Outcome Based Education breaks the stereotypes of paper, pen test.

Rather,
they assess students’ performance, knowledge and skills through many other
ways. Quiz, solving puzzles, giving an online presentation, modelling
something, taking up a multiple-choice assessment, are some of the few.
What is the definition of outcome based education?
Outcome-based education. Outcome-based education or outcomes-based education ( OBE ),
also known as standards-based education, is an educational theory that bases each part of an
educational system around goals (outcomes). By the end of the educational experience, each
student should have achieved the goal.

Why is student involvement important in outcome based education?

Student involvement in the classroom is a key part of OBE. Students are
expected to do their own learning, so that they gain a full understanding of the
material. Increased student involvement allows students to feel responsible for
their own learning, and they should learn more through this individual learning.

Outcome Based Education -

what is it all about?
A sociologist who innovated Outcome Based Education, Spady (1994) ruled out
spelling out the objectives for this student-centered approach. Rather he outlined the
following ground principles for his Outcome-Based Approach which is worth perusing.

 Student-centered - It is an approach by which the learner’s mastery over a particular

skill is demonstrated and measured.
 Clarity in focus - A learning outcome has to be made obvious to the learner even at
the outset of learning. This outcomes-based model works on bringing out the specific
outcomes from the learners.
 Design down, deliver up - It means the curriculum has to be designed with a clear
definition, outlining the expected outcomes. This will pave a way to achieve the
expanded opportunities in the student’s performance.
 Exceeding expectations - All students can deliver the highest level of performance.
The only kick start needed is to make them believe and encourage, the only way to
attain high expectation.  
 Expanded opportunities - It means giving countless chances and ways to show the
students that they have met with their objective. Not all learners learn the same
thing, the same way, and at the same time. However, extended opportunities can
 help achieve high standards.They help students to learn what is mostly needed for
the time and hour.

Outcome Based Education - in a Crux

In short, outcome-based education (OBE) formulates content around activities that
leads to specific outcomes. It directly leads to increasing the proficiency of a
particular skill, knowledge, or behavior of the student. In Spady’s (1994) words,
Outcome Based Education is
“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 need of the hour - A sudden blow up at the right moment

Outcome Based Education exactly made its way when there were ruckus going on
about decentralization within educational institutions. The time when long hours
spent in class, no. of years spent in schooling, courses opted, dollars spent with no
steady academic outcomes were questioned. It is quite shocking to read the National
Employability Report 2016 by Aspiring Minds. It reveals the sad state of affairs about
the employability of Indian graduates. Only 3.67 percent of graduates were found
employable in IT product companies and 18 percent in the non-IT services
companies.
This dwindling figure clearly indicates that the entire scope of education should be
expanded where skills be expanded beyond inputs.  In spite of gaining educational
experience, the pool of population lacked necessary skills to adapt themselves to the
changing times and employability. Thus Outcome Based Education blended in
perfectly with this new school of thought and aimed at improving students.

“Errors are no surprise” - Manual OBE - an analysis

Outcome Based Education without a speck of doubt is a rival against the
conservative idea of Teaching and Learning. It is a competency based
education  which got blown up, keeping criticisms at bay. This growth was only with
the help of progressive educators who got a good grip of it. Today OBE is a firestorm
with a great clarity of focus. It has embedded into learning to match up with the
country’s curriculum standards. Institutions are adopting and  implementing OBE  on a
massive scale. But here too lies a catch! Managing it manually leaves one to face the
following challenges.

 Data Pooling and Curriculum Management seemed a humongous task!

 It analyzed data on a single platform.
 Assessments, activities, quizzes, tests, all in one place proved to be difficult to
tracking.
 Manual calculations of attainment often lead to error.
  These leads to mistakes in the system and misjudging of outcomes through the
course or curricula.
 Outcome mapping with attainment analysis, a crucial domain of OBE consumed a
huge amount of effort.
 Inadequacy when it comes to mapping between CO and PO

It is here the need for an automated Outcome Based Education crept in. The same
education, but not manual anymore, rather automated. One of our earlier blogs
on technology based education program  is worth peeking in at this point of time.
Right from Recruitment  through Course Evaluation , Outcome Based
Education  to Faculty Management System , everything is done without flaw..

How is Learning Outcomes set in OBE?

The success-producing hub, OBE-built classroom has a clear set of learning
outcomes. It’s not all about assigning a textbook, homework, quizzes, and an
assortment of tests for every student. Rather it is something over it. It is definitely a
tedious process when done manually. An efficient OBE’s Learning outcome should
have a set of threshold values and mapping questions to calculate the outcomes
attainment. They should encourage students to support by providing a detailed
analyses of the performance and programs for improvement. The necessary action to
improve the grades is all that a good Outcome Based Education should possess .

Mapping Learning Outcomes - here is a tip.

OBE is without doubt a wide keyword mapped on all industries for higher education.
It evaluates the performance of students based on their qualities, skills and
knowledge as their outcomes. A correct LMS system should integrate well with the
outcomes, giving room for improvement and quality. After all, education’s outcome is
to be mapped.
Mapping Learning Outcomes is nothing but aligning course-level outcomes with
program outcomes. A faculty can explore the students program-level outcomes at the
course level using this mapping. Mapping such course outcomes can get tedious for
both staff and management, alike. Remember, a proficient Outcome Based Education
maps at 5 different levels by aligning itself to the Bloom’s Taxonomy’s cognitive,
affective and psychomotor domains. This 5-level of mapping offers a level of control
that is unprecedented. It completely changes the way a staff looks at workflows and
tasks related to Outcome Based Education.
How to assess better using Outcome Based Education?
Outcome Based Education breaks the stereotypes of paper, pen test. Rather, they
assess students’ performance, knowledge and skills through many other ways. Quiz,
solving puzzles, giving an online presentation, modelling something, taking up a
multiple-choice assessment, are some of the few. Assessments are criterion-focused
which the student’s achieve during the learning period. Students are expected to go
with the flow, think out of the box in order to implement outcome based education .
Today’s school systems should set clear cut rubrics to route the student through
success. OBE settles these burning issues that scorch the current Education
scenario with super ease :

1. Students were not assessed uniformly - The traditional method of teaching waited for
the end of the course to assess the students. Similarly, it didn’t assess them
uniformly. Rather it completely vested on the biased nature of the teachers. OBE
shunned both these practices by building up a rigid education platform with patterned
assessment techniques that made education fun and entertainment.
2. Outcomes were not assessed uniformly - OBE matches with the 21st century skills
and values every single outcome of the learner.

Why Outcome Based Education (OBE), of all?

Along with the above, these following pointers sum up the mastery behind outcome-
based education.

 Clear-cut criteria for what constitutes mastery

 A thoughtful way of instruction that adapts to specific learner needs
 Complete assistance for learners as and when they face challenges
 Adequate time given to achieve mastery