OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION

(OBE) AND ASSESSMENT

"Content without purpose is only trivia."
- Steve Revington

Learning Outcomes:
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 cycle.

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 Learning? 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/year, a
course (subject) or a program itself. Examples are ability to communicate in writing, reading,
speaking, and solve mathematical problem. Deferred outcomes refer to the ability to apply
cognitive, psychomotor, 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 career planning, health and wellness and
continuing education. Navarro's explanation of outcomes is synonymous with Spady's.

OBE, Spady's Version

Spady spouses transformational OBE. Transformational OBE is concerned 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 learners will face after formal education. In transformational
OBE, learning outcomes comprise the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes that
learners 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
learning experiences; what learners can actually do with what they know and have learned
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 outcomes that were
really just little skills. Now we've got complex role performances as culminating outcomes.
From an OBE perspective, it's not a matter of what students had or what courses they have
taken. It's a matter of what they can do when they exit the system.

Outcome-Based Teaching and Learning (OBTL), Biggs’ Version

Biggs and Tang (2007) make use of the term outcome-based teaching-learning (OBTL)
which in essence is OBE applied in the teaching-learning 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 demonstrate after they have been taught. These are referred to as
learning outcomes.

Outcomes in Different Levels

Biggs and Tang made mention of different levels of outcome-institutional outcomes,
program outcomes and course outcomes. The broadest are institutional outcomes and the
most specific are learning outcomes. Arranged from most broad to most specific, outcomes
start with institutional outcomes follower 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.

Institutional Outcomes-
Graduate Attributes

Program Outcomes

Course Outcomes

Learning Outcomes
Principles of OBE
The four principles of OBB cited by Spady (1996) are: 1) clarity of focus, 2) designing
down, 3) high expectations, and 4) expanded opportunities. Clarity of focus means that
outcomes which students are expected to demonstrate at the 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 learners 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 learners 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-learning 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.

The Intended Learning

Outcomes of the
Curriculum
The outcomes are The Assessment
formulated first. From
these, the assessment Regime
criteria are developed. Once an appropriate Teaching and
assessment regime has been
designed activities are
Learning Activities
organized that will teach the What the teacher does and
student how to meet the what the students do are
assessment criteria (and, aimed at achieving the
hence. The outcomes). outcomes by meeting the
assessment criteria. This
takes advantage of the
known tendency of the
students to learn what they
think will be assessed and is
called backwash.
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 learning
experiences and instruction.

1. Identify
desired
results.

2. Determine
acceptable
evidence.

3. Plan learning
experiences and
instruction

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 learning 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 understandably 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.
In basic education, a teacher's lesson plan actually begins with lesson objective/s. However,
the evaluation portion is planned and is written last 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 Instruction Cycle

Learning Outcomes

Teaching-Learning which
begins with pre-instruction
Summative assessment, teaching process
which includes Teaching-
Assessment Learning Activities, Formative
Assessment, and Reteaching, if
necessary

The instructional cycle given in the figure above shows that the cycle of instruction begins
with setting clear learning outcomes. These should be made very clear and explicit 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 materials. While the teaching-learning process is in
progress, teacher chucks learner's progress in relation to 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 activities. 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 which determine/s the content, the teaching-learning activities, the
instructional materials in the instructional process and assessment is/are the intended
learning outcome/s. Then and only then can we call it Outcome-Based Teaching and
Learning.
WRITTEN TASKS:

COLLABORATE

1. Are lesson objectives found in teachers' daily lesson plans, competencies written in
the K to 12 Curriculum Guide and competency standards used by trainers and
assessors from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) the
same in essence as the outcomes in OBE / OBTL? Explain your answer.

2. In the language of lesson objectives, there is such a thing as enabling objectives and
terminal objectives. Between these two levels of objectives, which one may
correspond to Spady's broad outcomes? Which one may correspond to Biggs' specific
learning outcomes?

3. Study these comic strips and state common erroneous assessment practice/s
suggested by the comics.
 4. If all teachers apply OBE or OBTL, which will be most likely to be the assessment results
— good results and happy learners or poor results and frustrated learners? Explain your
answer.

5. “Content without purpose is only trivia.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

RESEARCH

What are the issues and challenges in the implementation of OBE? Share your findings in
class?

REFLECT

1. Reflect on one of your past teachers. In his/her teaching has he/she been outcome-
based or content-based? With which did he/she begin his/her lesson: “Today, class,
our lesson is… “ or “after this lesson, class, you should be able to…” At the end of
his/her lesson, did he/she check if the intended learning outcome was realized?

2. “Content without purpose is only trivia.” — How does this relate to you as a future
teacher?