Outcomes-based Education Framework Research Articles

An Empirical Analysis of Outcome- Based Education Research

Outcome-based education (OBE) is an educational approach that focuses on what students should know and be able to do at the end of a learning process, rather than focusing solely on what content is taught or how it is delivered. OBE emphasizes clearly defined learning outcomes or competencies that students are expected to demonstrate. These outcomes are often referred to as "Competency Outcomes, Performance Outcomes" (COPO). COPO attainment refers to the achievement of these competency outcomes by students. In an outcome-based education framework, educators design curriculum, instruction, and assessment around these desired outcomes. This means that the curriculum is structured to ensure that students acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to achieve the specified outcomes. This paper describes improvement in CO-PO attainment and is successfully implemented for one of the core subject “BBA105- Financial Accounting and Analysis ” for BBA students at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Mangement Studies, Rohini, Delhi. One of the best ways to present any course in easy manner for students is achieved by Outcome –Based Education (OBE).OBE definitely builds complete knowledge by simplifying complex topics into small steps by applying OBE Methodologies. The attainment of the skills by the students are measured based on the Program Outcomes (PO’s) specified by the accreditation bodies. Defining the Course Outcomes (CO’s), CO-PO attainment, will modify the traditional teaching methodology to a well planned self- learning and scored good results too that is explained in this paper.

Revolutionary Teaching Approaches

Particular emphasis on the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) paradigm, this research aims to investigate the innovative teaching approaches used in Pakistan's educational system. Pakistan is encountering several obstacles to preparing its educational system for the 21st century's demands. As a result, there is a crucial need for innovative methods of instruction. To solve the inadequacies associated with conventional learning methods that rely on memory, transformative pedagogies emphasise student-centred modern ideas and practices. This research investigates the adoption of online learning environments (OBE) in Pakistani schools and its impact on learner participation, critical thinking, and adaptability. The document acknowledges both possibilities and problems, especially about incorporating technology. Some of the constraints include limited resources and cultural expectations. A methodology that utilises many methods, including interviews, observations, and document analysis, was used during an academic year to contribute to the results. The findings of the study indicate that there are a variety of ways in which OBE is implemented, that there is a positive connection between transformational pedagogies and learner engagement, and that there are disparate effects on students at various educational levels. Among the suggestions that have been made in light of the findings are establishing a uniform OBE framework, developing faculty, and including technology. The long-term impacts and the influence of technology and community participation will be the prime focus of study in the future. The findings of this study provide essential insights that may be used to develop a dynamic educational system in Pakistan that can accommodate the demanding requirements of the changing global scene.

Relationship between Effectiveness of Flipped Classroom, Blended Learning and Task-oriented Teaching Methods on Academic Achievement among Vocational College Students in an OBE IT system environment

This research explores the effectiveness of flipped classrooms, blended learning, and task-oriented teaching methods within an Outcome-Based Education (OBE) framework in vocational IT education. The study aims to determine how these innovative teaching methodologies enhance learning outcomes, improve student engagement, and better prepare students for industry demands. By integrating digital platforms with traditional classroom instruction, the flipped classroom model enables pre-class preparation through online materials, allowing for more interactive and application-focused sessions in class. Blended learning supports this by providing a mix of online and face-to-face interactions, offering flexibility and catering to diverse learning preferences. Task-oriented teaching aligns educational activities with real-world tasks, enhancing practical skills crucial for the IT sector. Comparative analysis with traditional educational practices shows that these modern methods significantly increase student participation and knowledge retention, promoting deeper understanding and greater application of IT skills. The study suggests that integrating these methods within an OBE framework not only meets educational objectives more effectively but also aligns with industry requirements, thus enhancing vocational education's responsiveness to labor market needs. Future research is recommended to explore long-term impacts, cross-disciplinary applications, and the integration of emerging technologies. This study serves as a foundation for policymakers and educators aiming to revamp curricular designs and teaching strategies in vocational education to improve educational outcomes and job readiness.

