Cuaprer 18 OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION (OBE) AND ASSESSMENT — “Content without purpose is only trivia.” ~ Steve Revington © (Sr koen ‘ 1 CX At the end of the Chapter, the student should be able to: explain the essence of OBE and OBTL; ‘compare Understanding by Design, OBE and OBTL and explain the meaning of constructive alignment in the context of the instructional eycle, Introduction Outcome-based Education has become the talk among those involved in teaching. For quality assurance, the Commission on Higher Education issued CHED Memorandum Order 46, series of 2012, Policy Standard to Enhance Quality Assurance through Outcomes-Based and Typology-Based Quality Assurance. What is Outcome-Based Education? What is Outcome-Based Teaching- Leaming? What is constructive alignment? OBE is not new. It is importantly new. The instructional cycle of mastery learning which has been applied in the classroom since the 60's is in essence the same OBE and OBTL in principle. ‘The Meaning of OBE OBE means Outcome-Based Education, Simply put, it is education based on outcome. This outcome may refer to immediate outcome or deferred outcome, Immediate outcomes are competencies/ skills upon completion of a lesson, a subject, a grade/ycar, a course (Gubject) or a program itself, Examples are ability to communicate in writing, reading, speaking, and solve mathematical problems. Deferred outcomes refer to the ability to apply cognitive, psychomotorChapter 2 Outcome-Basod Education (OBE) and Assessment 19 and affective skills/competencies in’ the various aspects of the professional and workplace practice (Navarro, 2019). Examples are success in professional practice or occupation as evidence of skill in planning, health and wellness and continuing education. Navarro’s explanation of outcomes is synonymous with Spady's. Version Spady spouses transformational OBE. Transformational E Yis concemed with long-term, cross-curricular outcomes that are related directly to students’ future life roles such as being a productive worker or a responsible citizen or a parent. In transformational OBE, learning is not significant unless the outcomes reflect the complexities of real life and give prominence to the life roles that leamers will face after formal education. In transformational OBE, learning outcomes comprise the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes that leamers should acquire to enable them to reach their full potential and lead successful and fulfilling lives as individuals, as a member of a community and at work. Spady describes outcomes as clear learning results that we want students to demonstrate at the end of leaming experiences; what leamers can actually do with what they know and have leamed and tangible application of what have been learned. “(Spady, 2007) For Spady, the outcomes he refers to are the deferred outcomes cited by Navarro (2019) Spady adds: This has bacroconceptions of the same things. Years ago, we had outconies that were really just litle skills. Now we've got complex role performances as culminating outcomes. From an OBE perspective, its not a matter of what students had or what courses they have taken. It's a mattert of what they can do when they exit the system. Outcome-Based Teaching and Learning (OBTL), Biggs ‘Version and Tang (2007) make use of the term outcome-based teaching-leaming (OBTL) which in essence is OBE applied in the teaching-learing process, They define outcomes as learning ‘outcomes which are more specific than institutional outcomes, program outcomes and course outcomes. In Biggs’ and Tang’s OBTL, outcomes are statements of what we expect students to‘Assescmenr wm Lean 2; AUTIENT ASSESSUENT ¥y have been taught, These are referred to as demonstrate after they Tearing outcomes Outcomes in Different Levels Biggs and Tang made mention of different levels of outcome. institutional outcomes, program outcomes and course outcomes, The most broad are institutional outcomes and the most specifc are leaming outcomes, Arranged from most broad to most specific, outcomes start with institutional outcomes followed by program outcomes, course outcomes and learning outcomes, From the institutional outcomes are drawn the graduate attributes that graduates of the institution are expected to demonstrate after graduation, Others claim that the graduate attributes are likewise drawn from the program outcomes. The program outcomes are outcomes that graduates of the program are expected to demonstrate at the end of the program. Course outcomes’ are the particular subject outcomes while learning outcomes are the most specific outcomes that the teacher is concerned with in his/her specific lessons. See Figure 3, Institutional Outcomes- Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes Figure 3. Learning Outcomes in Different LevelsChapter 2 - Outcome-Basod Education (OBE) and Assessment a Principles of OBE The four principles of OBE cited by Spady (1996) are: 1) clarity of focus, 2) designing down, 3 high expectations, and 4) expanded opportunities. Clarity of focus simply means that outcomes which students are expected to demonstrate at the end of the program are clear. Designing down means basing the details of your instructional design on the outcomes, the focus of instruction. High expectations is believing that all leaners can learn’ and succeed, but not all in the same time or in the same way. Not all leamers can learn the same thing in the same way and in the same amount of time but all are capable of mastery and meaningful learning. Some leamers may need more time than others, Teachers, therefore, must provide expanded opportunities for all learners. Most learners can achieve high standards if they are given appropriate opportunities. OBE is anchored on the premise that all learners are teachable. The Parable of the Talents is a frequent reminder that not all learners received five talents. Others received three and still others one. Take note, however, that everyone received a talent or more. Other than more time and more opportunity for learners with just one or three talents, more scaffolding from teacher is necessary. Constructive Alignment Constructive alignment is Biggs’ term of “designing down” as given by Spady. Constructive alignment is a process of creating a learning environment that supports the learning activities that lead to the achievement of the desired learning outcomes. The supportive learning environment is a learning environment where the intended learning outcomes, the teaching-leaming activities and the assessment tasks are aligned. It is a learning environment that is highly focused on the attainment of learning outcomes. In the context of assessment, constructive alignment also means that the assessment tasks and the specific criteria as bases of judgment of students’ performance are aligned to the intended learning outcomes. This is the concern of this course on Assessment - that the assessment tasks