Outcome-based Teaching and Learning (OBTL) and Criterion-Referenced Assessment – What, Why and How?

Abstract:

Outcomes-based teaching and learning (OBTL) is practiced in most higher education institutes worldwide. This strategy marks a sharp paradigm shift from focusing on how best teachers can TEACH (teacher-centred) to how best students can ACHIEVE LEARNING OUTCOMES (student-centred). It is also recognized as one of the criteria used for evaluation of scholarship of teaching professionals.

In the first part of the workshop, we shall briefly go through the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the application of OBTL strategy. This process includes the overall design of programmes and courses, determining (1) intended learning outcomes (ILOs), (2) the aligned teaching and learning activities (TLAs) to develop students’ skills to achieve the ILOs and (3) appropriate assessment tasks (ATs) to measure the achievements of ILOs based on evidence. The principles of Criterion-Referenced Assessment (CRA) which is closely associated with OBTL to standardize the assessment of performance levels of learning outcomes will be explained and illustrated with examples of using rubrics for grading.

In spite of the familiarity with OBTL, one area which teaching professionals would like to improve most is the design of TLAs and/or ATs to facilitate and measure the attainment of learning outcomes. To encourage active and deep learning, both in-class and beyond the classroom, it is desirable to expose students to a variety of formats of TLAs and ATs to enable students to adapt to unfamiliar situations for learning. Participants will be given the opportunity to explore their talents as ‘designers’ in this workshop, especially in the utilization of e-tools to enhance student engagement.