Outcomes-Based Education for Teacher Preparation Curriculum

Glory Jean A. Awid

Noeme Gynn S. Cabaltera
Ralph Laurence C. Valdueza

Outcomes-based education (OBE) became the fundamental philosophy of

higher education in the Philippines lately. All curricula including that of teacher
education will be anchored on the concept of OBE in terms of course designing,
instructional planning, teaching and assessing students learning.
William Spady (1994) defined OBE as clearly focusing and organizing
everything in the educational system around the essential for all the students to do
successful at the end of their learning experiences.
Spady premised that in Outcomes-Based Education;
 All students can learn and succeed, but not at the same time or in
the same way.
 Successful learning promotes even more successful learning.
 Schools and teachers control the conditions that will determine if the
students are successful in school learning.
Four Essential Principles in OBE
An OBE curriculum means starting with a clear picture of what is important for
students to be able to do, then organizing the curriculum, instruction and
assessment to make sure this learning ultimately happens. The four basic
principles are (Spady, 1994):

o Clarity of focus
This means that everything teachers do must be clearly focused on what
they want students to know, understand and be able to do. In other words,
teachers should focus on helping students to develop the knowledge, skills and
personalities that will enable them to achieve the intended outcomes that have
been clearly articulated.

o Designing backwards
It means that the curriculum design must start with a clear definition of the
intended outcomes that students are to achieve by the end of the program. Once
this has been done, all instructional decisions are then made to ensure achieve
this desired end result.
o High expectations
It means that teachers should establish high, challenging standards of
performance in order to encourage students to engage deeply in what they are
learning. Helping students to achieve high standards is linked very closely with
the idea that successful learning promotes more successful learning.

o Expanded opportunities
Teachers must strive to provide expanded opportunities for all students.
This principle is based on the idea that not all learners can learn the same thing
in the same way and in the same time. However, most students can achieve
high standards if they are given appropriate opportunities.

Teaching- Learning in OBE

 Teachers must prepare the students adequately.
 Teachers must create a positive learning environment.
 Teachers must help their students to understand, what they have to learn,
why they should learn it (what use it will be now and, in the future,) and how
will they know what they have learned.
 Teacher must use a variety of teaching methods.
 Teachers must provide students with enough opportunities to use the new
knowledge and skills that they gain.
 Teacher must help students to bring each learning to a personal closure
that will make them aware of what they have learned.

From Traditional View To OBE View

Instruction Learning

Inputs and Resources Learning Outcomes

Knowledge is transferred by the Knowledge already exists in the minds
teacher. of the learners.
Teacher dispenses knowledge Teachers are designers of methods.
Teachers and students are
Teacher and students work in teams.
independent and in isolation.

Assessment of Learning Outcomes in OBE

Assessment in OBE should also be guided by the four principles of OBE
which are: 1. Clarity of Focus 2. Designing Backwards 3. High Expectations and;
4. Expanded Opportunity.
 It should contribute to the objective of improving student’s learning. Since
in OBE, there is a need first to establish a clear vision of what the students are
expected to learn (desired learning outcome) then assessment become an
embedded part of the system.
To be useful in OBE system, assessment should be guided by the
following principles.
1. Assessment procedure should be valid. Procedure and tools should
actually assess what one intends to test.
2. Assessment procedure should be reliable. The results should be
consistent.
3. Assessment procedure should be fair. Cultural background and
background and other factors should not influence assessment
procedure.
4. Assessment should reflect and knowledge and skills that are important
to the students.
5. Assessment should tell both the teachers and students how the
students are progressing.
6. Assessment should support every student’s opportunity to learn things
that are important.
7. Assessment should allow individuality or uniqueness to be
demonstrated.
8. Assessment should be comprehensive to cover a wide range of
learning outcomes.
Learner’s Responsibility for Learning
In OBE, students are responsible for their own learning and progress.
Nobody can learn for the learn for the learner. It is only the learner himself/herself
who can drive himself to learn, thus learning is a personal matter. Teachers can
only facilitate that learning, define the learning outcomes to be achieved, and assist
the students to achieve those outcomes. Students have the bigger responsibility
to achieve those outcomes. In this way, they will be able to know whether they are
learning or not.
One of the great benefits of outcomes-based education is that it makes
students aware of what they should be learning, why they are learning it, what they
are actually learning it, what they should do when they are learning. All of these
will conclude with the achieved learning outcomes.
 In terms of student perspectives there are common questions that will guide
them as they learn under the OBE Curriculum framework. To guide the students
in OBE learning, they should ask themselves the following questions:
As a student,
1. What do I have to learn?
2. Why do I have to learn it?
3. What will I be doing while I am learning?
4. How will I know that I am learning, what should I be learning?
5. Will I have any say in what I learn?
6. How will I be assessed?
The Benefits of OBE
 Students, actively involved with a curriculum that is relevant and learner-
centered will blossom
 Students will have greater self-esteem because they will be allowed to
develop at their own pace. Learners will be trained to work effectively in
groups
 Students will become analytical and creative thinkers, problem solvers and
effective communicators.
 They will know how to collect, gather and organize information and conduct
research.
 They will be more aware of their responsibilities to the environment and the
people around them.