are aligned to the learning outcomes.a| Assessuent i Leagun 2:AUTENTCASSESSENT | |The Intended | Learning Outcomes of | the Curriculum ‘The cutcomes are for: mulated first, From |» The Assessment these the assessment Regime { criteria are developed, : f Sey Once an appropriate Teaching and Learning| assessment regime has Activities. | been designed, activ; i 4 tes are organised that, | § ose will teach the student What the teacher does how to meet the assess- and what the students ment criteria (and, do are aimed at achiey- hence, the outcomes). ‘ing the outcomes by meeting the assessment criteria, This takes advantage of the known tendency of students to learn what they think will be assessed - and is called backwash Figure 4. Aligned Curriculum Model (Source: Bigg, J.B. (2003). Teaching for Quality. Learning. at University, Buckingham: Open University Press) Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe (1998), advocates of Understanding by Design (UbD), give these 3 stages: 1) identify desired results; 2) Determine acceptable evidence; and 3) plan-leaming experiences and instruction. See Figure 5.Chap 2- Oucome Based Education (OBE and Assossment | 2B BCT desired COLT ear Elofol fe} EL} f:} evidence, et CEL) Creu cucccur! Hues Cre (Col Figure 5. Stages of Backward Design (Source:https://cft. vanderbilt. edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by- design/) This UbD is OBE and OBTL in principle and in practice. Identifying desired results is identifying outcomes, the first step in OBE and OBTL. Determining acceptable evidence of the realization of outcomes is assessment..In UbD, it is only when desired results (outcomes) and evidence of the realization of the proof of the attainment of that outcome that the teacher starts to plan for instruction. This is to ensure alignment of assessment task and criteria and instructional plan with leaming outcome, the desired result. UbD operates on the same principles that OBE and OBTL operate on. The assessment process may not take place yet after you have identified desired results for unerstandably you have not yet taught but the evidence of learning through an assessment task is already identified at this stage. Identifying the evidence of learning right after identifying the intended learning outcome has an instructional advantage. Making clear how the intended learning outcome will be assessed invariably sharpens and focuses instruction. In fact, if teacher is not able to determine how he/she is going to assess the achievement of the intended outcome, it means that the intended outcome is not specific and clear enough that teacher does not even have a clear idea on how he/she is going to assess it.a Aewcaerniansd newest In basic education, a teacher's: lesson actually begins With lesson objectives, However, the evaluation portion is, planned and is written fast and so very often the evaluation that teacher writes is far-fetched from his/her lesson objective. “Your evaluation is not congruent with your objective “ is a common remark of school heads who check lesson plans and do classroom observations.” This implies the need for teachers to work on an assessment task that is aligned to the lesson objective. The Instructional Cycle Learning Outcomes ‘Teaching-Learning which begins with preinstruction assessment, teaching process which includes Teaching-Learning Activities, Formative Assessment and Reteaching, ifnecessary Summative Assessment _— Figure 6. The Instructional Cycle The instructional cycle given in Figure 6 shows that the cycle of instruction begins with setting clear learning outcomes. ‘These should be made very clear and explict to the learners who should make the learning outcomes also their very own. Based ‘on the learning outcome and applying all principles of teaching and educational technology the teacher has learned, the teacher first finds out how well the learners have attained prerequisite Knowledge and skills, remedies the situation, if necessary, then proceeds to teach for the attainment of the intended learning outcome, Teacher employs appropriate teaching-learning activities and instructional materi: s. While the teaching-learning process is in progress, teacher chucks leamer’s progress in relation to‘Chapter 2 - Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and Assessment | 25 the learning outcomes by engaging himself/herself in formative assessment. If the learners have not attained the learning outcomes, teacher will re-teach using other teaching-learning activites. When every effort has been exerted to help the learners attain the intended learning outcomes, assessment for scoring and grading (summative assessment) takes place, It is clear that that which determine/s the content, the teaching-leaming activities, the instructional materials in the instructional process and assessment is/are the intended learning outcomes, Then and only then can we call it Outcome-Based Teaching and Learning. Y TA! e Outcome-based Education (OBE) and Outcome-Based Teaching and Learning (OBTL) are education or teaching- learning based on outcome not on content. e Outcomes are in different levels - from broad institutional outcomes to program outcomes to course outcomes and specific learning or instructional outcomes. e These specific learning or instructional outcomes are most specific and are also referred to as intended learning outcomes or student learning outcomes. e Spady’s OBE is concerned with exit, broad outcomes which are demonstrated in the place of work while Biggs’ OBTL is directed to more specific learning or instructional outcomes. e In OBE and OBTL, the process of instruction begins with the clarification of learning outcomes. The content, the method of instruction, the teaching-learning activities and the assessment task are all based on the outcome. This is constructive alignment.Assessment In Leanne 2: AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT Understanding by Design (UbD) and OBE and OBTL agree that the first step in the instructional process is identifying and clarifying learling outcomes. The learning outcomes are the bases of dssessment tasks, the content and the teaching-learning activities. Constructive alignment simply means that the assessment tasks, criteria of assessment, teaching-learning activities are aligned to learning outcomes. The learning outcomes determine the content and the teaching-learning activities and the assessment tasks. This is how the instructional cycle goes when constructive alignment is observed. The cycle of instruction includes the following basic elements: : 1) clarifying learning outcome/s for learners; 2) the teaching-learning process itself which begins with pre-instruction assessment ahd mainly includes the use of teaching-learning activities including educational technology to teach, formative assessment and remedial teaching, if needed, The cycle of instruction ends with summative assessment based on the learning outcomes.