Developing professional development for vocational teachers based on the OBE framework and its effect on trainees’ learning motivation and training satisfaction

Professional Development (PD) for teachers plays a significant role in nurturing new skills, extending updated knowledge and promoting educational reform. The concept of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) is highly recognised in the field of education as it matches the student-centred claim and emphasises measurable learning outcomes. In order to improve the training effectiveness and stimulate vocational teachers’ learning motivation, authors in this research developed a PD for vocational teachers according to the design process and learning outcomes of the OBE concept. Trainees’ learning motivation is measured through the questionnaire based on Kirkpatrick’s model of training evaluation and the ARCS Model of motivation. A total of 40 secondary vocational teachers and 40 higher vocational teachers from Guangdong, China were enrolled in this research. The analysis of quantitative data was conducted using paired samples t-test and one-sample t-test to evaluate trainees’ motivation and satisfaction throughout the PD. The findings of this research suggest that the PD design based on the OBE framework has a significant impact on trainees’ learning motivation and training satisfaction according to the comparison of the data collected from trainees before and after attending the PD.

Intersecting Traditions and Modernity: Perceptions of Quality Assurance in Outcome-Based Education among Vietnamese University Lecturers

In the continuously evolving landscape of global education, the role of Quality Assurance (QA) in fortifying and maintaining the relevance of teaching and learning processes has grown ever more critical. In this context, Vietnam—a country delicately balancing its rich traditions with a strong push towards modern educational paradigms—offers a unique vantage point. The primary aim of this study was to delve deep into Vietnamese university lecturers’ perceptions regarding the intersection of QA and Outcome-Based Education (OBE), particularly focusing on its ramifications on their academic practices. Adopting a qualitative methodology, we engaged with ten lecturers from two distinct universities in the Mekong Delta. Through semi-structured interviews, participants shared their narratives, which were subsequently analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. This analysis was enriched and contextualized through the lens of established theoretical frameworks. The emergent themes painted a multifaceted picture. While recognizing the transformative potential that QA can bring within the OBE framework, lecturers often found themselves grappling with the challenges of seamlessly integrating traditional teaching methodologies with the demands of OBE. Adding to this complexity were concerns about the potential erosion of the ‘human touch’ in teaching as technological interventions become more pervasive in QA processes. Another intriguing dimension was the interplay of deeply rooted Vietnamese cultural norms with contemporary QA practices, serving at times as barriers while at others as catalysts for innovation. The revelations from this study underscore the imperative for establishing culturally resonant QA systems, crafting comprehensive and contextual training modules, and ensuring a judicious blend of technology and traditional pedagogical practices. While resonating with universal themes in education, the findings also spotlight the nuances specific to Vietnam’s academic landscape, making a case for contextually tailored educational interventions.

Curriculum Delivery, Learning and Evaluation by Average Course Outcome Attainment & Program Outcome Attainment Method

Technical education in the country is undergoing a paradigm shift as India became a signatory member of the Washington Accord in the year 2014. Therefore, the focus of the technical education system in the country is now on outcome-based education to ensure quality and excellence. In this changed scenario, the proficiencies and abilities expected of technical teachers need to be transformed to match the changed need of the stakeholders. This is even more relevant as teachers joining the technical education system will be serving the system for the next thirty to forty years and hence implementation OBE framework is of utmost importance for their preparedness to become effective change agents. The performance of the students in the examinations during the semester in each course is used to compute the level of attainment of the POs and PSOs through the mapping of questions to COs and COs to POs and PSOs. This paper represents the process to be adopted for the calculation, of course outcome attainment & program outcome attainment by an average method. Key words: Outcome Based Education (OBE), Course Outcome, Program Outcome, Attainment.

Outcome-Based Education: A Learner-Centric Pedagogical Framework with Case Studies in Digital Communication and Signal Processing Courses

Outcome-based education (OBE) is the buzzword these days in the education field which boosts students’ creativity through their active engagement in learning course contents. Their participatory learning in the OBE model is well supported by making them aware of learning goals and course outcomes. Due to this, the students develop themselves nicely in their working surroundings along with peers. This helps develop their interpersonal skills along with improving academic performance. This paper primarily outlines the implementation of a few key standards of OBE in teaching-learning of two fundamental courses in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. It then covers how OBE, and its consequences demand paradigm shifts in instructional design and evaluation practices. The discussion on OBE for courses on Digital Communication and Digital Signal Processing is explored with Program-Outcomes (POs), Program-Specific-Outcomes (PSOs), besides Course-Outcomes (COs). Analysis of POs along with COs attainment for these two courses reflects the importance of the OBE framework. The inclusion of engineering pedagogy and active learning strategies in this framework leads to enhancing students’ creativity leading to their growth in their professional careers. Keywords— Outcome-based evaluation (OBE), Course- Outcomes (COs), Program-Outcomes (POs), Program-Specific- Outcomes (PSOs), Performance Indicators (PIs)

