Prof. Gajanan Nerkar
Assistant Professor,
AISSMS Institute of Management
gajanannerkar@aissmsiom.org
The 2019 syllabus document of SPPU mentions that:
Outcome Based Education (OBE) Approach: Outcomes are about performance, and this implies:
- There must be a performer – the student (learner), not only the teacher
- There must be something performable (thus demonstrable or assessable) to perform
- The focus is on the performance, not the activity or task to be performed
Outcome-based education (OBE) means clearly focusing and organizing everything in an educational system around what is essential for all students to be able to do successfully at the end of their learning experiences. This means starting with a clear picture of what is important for students to be able to make sure this learning ultimately happens. Outcomes are clear learning results that we want students to demonstrate at the end of significant learning experiences. They are not values, beliefs, attitudes, or psychological states of mind. Instead, outcomes are what learners can actually do with what they know and have learned they are the tangible application of what has been learned.
OBE’s two important purposes reflect its underlying “Success for all students and staff’ philosophy.” They are: Ensuring that all students are equipped with the knowledge, competence, and qualities needed to be successful after they exit the educational system. Structuring and operating schools so that those outcomes can be achieved and maximized for all students. Indian education system has already headed towards Outcome- based Education (OBE) approach.
With the local accreditation body, National board of Accreditation (NBA) heavily focusing on the adoption of OBE approach for all engineering programs in INDIA (from 2013) Programs to be accredited from 2013 will have to be based on OBE approach.
The simple formula is:
No OBE = No ACCREDITATION
- Structural set-up of Teaching-Learning under OBE:
- Decide teaching/training components for each course outcome
- Theory (for understanding)
- Practical (to develop skill)
- Seminar (for communication skill)
- Problems
- Assignments
- Project (small, group etc)
- Teaching Level 1
Teacher’s responsibility is to know the course content well and teaching clearly in detail.
- Thereafter it’s up to the student to attend lectures to listen carefully to take notes to read the recommended readings and write the exam.
- Teaching strategy is held constant usually in the form of lecture.
- The difference in students’ performance is attributed to differences between students in
- Ability
- Motivation
- What sort of school they went to?
- Cultural background and so on.
When students don’t learn that lot with just pass in +2.
- They wouldn’t even have been admitted 10 years ago.
- They lack any motivation at all.
- These students lack suitable study skills. But that’s not my problem.
- Students may be less academically oriented.
- That is precisely the challenge for teachers today.
- It doesn’t occur to the teacher to question himself. What else could I be doing that might make them learn more effectively.
- Until they ask that their teaching is unlikely to change.
- Teaching level 2
Teachers at level 2 focus on what teachers do.
- Here also it is teaching only, but the making the students to understand is teacher’s responsibility.
- Teachers always think of improving teaching or finding new way of teaching.
- A Teacher is open to change his/ her teaching tactics
- Learning is entirely depending upon the teacher.
- Traditional staff development programs are mainly focused on this. This level is much better than level 1.
- And most of the so-called good teachers today are at this level.
- Level 2 is also a deficit model, the blame this time is on the teacher.
- The notion is “if the student does not perform the teaching is not effective”.
- Teaching level 3
- In level 3 the focus is what the student does.
- Student centered model of teaching; the purpose of teaching is to support learning. The teacher can no longer say I taught them, but they didn’t learn.
- Expert teaching includes mastery over a variety of teaching techniques, but unless learning takes place, they are irrelevant.
(Source: Teaching Learning Techniques for effective outcome-based education. Ppt authored by Reshma Fathima.K, Assistant Professor, Grace College of Pharmacy, Palakkad)
- Suggested teaching activities
- Effective classroom teaching- A teacher shall ensure effectiveness in classroom in applying classroom teaching.
- Seminars- A seminar on practical topics can enhance qualitative understanding of the topics.
- Assignments- Assignments shall be part of evaluation of the students.
- Problems- For practical courses like Accounting, Research Methodology etc., it is expected to conduct numerical problems in the class.
- Encourage group learning- Role plays, group discussions support group learning.
- Peer tutoring
- Increase questioning ability (ask students to frame all possible questions in a chapter and give answers)
- How to improve students’ performance?
Students perform when
- Realize the fruit of success
- Realize the effect of failure
- Get encouragement
- Inspired and motivated
Students also perform when there is competitive spirit as well as appreciation encouraged in the class. Classmates cohesively performing a group-task will gain team spirit and unity.
- Key guidelines for outcome-based learning:
- Visualization of terminologies
Bring dull academic concepts to life with visual and practical learning experiences, helping your students to understand how their schooling applies in the real-world.
Examples include using the interactive whiteboard to display photos, audio clips and videos, as well as encouraging your students to get out of their seats with classroom experiments and local field trips.
- Cooperative and cohesive learning
Encourage students of mixed abilities to work together by promoting small group or whole class activities. Through verbally expressing their ideas and responding to others your students will develop their self-confidence, as well as enhance their communication and critical thinking skills which are vital throughout life. Solving mathematical puzzles, conducting scientific experiments and acting out short drama sketches, livestock trading sessions, technical analysis are just a few examples of how cooperative learning can be incorporated into classroom lessons.
- Inquiry-based instruction
Pose thought-provoking questions which inspire your students to think for themselves and become more independent learners. Encouraging students to ask questions and investigate their own ideas helps improve their problem-solving skills as well as gain a deeper understanding of academic concepts. Both of which are important life skills. Inquiries can be science or math-based such as ‘why does my shadow change size?’ or ‘is the sum of two odd numbers always an even number?’ However, they can also be subjective and encourage students to express their unique views, e.g. ‘do poems have to rhyme?’ or ‘should all students wear uniform?’
- Differentiation
Differentiate your teaching by allocating tasks based on students’ abilities, to ensure no one gets left behind. Assigning classroom activities according to students’ unique learning needs means individuals with higher academic capabilities are stretched and those who are struggling get the appropriate support. This can involve handing out worksheets that vary in complexity to different groups of students or setting up a range of workstations around the classroom which contain an assortment of tasks for students to choose from.
- Applying Technology in the classroom
Incorporating technology into your teaching is a great way to actively engage your students, especially as digital media surrounds young people in the 21st century. Interactive whiteboards or mobile devices can be used to display images and videos, which help students, visualize new academic concepts. Learning can become more interactive when technology is used as students can physically engage during lessons as well as instantly research their ideas, which develops autonomy. Mobile devices, such as iPads and/or tablets, can be used in the classroom for students to record results, take photos/videos or simply as a behavior management technique. Plus, incorporating educational programs such as Quizalize into your lesson plans is also a great way to make formative assessments fun and engaging.
- Professional development
Engaging in regular professional development programs is a great way to enhance teaching and learning in your classroom. With educational policies constantly changing it is extremely useful to attend events where you can gain inspiration from other teachers and academics. It’s also a great excuse to get out of the classroom and work alongside other teachers just like you! Sessions can include learning about new educational technologies, online safety training, advice on how to use your teaching assistant(s) and much more. Being an effective teacher is a challenge because every student is unique; however, by using a combination of teaching strategies you can address students’ varying learning styles and academic capabilities as well as make your classroom a dynamic and motivational environment for students.
All these efforts combined will surely help the students learn better and help AISSMS IOM become of the best MBA institutes in Pune and Maharashtra.
(Webliography- https://www.quizalize.com)
Happy learning can be ensured by joyful and Outcome based education!