OBE

Outcome Based Education(OBE)

Guidelines

1.    Introduction to Outcome-Based Education (OBE)

Outcome-Based Education (OBE) is a student-centric teaching-learning methodology in which the course delivery and assessment are planned to achieve stated objectives and outcomes. It is an academic process and approach that aims at developing the outcomes (Knowledge, Skills and Attitude – KSA) that students are expected to achieve in the period leading up to graduation. It also focuses on evaluating the outcome of a programme that a graduate is expected to achieve 4 – 5 years after completing it.

            OBE is not a specific style of teaching or assessment. All educational activities conducted help the students to achieve certain goals. Students are expected to be able to do more challenging tasks other than memorizing and reproducing what was taught. Depending on the targeted outcome, the faculty may accept the role of instructor, trainer, facilitator, and / or mentor. OBE improves traditional methods and focuses more on student-centered activities.

Benefits of OBE

• Clarity: The focus on outcome creates a clear expectation of what needs to be accomplished by the end of the
• Flexibility: With a clear sense of what needs to be accomplished, instructors will be able to structure their lessons around the students’
• Comparison: OBE can be compared across the individual, class, batch, programme and institute
• Involvement: student centric approaches allow them to feel responsible for their own learning, and they should learn more through this individual 

OBE Parameters 

The OBE model measures graduate progress in three parameters

• Programme Outcomes (PO)
• Programme Specific Outcomes (PSO)
• Course Outcomes (CO)

2.    Institutional Vision and Mission

 Vision

To provide affordable quality education while equipping students with knowledge and skills in their chosen stream. Inculcate values, identify hidden talents, provide opportunities for students to realize their full potential and thus shape them to future leaders, entrepreneurs and above all good human being and transforming lives and communities through learning and to educate and train students to be efficient and empathetic and socially responsible individuals

 Mission

• College provides students with quality educational experiences and support services that lead to the successful completion of degrees, career education and basic skill proficiency
• The college fosters academic and careers success through the development of critical thinking, effective communication, creativity and cultural awareness in a safe accessible and affordable learning environment
• College is encouraging enthusiastic, independent thinkers and learners striving for personal growth
• To strive for quality education in keeping with the motto of the college ‘Excellence in education’ and prepare young minds for imbibing knowledge, skills and sensitivity
• To impart quality education to the students coming from rural parts and to conduct different curricular and co-curricular activities to enhance the academic and as well as extension activities
• To offer courses to the students for enhancing professionalism, humanism and social responsibilities through quality education
• To contribute to the sustainable development and improvement of the society
• To create responsible and respectable citizens
• To develop all-round personality of the students

3.    Graduate Attributes (GA)

Graduates’ attributes refer to the skills, knowledge and abilities of our graduates beyond disciplinary content knowledge that are applicable in a range of contexts in their lives. They advance the development of academic, specialist and technical skills. Graduate attributes can be measured directly through various assessment methods that are evaluated specific skills, knowledge and competencies.

4.    Programme Outcomes (PO)

Programme outcomes are narrower statements that describe what students are expected to know and would be able to do by the time of graduation. POs need to be aligned closely with GAs, PSOs, Vision and Mission. These are related to the Skills, Knowledge and Attitude that students acquire as they progress through the programme.

5.    Programme Specific Outcomes (PSO)

Programme Specific Outcomes are what students can do at graduation by referring to a programme. PSOs are programme specific. These are statements that define the results that students identify with the fact that the knowledge and technology learned have a direct impact on the progress and sustainability of society.

6.    Course Outcomes (CO)

Course Outcomes (CO) outline the course specifications that students must acquire. COs are statements that describe the significant and essential learning that learners have achieved, and can be reliably demonstrated at the end of a course. Well-written COs ease faculty to measure the CO achievement at the end of the semester. It also enables faculty to design appropriate delivery and evaluation methods for obtaining designed COs. Generally, three or more course outcomes may be specified for each course based on its weightage.

Rules to develop COs:

The rules to develop CO are ‘ABLE’

• Alignment with Course Goals: Ensure outcomes are aligned with course objectives.
• Be Specific: Clearly define each outcome to avoid ambiguity.
• Logical Progression: Design outcomes to build upon each other for cohesive learning.
• Evaluate Measurability: Ensure outcomes are measurable for assessment purposes.