Effective and Efficient Implementation of OBE Framework within Constrained Pakistani Environment to Attain Desired Learning Outcomes

Outcome-based-education (OBE) is an educational theory that bases each part of an educational system around goals (outcomes). Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) introduced the OBE in Pakistani engineering higher-education-institutions (HEIs),from 2018, in the replacement of previously followed Syllabus& Curriculum based education system. Key to success of OBE System is its continuous-quality-improvement (CQI) mechanism. The CQI mechanism design should be based on accurate assessment process and flawless evaluation of OBE System parameters; otherwise the OBE System’s benefits cannot be achieved. However, some HEIs have not devised an effective CQI mechanism and they still using classical procedures and academic tools in implementation of the OBE Framework, which cannot give desired results from the new System. This paper presents that; instead of presently employed loose-control, a modified stringent control strategy for academic activity and employment of latest technology, can make the CQI mechanism, more effective and efficient. This paper therefore presents a two-fold contribution. At first, the implementation problems of the OBE System are critically analyzed. Secondly, few modifications in the existing approaches have been introduced to achieve the desired results from the recently adopted OBE system.

Outcome Based Education (OBE): Defining the Process and Practice for Engineering Education

Outcome Based Education aka OBE is one of the de-facto standards for modern educational system. An outcome is a culminating demonstration of learning that the students should be able to do at the end of a course, and in process at end of the degree program. Therefore, OBE is an approach to education in which decisions about the curriculum are driven by the exit learning outcomes that the students should perform in their professional life. The curriculum thus defines all the learning outcomes clearly and unambiguously, along with the contents, teaching/learning methods, assessment strategies and academic quality control process to ensure all-round development of the students. An engineer is a unique combination of different skill sets that must be mastered to resolve nontrivial real-life engineering problems. Consequently, the adoption of OBE in engineering education is the compelling necessity. This study offers a comprehensive, ready to adopt OBE framework for tertiary level engineering programs complying with the benchmark mandates of the OBE and the guidelines of Washington Accord. Additionally, the framework is successfully deployed in the department of CSE, IUB for the design and implementation of the undergraduate CSE program, a transcript of which is also documented. This will assist the concerned institutions to design their program in OBE model to gain international academic equivalency and accreditation.

INVESTIGATING THE COMPONENTS OF OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION IN EFL CLASSROOM: A LESSON PLAN ANALYSIS

This study aimed to investigate the implementation of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) to teach English in a vocational school. This study is qualitative with document analysis. The data were taken from four-session English lesson plans from a vocational school, observation, interview, and library research. The results showed the crucial impact of OBE to ensure the learning outcome, especially in a vocational school. OBE is expected to answer the education challenge in the 21st century to provide students with the required skills and competency. The area of analysis covers three areas: objectives, teaching materials, and assessment. It is recommended that teachers construct concrete materials and action in the viewpoint that the English skills taught can be used in the students' lives in the upcoming time in their future job related to the expertise in accounting. Finally, this study has important implications for accomplishing the framework for the practice and methods of goal setting, classroom activities, and assessment and evaluation of student's performance based on the OBE framework.

Compliance Of Higher Education Institutions To Outcome-Based Education For The 21st Century Learners

Outcome-Based Education (OBE) becomes a trend in the Philippine tertiary education from the time that it was implemented by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on the year 2012. It was a product of innovation for quality education which aims to cater to the needs of the 21st century learners. The study is a combination of a quantitative and qualitative approach wherein the extent of compliance of selected Philippine Higher Education Institutions(HEIs) to OBE Framework was assessed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and through interview, the challenges encountered by the participants on its implementation were identified.The findings revealed that HEIs, whether non-accredited or accredited are both compliant with the implementation of OBE and conform to the framework designed by CHED. However, it discloses the challenges that the respondents’ experience in terms of OBE thus, it identifies the essential needs of the educators in the effective and efficient methods in applying OBE. The different aspects of OBE Framework explored and described in the study yielded the Application of OBE framework for teachers, and the essential characteristics of 21st century educators. The concepts produced may serve as a guide for educators in becoming more effective and efficient educators with a 21st century skills.

