Outcome-based education is not something teachers should be worried about, because it does not require any shift in focus rather necessitates rearranging previous norms, said Dr Ahmed Tazmeen of North South University.
The knowledge of curriculum creators of previous ages has not been retained for now it is possible to fit the document into one or two sheets of paper, an impossible feat given the numerous steps which need to be delineated, he said.
Syllabus and curriculum differ quite a bit with the former just informing of the courses while the latter being an all-encompassing document containing the syllabus and helping students avoid repetition in higher studies, said Tazmeen.
He was giving a presentation at a hands-on faculty workshop on “Designing of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) curriculum for Tertiary Level” organised by Institutional Quality Assurance Cell at Brac University on Saturday, 5 October 2019.
A curriculum’s outcome needs to be measured because it relates to every aspect of it, said Dr Tazmeen.
Learning outcome is important, not the content, meaning whether a chapter can be concluded within a teaching period is secondary while outcome is the primary target, he said.
Creating a curriculum requires deciding what skills it intends to impart and what type of content leads to it, all the while ensuring that the content does not scare students, he added.
Teaching should include physical demonstrations and not just PowerPoint slides and more importantly, students should be assessed in line with what they have been prepared with for the evaluation to be proper, he said.
At least one objective/outcome must align with the mainstream practice of the institution or other courses while taking feedback from colleagues is vital for ensuring this alignment, said the Dr Tazmeen.