An Approach to the Evaluation of Program Outcomes and Consideration of Activities beyond Curriculum for Improvement of Program Outcome Attainment

Abstract

Abstract: Current global scenario demands outcome based education to develop graduates with universal acceptability. Program Outcomes (POs) laid by NBA (Table 1) are the assessable components indicative of graduate potential to demonstrate competencies to practice at appropriate levels. Program Outcomes (PO) can be defined and calculated by assessment of various Course Outcomes (CO) which can further be evaluated from Learning Outcomes (LOs). Blooms Taxonomy classifies LOs into the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains based on their level of complexity. Each LO maps to CO and hence contributes to PO. The direct and indirect assessment tools can be used to obtain course outcome attainment level. Performance at the prerequisite subject and attainment of the outcomes for previous year are the factors determining defined CO attainment. The attainment of Program Outcomes POs is an indicator of the graduate’s potential to demonstrate competencies and practice at appropriate levels. POs are derived from the Graduate Attributes (GA) specified by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). Curriculum designed by University is not enough for a graduate to achieve the desired level of PO attainment. PO attainment is calculated by considering co-curricular and extracurricular activities in addition to the curriculum specified by the affiliating University for a programmer. GA like Pharmacy Knowledge, Thinking Abilities, Planning Abilities, Professional Identity, Environment and Sustainability, Pharmacist and Society are achieved through regular curricular activities whereas other GA like Leadership Skills, Ethics, Communication and Life Long Learning can be better attained through participation in extracurricular and co-curricular activities. This paper describes a module for defining and calculating attainment of Program Outcomes. It also demonstrates how of Activities beyond Curriculum for improvement of Program Outcome attainment. Key words: Blooms Taxonomy, Program Outcomes, Graduate Attributes, Program Educational Objectives, Co-curricular, Extracurricular.