A paradigm shift to Outcome- Based Assessment

Outcome- based assessment is complementary to the successful implementation of outcomebased education. In outcome- based education, the curriculum design, teaching and assessment are student- centred hence focuses on what students can actually do ( learners’ outcomes).

Outcomes are end results the learners should exhibit at the end of their learning - end of topic or term or year. Outcomes are necessarily not only those associated with the subject content matter ( knowledge and skills), but also include others, such as values and attitudes.

The major difference between the conventional or content- based curriculum and outcome- based curriculum revolves around time. In the conventional content- based curriculum, time is fixed and all other factors are variable. That is, a topic is allocated definite time in the curriculum and it is up to the teacher to fit the content matter within the given time. Irrespective of whether s/ he completed teaching it and/ or whether students mastered the content or not, when allocated time elapses, the teacher moves on to the next topic. Outcome- based education operates the other way round: the outcomes are fixed, and time and other resources needed to achieve the outcomes are variable. That is all the learners must achieve the outcomes before moving to the next topic.

We notice that even in the conventional contentbased curriculum, the outcomes are stated however the emphasis on their achievement is secondary if not tertiary. In developing the outcome- based education, the starting point is establishing the outcomes that learners are to demonstrate. Those involved in the learning process have to agree prior to implementation as to what outcomes should be displayed at the end of learning, and thereafter instructional design inherently should carefully proceed backward from the outcomes on which everything ultimately focuses and rests. Outcome- based education incorporates the principles of mastery learning. In mastery learning, teachers take responsibility for making sure that all learners master the content well. Outcome- based education goes beyond that by engaging learners in their own learning and ensuring that they assume responsibility for achieving the outcomes.

Outcome- based education is premised on the principle that students learn in different ways and have different styles of learning. Some learners learn better through visual formats such as graphs and drawings; others learn better through aural formats such as audio files and group presentations; while others learn better through written formats, and yet others learn better through perceptual and experiential formats such as simulations and demonstrations. Nonetheless, learners may engage one or more depending on the context. Accordingly, learners must be permitted to demonstrate their learning in different ways, and have numerous opportunities to demonstrate the outcomes, not just once.

It is essential that assessment is student- centred encompassing both processes and products, in line with the curriculum approaches. It is through assessment that one can tell whether learners have achieved the outcomes or not. It is important to stress that appropriate assessment format corresponding to the leaner’s style of learning should therefore be implemented. There is little point in planning learning experiences that offer real- world authentic experiences and then in the main assessing learning with a multiple choice test format, which serves to promote role learning of factual knowledge. Such assessment is neither a valid nor a reliable measure of the learner’s ability to apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes. Albert Einstein once said: If you judge fish by climbing a tree, it will spend the rest of its life thinking that it is stupid. The same applies to learners.

If you assess football skills by writing instead of demonstration, your team will be walloped by all nations, and they will think they are stupid. School- based assessment is inherent in outcome- based assessment. Because of this, Assessment- as- Learning and Assessment- for- Learning aka formative assessment are particularly inevitable. Assessment- of- Learning aka summative assessment should play a reduced role and serve to confirm what has been established by formative assessment. As such, a high correlation between the two should exist.

The possibility of norm- referenced assessment, whereby learners are compared to one another, is nonexistent in outcome- based assessment neither are activities based on results of norm- referenced testing, such as prize giving. These serve to negate the principles of outcome- basededucation, by demoralising and demotivating learners and encouraging competition. Categorically, outcomebased education calls for a different way of grading learners than the accustomed Grade A, B, C and the likes because this is akin to norm- referenced interpretation. The switch to outcome- based assessment is to transit from the assessment regime characterised by once- off paper- and- pencil summative examinations to employing a wide range of formative assessment methods to cater for different kinds of achievements, which in the process facilitates the acquisition of complex thinking skills, problem- solving skills, and abstract reasoning. The Author holds PhD in ‘ Assessment & Quality Assurance’ and writes in his personal capacity as a Psychometric Researcher. Contact/ WhatsApp: 71713446 or masoletm@ gmail. com or facebook page: Trust Mbako Masole.