Washback on Learning: the Experience of an Outcome Based Assessment in a Higher Learning Institution in Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia has in recent years announced its decision to implement Outcome-based Education (OBE) at all Higher Learning Institutions in the country with the focus on developing world-class human capital. This paper presents the findings of a preliminary qualitative study that investigates how diploma students in a Higher Learning Institution in Malaysia experience the washback from the assessment practices as outlined in the standards of an OBE. 3 students who undertook an English for communication course were recruited as the informants and a semi-structured interview was subsequently administered by the researchers. The resulting themes were subjected to two inter-raters and the reliability value of which was at 90.5%. The findings revealed that technology had become one of the factors that promote the students’ learning as it played an almost significant role in the students’ selection of both in-class and out-of-class learning practices.