
Some of these elements are Vision and Mission, PEOs, and PSOs.
Criteria 1, 2, and 3 have several such academic processes.
With each such process, we need a Process Document as well as an Implementation Record as
evidence of proper implementation of the process.
Process document will identify the members of the committee that takes decisions, how
frequently it needs to meet, the details of the process steps to be followed.
The minutes of the meetings of committee needs to formally recorded and should be made
available as evidence that the process is being implemented properly.
Marks awarded will depend upon the Visiting Committee’s qualitative evaluation of the
appropriateness of the process and its implementation.
We plan the activity; do it; measure the performance (CHECK); and finally based on what was
planned and what was achieved, initiate appropriate action commencing the next round of the
quality cycle.
ACTION:
If the attainment lags behind the planned target, we need to further analyze the reasons for the
same and plan suitable corrective actions for the next round.
If the achievement exceeds the planned target, we need to “raise the bar”! Further, we need to
examine:
If the targets set were too easy; if so, we need to raise the bar in a realistic fashion
If the targets set were reasonable, then we need to set new targets suitably and plan for
achieving the new target level.
This concept of Quality Loop operates at all levels of attainment of outcomes. We will discuss this
elaborately in Module 3.
At Course Level:
Target levels of attainment of Course Outcomes (COs) are set; Course is delivered; actual
attainment of COs is determined; AND
the loop is closed either by increasing the target level for the next offering of the course or
by planning suitable improvements in the teaching /learning process to increase the actual
attainment to reach the target
POs and PSOs are achieved through formal courses and other co-curricular and extra-curricular
activities
Target levels of attainment of POs and PSOs are set; Program is delivered; actual attainment of
POs and PSOs is determined; AND the loop is closed either
o by increasing the target level for the next cycle of the program or
o by planning suitable improvements in all the relevant activities to increase the actual
attainment
Criteria 7 and 8 ask for such specific plans for improving the attainments of POs and PSOs.
“Closing the loop” can be carried out (but at present need not be), in a similar manner, at the
level of PEOs also!
This concept applies even at higher levels of Mission and Vision though the time frames involved
are usually much larger!
M1U5
Understood the nature of Self Appraisal Report and the centrality of closing the quality loop at all
levels of outcomes.
M1U5: Outcomes
M1U5-1: Reinterpret the familiar words “education”, “learning”, “assessment”, “teaching”, and
“instruction”.
M1U5-2: Understand the centrality of assessment in facilitating good learning.
Education
Education, in its broad sense, refers to any act or experience that has formative effect on the
mind, character or physical ability of an individual. Education in this sense never ends; we truly
learn from experiences through our lives.
Education, in its technical sense, is the process by which society, through schools, colleges,
universities and other institutions, deliberately transmits its cultural heritage – its accumulated
knowledge, values and skill – from one generation to another.
Education, in our context, is concerned with intentional learning like in schools, colleges and
universities.
Philosophy of Education
Philosophy of Education
One can look at education from the view of any of following philosophies:
o Idealism
o Realism
o Pragmatism
o Existentialism
o Analysis
This is one convenient classification of philosophies
Higher Education
Formal programs
Aims of higher education cannot be and are not that universal.
Universities/Colleges offering higher education general programs will identify the aims, called
Program Outcomes.
In case of professional courses like engineering the concerned Accrediting agency will identify the
Program Outcomes with some freedom to add some more given to the Department offering the
program.
Teaching is the process of helping others to acquire knowledge, skills and values.
Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and
intervening so that they learn particular things. (Mark K Smith).
Interventions commonly take the form of questioning, listening, giving information, explaining
some phenomenon, demonstrating a skill or process, testing understanding and capacity, and
facilitating learning activities (such as note taking, discussion, assignment writing, simulations)
Models of Teaching
Learning
Learning Theories
Three important theories of learning
Behaviorism (J. Watson)
Learning is the acquisition of a new behavior through conditioning.
Cognitivism (Jean Piaget)
Humans learn by generating knowledge and meaning through sequential development of their
cognitive abilities including recognition, recollection, analysis, reflection, application, creation,
understanding, and evaluation.
Social Constructivism (John Dewey 1933, Bruner1990, Piaget1972 and Vygotsky1978)
Considers that learning occurs within a context that itself is part of what is learned, knowing and
doing cannot be separated, and learning is a process that is extended over time.
Discovery, hands-on, experiential, collaborative, project-based, and task-based learning are
based on constructivism.
Types of Assessment
Instruction
o cognitive
o affective
o psychomotor
o spiritual
ISD model presents a process a teacher or instructional designer can use to plan and prepare for
instruction,
Different Instruction Design theories differ in the process used to apply those theories to
particular situations.
Examples of ISD models include ADDIE or its variants.
Exercise
Give your reasons why you should be concerned with philosophy of higher education.
Which one of the learning theories you can relate to more in your experiences and why?
Why do we need to be concerned with assessment in engineering education and how?
M1U6