An automated continuous quality improvement framework for failing student outcomes based on mathematics weaknesses

In this paper, we present a detailed action plan under continuous quality improvement (CQI) exercise of outcomes based education framework related to Mathematics concerns highlighted by the Electrical Engineering (EE) Department. Failing and low performed student learning outcomes (SOs) and course learning outcomes (COs) in range of core EE courses were observed to be linked with weak Mathematics basis of students. This feedback was achieved through an automated CQI system in EvalTools under Faculty Class Assessment Report (FCAR) tab, where each instructor is required to make reflections about failing as well as low performed SOs and COs. Feedback was reviewed comprehensively, and mathematical concepts which significantly affect the performance of students in the core EE courses were derived. Moreover, a high level of Mathematics pre-requisite covering required mathematical concepts is identified for the range of core EE courses. Consequently, well-defined tasks were assigned to continuously evaluate and monitor improvement in required Mathematics concepts to ensure SOs and COs achieved in core EE courses. Results are given to exhibit the effectiveness of continuous improvement management system (CIMS).

Outcome Based Education and Revised Bloom's Taxonomy as a Catalyst for Redesigning Teaching and Learning in Engineering Education

In present days an engineers' requirements are growing as swiftly as the technologies that participate for their attentions. At the same time, our policies and systems are lengthened to their confines to keep up with the varying demands of the times. There is, particularly, a must to protract reflective amalgamation of social and technical knowledge into the upcoming generations of engineering, to create more humane engineers, to enable them to create technological solutions that are more human-centric. Addressing such desire necessitates new approaches to designing engineering courses and teaching them as well. Every encroachment in the education sector from here onward entails a new prototype that can be used in large-scale methodical transformation of education: Outcome Based Education (OBE). This paper delineates the means to use OBE as the foundational means for transforming engineering education. Inclusion of skills to innovate new ideas, Metacognitive skills and professional skills are endorsed, and collaborative, inquest driven practices are motivated to craft and protract novel ways of thinking, interacting, teaching, learning and working. An OBE framework in education is the alignment of Curriculum, teaching practices and Assessment carried out in an institute. OBE apart from enhancement of students' thinking abilities it furthermore helps in standardization of education, curriculum enrichment, meeting out the accreditation and industry needs and augmenting the need for continuous improvement.

Humanities education reform exploration and practice under outcomes-based education (OBE)

Introduction. The concept of outcomes-based education (OBE) was first put forward in 1981 by the educator W. Spady, and has been widely valued and applied in a rapid speed. During the next 10 years, OBE has formed a relatively complete theoretical system and became the mainstream ideas of national education reform in the United States, Britain, Canada and other counties. At present, the technology and tools of OBE, despite the criticism, remain relevant for the development and optimisation of the humanities education system.The aim of the present research is to study and analyse the theory of OBE and the practice on the application of pedagogical principles for modernisation of the humanities education in China.Results and scientific novelty. Chinese education certification system has made notable progress in recent years. More universities and colleges are pursuing a quality improvement strategy focused on three main components – learning outcomes, student personality and continuous improvement. OBE establishes the same priorities; OBE is considered as a special type of effective pedagogical design. The features of this model implementation are briefly described – the structure of the training process, its stages and characteristics. The opportunities for improving humanities education based on OBE framework were considered. The OBE operates within the framework of the following core issues: the things students learn and the extent of student success, not the manner of learning; the place, the time of learning and the duration of training.OBE process implies ultimate involvement of students’ individual cognitive abilities to master competencies, which help adapt to future life. The knowledge of actual material (content of the programme) is not the key element of the education process, but the skills of knowledge application are important when solving specific tasks. The curricula, educational process, its methods, tools are adjusted, rebuilt and replaced if they do not contribute to the development of such skills, e. g. the results of the training determine its system and act not as a goal, but as a means of achieving it. The structure of results manages all educational activities, and their evaluation is carried out according to clear initially defined criteria, combined with flexible personalised requirements in order to get students to fully self-realise personal potential during a training course. To improve the initial design of curriculum, it is necessary to provide constant feedback “student-teacher”. The teacher has to organise and focus the learning process to give each student confidence in the acquired experience and to guarantee his or her success in further professional activities and life in general.Practical significance. The OBE concept fully complies with the needs and demands of modern society and modern people – it is no coincidence that such training has become one of the most popular forms of education in many countries, including the field of the humanities education in China. The present research leads to the conclusion that in the humanities field, notably in the teaching of foreign languages, a significant improvement in the quality of training of students can be achieved through the use of OBE teaching tools. In this model of training, practice is more important than theory. Moreover, this model assumes understanding to be more valuable than memory; the traditional “cramming” of educational information by students can be completely excluded; also, such model provides an opportunity to establish a continuous productive dialogue between the participants of educational process and to transform a classroom into a laboratory. The student becomes an active, self-motivated and responsible actor of his or her own individual educational trajectory, not a passive consumer of information, and the teacher – active assistant and coordinator of education.

