Enhancing Outcome Based Education via Visible Learning

Abstract

This conceptual paper discusses the framework of teaching and learning which integrates Outcome Based Education (OBE) in Visible Learning’s Ten Mindframes. In sustaining the quest for excellence in the Malaysian higher education system, the way forward is to structure teaching and learning holistically into the four key elements namely, engagement, constructivism, feedback and evaluation, and knowing thy impact, which embed OBE and the Ten Mindframes in ensuring effective student learning gains. The principles of OBE focus on student-centeredness, clarity in outcomes, aligned assessments as well as effective classroom experiences. The positive engagement of the learners and teachers will contribute to the learners’ affective domains. A clarity of focus and the effectively constructed curriculum promote sustainability in the teaching and learning processes. This is in line with the focus of OBE on the learners’ attainment of the learning outcomes in terms of the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains in Bloom’s Taxonomy ensuring clear standards for observable and measurable outcomes. To enhance learners’ attainment of the learning, feedback and evaluation are crucial in the framework to allow learners to act and improve from the feedback. One of the key highlights in Visible Learning is to focus on student’s learning. Learners need to know what are the learning outcomes in order to vision what successful learning is, which fosters their achievement on the outcomes in OBE. This conceptual paper focuses on how the Outcome Based Education can be further enhanced through making learning visible for effective demonstration of the learning outcomes.