1. Continual Quality Improvement Through
Assessing Learning Outcome:
To Do or To Rue
sharing UPSI’s experience
June 11th 2014
Shakinaz Desa
DIVISION FOR ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT AND QUALITY
2. Abstract
In the world of learning, one should consider to learn, unlearn, and relearn. The choice in education
practice is ours, whether to stay current and plan ahead, or to just regret and do nothing about it.
When the educational approach of applying outcome based education colors vibrantly the
landscape of the Malaysian Education system, all higher education providers started to reinvent the
curriculum and rebuild the learning ecosystem. Learning outcomes become the important part of
the educational dictionary. Learning outcome maybe visualized as a learning contract. A course may
contain 3-4 specific statements that are guided by 1-3 domains. A learning outcome will guide both
teacher and student on what to expect and what to prepare for the learning event. It also provides a
clear and specific skill attainment that should be make known to the students. For so long we have
been practicing the workflow of getting course outline, planning teaching and learning module,
testing, assessment and evaluation, and finally giving grades. The outcome-based education still
allows us to follow the same flow, however it also opens a new window of improving the learning
cycle for all players: the management, faculty, teachers and students. Giving the final grade is one
common thing, but assessing the outcomes is far more important as it measures the outcome
attainment and is the in thing to teach us how to teach. Continual quality improvement is not about
ensuring quality alone, the rippling effect is massive. Perhaps we don’t need to practice the usual
final grade concept anymore, instead evaluating the students, seriously, on each of their learning
outcome. Whichever mode we want to adopt and adapt, finally it is the matter of choosing to do
the continual quality improvement or to rue on what we had done to the students.
9. …and along with birth and rebirth of the many terms
OBE
Learning
Outcomes
Learning
Domains
Constructive
alignment
Continuous
Assessmen
t
Criterion
based
reference
CQIPMR
12. Brainstorming 1
1. Divide the groups into three role players
U M S
2. Task:
U : Only ask constructive question:
e.g
i. Which?
ii. What?
iii. How?
M & S : Answer and justify
13. Study this flow
1. Teaching
workload
distribution
2. Obtaining
Course
Outline/Plan
3. T&L
4. Coursework 5. Final exam 6. Grading
14. Strategy to CQI
1. At which point? Or between points?
2. What to look at and look for?
3. How?
6. Grading
5. Final exam
4. Coursework
3. T&L
2. Course Outline/Plan
1. Teaching workload
distribution
Teacher Learner Administrator
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
15. Strategy to CQI
1. At which point? Or between points?
2. What to look at and look for?
3. How?
6. Grading
5. Final exam
4. Coursework
3. T&L
2. Course Outline/Plan
1. Teaching workload
distribution
Teacher Learner Administrator
? ? ✔
✔ ? ?
✔ ? ✔
✔ ? ✔
✔ ?
?
✔ ? ✔
18. The process of monitoring and review
Input from
various sources
•Examiner and
benchmark reports
•Student’s
performance
•Course evaluation
•Alumni and industry
feedback
•Changes in policy
Module
monitoring
• Student
performance
• Curriculum
review (content,
teaching and
learning,
assessment)
Annual program
monitoring
Annual review
Periodic
program
review
Periodic review
19. Module
Monitor students’
performance
Improve subject
content, methods of
delivery and
assessment
Program
Maintain and improve
academic standards
Monitor and enhance
quality of students
experience
Periodicprogramreview
Ensure the
programme is
consistent with the
HEPs strategic
directions including
stakeholders, and
educational priorities
and academic
standards
Provide confirmation
of fitness of purpose
of the curriculum
Provide evidence of
the effectiveness of
annual monitoring
processes
Why ?
20. Module
Student performance
• Grade distributions
• Moderation outcomes
• Student performance at
program level
• Student failure rate
Curriculum review
• Students evaluation
• Academic staff inputs
• Stakeholders feedback
Program
Student Enrolment
Numbers
Articulation and pathway
and student performance
(including progression
and attrition)
Curriculum changes from
subject monitoring
Graduates’ achievement
of garduates of program
outcomes
Changes in external
regulatory and industry
requirements
Academic staff and
educational resources
review
Periodicprogramreview
Ensure the programme is
consistent with the HEPs
strategic directions
including stakeholders,
and educational priorities
and academic standards
Provide confirmation of
fitness of purpose of the
curriculum
Provide evidence of the
effectiveness of annual
monitoring processes
Source of information
24. Mapping of Learning
Outcomes-Learning Strategy-
Assessment
Continuous
Assessment
Course Learning
Outcome Index
Feedback and
Suggestion for
improvement
37. Continual Quality Improvement
Through Assessing Learning
Outcome:
To Do or To Rue
Shakinaz Desa
shakinaz@fsmt.upsi.edu.my
http://www.bpaq.upsi.edu.my
Editor's Notes
Flow of discussion:
Once upon a time story – students’ perspective, teacher’s perspective, manager’s perspective
Back to the future story -
When I first started to join UPSI in 2002, I was given a course by my head of department.
He gave me a piece of document and said to me: shakinaz, ini beban tugas you. BEBAN?.. Why not tanggungjawab??
I still remember the document consist of a name course, course code, credit hours, synopsis, topics and some references
And without any guide, I quickly searched a reference which was listed in the document.
The book I found contained topics which were exactly as listed in the document. Hey, whoever wrote the document must have adopted from the book.
And so I started to convert pages by pages into a simpler version as a power point presentation.
And my class is either exactly or similar with what my lecturers taught me in the university. = what I did, I copied them.
I copied their strategies except for the jokes.
I actually explained line by line, slide by slide.
And at the end of the class, I ‘frightened’ the with the famous pop quiz.
And then we were also asked to prepare exam questions.
Again without any guide, I prepared the exam questions.
I searched for study guide books which contained bank of questions.
I adapted the questions into the exam questions. What I had in mind, just asked questions that were related to the slides.
What I did back then was actually testing their memory and some understandings.
And then the exam took place as usual.
And the marking began with a answer scheme in hand.
The examination meeting was held and we had to present the students’s achivement
Surprisingly, during the meeting ‘they’ would ask you more if you didn’t get the bell shape curve for the class achievement.
We were asked to normalize and even add marks for those who were considered at the Border.
Once accepted by the committee and faculty and at the university level…
We were all happy. And assuming that the students were also happy with their results.
And graduated with flying colors during that era.
In the next semester, I changed my power point presentation but maintaining the scope and depth of content.
And providing newer findings and challenging assignments, but still not knowing the actual reasons behind it except for helping the students to get good grades and me having evaluated with good marks and remarks.
Now that we know OBE is an educational approach that embracing the idea of behaviorism. Nurturing knowledge, skills, attitude.
And we are now using Bloom taxonomy, which is NOT the only taxonomy to use
In UPSI we have to promote OBE and sharing the common understanding almost every semester until I don’t know when.
IN UPSI
UPSI set 4-5 LO per course tht should be measurable, observable, relevant
And at the moment we are also using Bloom as the taxonomy guide and we are considering to use other taxonomy as the domain reference.
For soft skills, we have already revised the rubrics and yet maintaining the aspect.
Of course when we have new things, we will observe changes.
And yet the flow is still the same as I had flowed in 2002
Let us do a quick brainstorming:
If we want to improve,
Which of these we want to improve?
What do you want to improve?
How are we going to do that?
What would be the indicator to show improvement?
No WHY included here because we know why we want to improve.
Some examples
By all means CQI means we keep on improving in whatever way