Theoretical Perspectives and Current Challenges of Outcome-Based Education Framework

AbstractOutcome-Based education is a performance-based approach for the curriculum development, a future-oriented learner-centered ‘Empowerment Paradigm’ that empowers and endorses all learners with future success. It is an influential and tempting way of restructuring and reorganizing engineering education. Washington Accord, an International accreditation convention, an independent agreement between signatory organizations to provide an external accreditation to undergraduate engineering programs. The accredited engineering programs that qualify an engineer to enter into the practice of professional engineers are equally recognized and acknowledged by other signatory countries and responsible organizations Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) is a full signatory to the Washington Accord and a regulatory organization for the accreditation of engineering programs in Pakistan. To keep up the permanent membership status, it is the requirement of PEC to implement Outcome-Based in engineering degree awarding institutes in Pakistan. The main aim of Outcome-Based education in engineering education is to empower engineering students with the essential characteristics required to switch themselves into the engineering profession as a global and professional engineer. The focus of current research is to explore the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of Outcome-Based education. Moreover, to unveil the current challenges in the implementation of OBE framework in engineering education.

Attaining Computer Network Course Outcomes through Activities and Statistical Analysis of Simulation Results using SPSS Tool

One of the important aspects of the outcome based Education (OBE) is the assessment of course outcomes (CO). As we have adopted the OBE framework for our programme. we have integrated the theory and laboratory course and conducted activities to achieve the course outcome of Computer Network course. As we know the tollgate courses have multiple prerequisite courses and to attain the course outcome the learning of these prerequisite courses can be applied in this course. The union of the attainment of the outcome sets of all the tollgate courses can be viewed as program outcome attainment. Fundamentally any tollgate course is progressive in the attainment of the outcomes. A Computer Network is one such toll gate course for computer science and engineering programme positioned during the sixth semester. The concepts of basic subjects like data structures, algorithms, object oriented programming, operating system are prerequisites which are used to solve a large problem. The authors have attempted to measure the outcomes of this tollgate course through theory and laboratory activities. One activity on the client server computational overview was tried to address the issues related to fault tolerant systems. Other activity defined to understand the network behavior for given parameters to apply the statistical techniques for the simulated results.

Core competencies necessary for a managerial psycho-educational training programme for business team coaches

The objective of this research was to explore and describe core competencies necessary for a managerial psycho-educational training programme for business team coaches. The total number of participants in this qualitative research was 30. A purposive and snowball sampling strategy was used. Triangulation was achieved through focus groups, in-depth individual interviews and naïve sketches. Data were analysed through an open inductive approach and descriptive analysis. The results describe core competencies of a business team coach as situated within an Outcomes Based Education framework and relate to the knowledge to be discovered, skills to be mastered and the attitudes to be formed during a managerial psycho-educational training programme.

E-portfolio Assessment System for an Outcome-Based Information Technology Curriculum

