Abstract
This study was conducted to find out if the selected courses at the University of Botswana that have been prepared to meet the compliance standards of the Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) have any effects on teaching, learning and assessment processes with respect to the use of lesson outcomes. The study was guided by three research questions and these were: (1) What is the difference between lesson (or learning) outcomes and lesson objectives? (2) How are learning outcomes used in writing question items for tests and examinations? (3) How do learning outcomes improve teaching and learning or academic achievement and assessment in comparison with the use of learning objectives? These research questions were converted into three research objectives and these were: (1) To find out the difference between lesson (learning) outcomes and lesson objectives. (2) To find out how lesson (learning) outcomes are used to write question items for tests and examinations. (3) To find out how lesson outcomes improve teaching, learning or academic achievement and assessment in comparison with the use of lesson objectives. The courses that were analyzed to find answers to research questions and research objectives that guide this study were purposively sampled and they were five (5) of them. The study found that there was no clear difference between lesson outcomes and lesson objectives. It found that lesson outcomes were not used to write test or examinations questions unless they had been written as lesson objectives. The study also found that in comparison to lesson objectives, lesson outcomes did not improve teaching, learning (or students’ academic achievement) and assessment. The study recommended that lesson outcomes be phased out and be replaced with lesson objectives as the latter (lesson objectives) were effective in ensuring that there is proper (or effective) teaching, learning and assessment instead of causing confusion to students, teachers and other stakeholders as learning outcomes do.
 
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Highlights
It found that lesson outcomes were not used to write test or examinations questions unless they had been written as lesson objectives
There is no clear distinction between lesson outcomes and lesson objectives
The two sources of data fail to distinguish between lesson outcomes and lesson objectives
Summary
Outcome-based Education (OBE) is defined in various ways and some of these definitions will be examined on this paper. King and Evans (1991) define OBE as a programme that requires “...a change in traditional approaches to curriculum development, shifting the focus from objectives derived often from content or textbook outlines to objectives based on desired changes in the learner” (p1). Spady (1988) defines OBE as “...organizing for results, basing on what we do instructionally on the outcomes we want to achieve whether in specific parts of the curriculum or in the schooling process as a whole” (p5). Spady (1994) defines OBE as: “...clearly focusing and organizing everything in an educational 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, organizing curriculum, instruction, and assessment to make sure this learning happens” (p1) These definitions have one thing in common, and that is, they call for a change in focus from classroom objectives or outcomes to outcomes that a learner exhibits at the completion of the curriculum or educational programme; these are often referred to as exit outcomes. Spady (1994) defines outcomes as: “...clear learning results that we want students to demonstrate at the end of significant learning experiences” (p2), or: “This ability to apply mental processing through the use of demonstration processes and verbs (like write, organize, design, or produce) corresponds to the definition of an outcome explained in this book” (p68). Before closing the issue of the nature of lesson outcomes it is necessary to briefly discuss the nature and origin of lesson objectives so that the reader who is not familiar with them can compare the two and understand the gist of the discussion
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