Editorial

Editor's Note: Views expressed in the comments section are those of the readers and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Reaction or any of its affiliates. Similarly, the writers of the editorial article do not represent the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Santo Tomas.

Main Editorial Article

Outcomes-based Education Unveiled 

Traditionally, instructors used to plan their teaching by asking such questions as: Is my method of teaching effective? What teaching methods do I use? Is it in the course syllabus? How do I assess to see if the students really understand the lessons? In outcomes-based education (popularly known as OBE), instructors would ask: What do I want my students to do after my teaching that they couldn’t do before and to what standard? How do I assess them to see how they have achieve those outcomes? Did they understand the course? 

OBE comes in the form of competency-based learning standards and outcomes-based quality assurance monitoring and evaluation, in accordance to ChED memorandum order no. 46 s. 2012. Aside from the ChED memo, colleges and universities nowadays are implementing the OBE in order to prepare for the ASEAN integration, wherein the academic calendar of the Philippines is aligned to the academic calendar of fellow ASEAN member-countries. The main objective of the OBE is to gauge the capacities and capabilities of the students. In OBE, the traditional paper-and-pen method of instruction is no longer the sole basis of student’s performance. The student is gauged based if he or she met the specific outcomes of the course. 

Outcomes-based education (OBE) has been adopted by the Chemical Engineering Department as its education system for a couple of years now. Its scheme is still vague to some students’ understanding since professors still seem to have different interpretations of the learning method. The idea of OBE has not been shared fully to the students, thus, the misconception. Some professors see OBE as a way to make the students amend their failing marks, but learning shouldn’t be that way. Learning should be a combination of instilling to the students from the very beginning the subject’s very essence and a way on how to correct mistakes towards that subject whenever there are. Individuals should stop looking at OBE as a ‘pambawi’ or a way of recovering failed examinations and start looking at it as a teacher for misunderstood ideas. In the brighter side, OBE is very helpful in improving the level of instruction that would cater the students’ needs. However, full enforcement of the OBE system may lead to confusion among students since the full text of the guidelines, as of now, were not publicly released. Most students are optimistic that as the term progresses, and as the number of instructors utilizing the OBE system increase, the OBE system will indeed serve its purpose.