7.    CO – PO and CO – PSO Mapping Scale

The courses in the curriculum must correlate with the POs and PSOs. For a course, map the COs to POs and PSOs using the CO-PO and CO-PSO matrix. The correlation levels are:

“0” – No Correlation

“1” – Slight (Low) Correlation

“2” – Moderate (Medium) Correlation

“3” – Substantial (High) Correlation

8.    BLOOM’S Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy was created in 1956 under the leadership of educational psychologist Dr. Benjamin Bloom in order to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing and evaluating concepts, processes, procedures, and principles, rather than just remembering facts. The initial framework elaborated by Bloom and his collaborators consisted of six major categories: Knowledge, Comprehension,  application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. The categories after Knowledge were presented as “skills and abilities,” with the understanding that knowledge was the necessary precondition for putting these skills and abilities into practice. It is often used when designing educational, training and learning processes. An organized set of objectives helps teachers to plan and deliver appropriate instruction, design valid assessment tasks and strategies and ensure that instruction and assessment are aligned with the objectives. Bloom’s Taxonomy focuses primarily on developing their course learning objectives. It can be used to increase students’ awareness of the learning process. Faculty can also understand how complex cognitive development and lower level skills are nurtured in higher order thinking. The cognitive domain is broken into six levels of objectives that are Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create.

9.   OBE Implementation

Implementing OBE is an important process in order to ensure a well-structured education system. All staff members (i.e. Academic, Technical and Supporting staff) are involved in the OBE implementation in the teaching-learning and evaluation activities in an institution. Educate those involved about the curriculum, objectives, outcomes, teaching-learning methods, and the ongoing evaluation process.

10.    Communication of CO, PSO, PO

The Vision & Mission statement of the Institution, PO, PSO and CO statements reach all students and stake holders through College Website, Induction & Orientation programme and Department & Classroom display.

11.    Methodology of implementation

In order to follow Bloom’s taxonomy level, learning outcomes are designed and aligned with course outcomes (COs). For each learning outcomes, the content delivery and development, use of ICT tools / teaching aids, teaching methods, and evaluation frequency are determined. Special academic activities are planned based on the course syllabus. Record so fall activities during course delivery are kept. Effectiveness of teaching-learning activities performed is evaluated at the end of the semester.

12.   Drafting of POs

The POs are formulated through the following process steps, unless specified by the University in the syllabus.

• The departmental advisory committee outlines the POs in accordance with the Vision and Mission of the Institution.
• The draft version is taken for expert opinion and their views are also incorporated to make necessary changes.
• POs are reviewed and approved by the Core Committee and the IQAC.

13.    Drafting of PSOs and COs

• The responsibility for setting up the PSOs and COs rests with the concerned department, if not specified in the syllabus. PSOs are highly compatible with the discipline of the programme.
• The COs are defined by considering the course content covered in each module of a course using the action verbs of learning levels. COs are identified and are mapped to the appropriate POs and PSOs to ensure that all POs and PSOs are delivered throughout the study period. Cos are mapped to at least one PO/PSO.
• The Head of the Department, senior faculties and subject experts prepare the PSOs and COs considering the Vision & Mission of the Institution, POs and the syllabus and course objectives.
• This is discussed and finalized at the departmental meeting along with the feedback evaluation reports of those concerned.
• PSOs and COs are reviewed and approved by Core Committee and the IQAC.

14.    Assessment and Attainment Methods

Assessment is one or more processes carried out by the institution that identifies, collects and prepares data to evaluate the achievement of outcomes. Both direct and indirect method of assessment is followed for attainment assessment. Attainment is the activity or fact of achieving a standard result towards the accomplishment of desired goals. The weightage for direct attainment is 80% and for indirect attainment is 20% in normal practice.

• Direct Method

The direct method displays the student’s knowledge and skills from their performance in Assignment, Seminar, Case Study, Group Discussion, Paper Presentation, Viva-Voce, Attendance, Internal / Model Examination, End Semester Examination, etc. These methods provide a sample of what students know and / or can do and provide strong evidence of student learning.

• Indirect Assessment Method

The Indirect tool used is the Survey from different stakeholders. Course End Survey Analysis through questionnaires is a technique to measure the attainment of outcomes indirectly.

15.    Attainment Levels

• Course Outcome

The assessment of course outcome follows the direct method. If the average attainment score of the course is greater than or equal to 2 the outcome is attained for that course. If the attainment score of a particular course is more than 2 for two consecutive years, the existing rubric for the attainment will need to be changed as part of a continuous improvement.

The rubric set for CO calculation based on the direct evaluation method is as follows.

If a student achieves more than 70%, grade point is 3 (High), if it is between 60% and 70 %, then grade point 2 (Medium), between 50% and 60%, then grade point 1 (Low).

• Programme Outcome & Programme Specific Outcome

At the end of each Programme the PO assessment is done from the CO attainments of all curriculum components. At the end of the semester the attainment of PO/PSOs is also assessed along with the COs assessment of each course. The Programme Outcome is calculated at the end of the Programme from the result of this assessment. The attainment level may be set for a specific Programme or Institution in general.