Introduction A major shift in the past decade has changed the focus in education from a teacher-centered instructional environment to a student-centered one (Brooks, 1997). As grades became insufficient to prove learning took place, universities in the USA and worldwide took a critical look at their educational systems. In 2002 a US national panel called for a dramatic reorganization of undergraduate education to ensure that all college students receive not only access to college but also to an education of lasting value (http://www.aacu.org). One recommendation was that colleges and universities help students become "intentional" life-long learners and create new assessment techniques that allow students to apply their learning to real world problems. In an effort to shift the focus from the traditional lecture style to a student-centered learning style, a number of academic institutions in the US have adopted an outcome-based education framework. Outcome-based education is a method of education that focuses on what students can actually do after they are taught a particular subject. All curriculum and teaching decisions are made based on how to best facilitate the achievement of a desired outcome. This exercise leads to a planning process that is quite different from the traditional educational planning method. The desired outcome is first identified, and then the curriculum is created to support the intended outcomes (Furman, 1994). E-portfolios have been used to document student work to demonstrate learning (American Association for Higher Education. 2008, Smith & Winking-Diaz, 2004). Unlike paper-based portfolios, e-portfolios allow information to be stored, accessed, updated, and presented in various electronic formats to record students achievements. E-portfolios are being adopted at a growing number of colleges and universities in the USA and abroad (Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005. Several US universities have adopted the e-portfolio assessment concept, including California Lutheran University (http://ww2.clunet.edu/soe/webfolio/index.php), Portland State University (http://www.pdx.edu/unst/frinq.htm), John Hopkins University(2008) (http://cte.jhu.edu/dp/support), the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (http://www.eportfolio.org), and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (http://www.opd.iupui.edu/coil/eport.htm). For faculty, the e-portfolio can be an effective tool to better manage, review, reflect, and comment on students' work. For students, the e-portfolio enriches their resume, both before and after graduation. In the gulf region the adoption of outcome-based educational models and e-portfolios has been slow. Zayed University (ZU), a fairly recent university located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has adopted an outcome-based Academic Program Model (APM) and the use of e-portfolios to document student learning (Zayed University, 2008a). The ZU e-portfolio assessment system (EAS) was created to allow faculty to assess specific components of student academic work that includes various learning outcomes. Moreover, faculty members use data from the EAS to evaluate how courses are meeting college and university goals. The achievement of learning outcomes and the compilation of e-portfolios has become an important component of the grade point average (GPA) assessment system. E-portfolios enable students to improve and focus their learning and provide them with a tool to showcase their skills. The EAS can be used to measure whether the curriculum meets institution and college/major learning outcomes: Zayed University Learning Outcomes (ZULOs), and Major's Learning Outcomes (MALOs). Currently, ZU has approximately 4000 students and has two campuses, one in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai, UAE. ZU follows a US based academic model and is perhaps the first university in the Gulf to adopt the e-portfolio to help students achieve learning. During the last six years, the implementation of the APM model was used to facilitate the inclusion of learning outcomes into various courses across ZU curricula. …

Mind the Gap: Beyond Whole-brain learning

In past research we 1 have demonstrated how methodologies used in the training of performers can both encourage whole-brain learning and answer to the demands of South Africa’s current educational paradigm, outcomes-based education (OBE). OBE is a needs-driven, outcomes-driven and competency-orientated pedagogy, which aims at incorporating learners as active agents within the learning process as opposed to the previous content-driven, teacher-orientated approach to education (Coetzee 2004). Our research was prompted by the constant need for our Drama departments to validate their existence in the light of changing funding structures for the arts, governmental and institutional demands for measured outcomes and our institutions’ emphasis on wholebrain learning as the preferred pedagogical approach to education and training. We explored the ways in which the changes in the South African educational dispensation impact on the work of educators within a Drama department in the Higher Education and Training band (HET) in South Africa. These changes include a focus on competencies and critical outcomes across learning areas and across the qualification bands identified by the new National Qualifications Framework. In our search for ways in which to implement the critical outcomes 2 demanded by the OBE framework, we turned to Herrmann’s argument (1995) that optimal, deep structure learning can only take place when whole-brain modes are operative. Our investigations were supported by research undertaken by De Boer, Steyn and Du Toit (2001:192) in which they indicated compatibility between the processes associated with each of the four modalities that constitute whole-brain learning and the processes associated with reaching OBE’s critical outcomes as demonstrated in Table 1 on the next page.

Teaching reading in an OBE framework

According to survey research (Lessing & De Witt 2001), teachers currently teaching reading in the foundation phase, indicated a need for further training in this regard. The survey indicated that teachers feel unsure about what is expected from them in the new education system. With this in mind the authors presented a workshop in which the focus was on teaching reading in an outcomes-based Education (OBE) framework with the aim of empowering teachers to teach reading in the foundation phase. The workshop dealt with reading as an important aspect of the literacy learning area and suggestions were made to enhance the acquisition of vocabulary, sight reading words, decoding skills and comprehension. The importance of integration of the different aspects (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in the literacy learning area as well as integration of different learning areas (literacy, numeracy and life skills) was stressed. A questionnaire was used to determine teachers' views of the workshop. Teachers' views on the presentation of oral language, listening, communication, reading, spelling and writing as presented in the workshop were evaluated. The evaluation of teachers' views of the workshop was compared with regard to different moderator variables, such as initial training and teaching experience, to determine if these significantly influenced their responses. In general the evaluation of the workshop was very positive and it was clear that the workshop contributed to equip teachers to teach reading in the new OBE framework. (Journal for Language Teaching: 2002 36(3-4):273-288)