Outcome-Based Education (OBE)

Would you be comfortable treated by a  new graduate or newly licensed individual in the health professions, e.g. dentist, nurse or even a doctor? I bet, like me, you  will also have your reservations.  Why?

"Baka pagpraktisan lang ako."

You will have reservations because you might think that he or she will just practice on you.  You are not sure whether the person is already capable, let alone competent, to handle the necessary procedure/s.

Sad but true. There is a gap between what the schools are teaching and what they are supposed to be producing.  Numerous  studies show that health professions graduates do not have the work skills needed to perform the requisites of their profession.

With the implementation of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in the Philippines there is hope.

OBE is a term coined by Spady in 1994 which "...refers to clearly focusing and organizing everything in the education system around what is essential for all students to be able to do successfully at the end of their learning experiences. This means starting with a clear picture of what is important for students to be able to do, then organising the curriculum, instruction and assessment to make sure that learning ultimately happens”.

OBE is the kind of instruction and curriculum design used in Europe and America since the 1990s. The awakening of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) may be late in the Philippines but I am glad the time has come to really focus on what ought to be done in the worsening quality of graduates in the country.

In OBE, higher education institutions must first have a clear picture of the competencies should their graduates have when they actually get into the workplace. From there, they will have to design the curriculum and teaching strategies in order to get to where they want their students to be. Students under the OBE will be learning the actual skills and competencies they need in order to perform the job they are training to become.

  

Monthly Seminar

I had a taste of the monthly seminar given by the NTTCHP last October 27. The topic was about curriculum mapping in outcome-based educaiton and the speaker was Dr. Bong Alviar who is a faculty here in NTTCHP.  There were many attendees, from students to college professors with MAs and PhDs, to nurses and MDs. The whole auditorium was packed.

I chatted with some of the attendees prior to the start of the program and they shared to me how important the seminars in NTTCHP are. They said they need all the training they can get so they can translate new changes in their classrooms and follow CHED directives.   Outcome-based education is the new thing and the Commission on Higher Education in the Philippines has made guidelines for higher learning institutions to follow in the implementation of OBE.  That is the reason why, the Gonzales Hall of UP Manila is packed and overflowed.  On the other hand, the students who also attended said they want to know new trends in education and hope to have a head start before they get officially employed.

With all the good things the attendees said, there is one comment that although it may sound negative, it will help a lot in the improvement of the monthly seminar delivery. One of the professors who attended the seminar tapped  me at the back and asked if she could give a comment. She said that although they appreciate all the learning they are getting from NTTCHP,  they are getting information over load and are longing for some help in the processing and application of the knowledge learned.

Good point and  valid request!