CENTRAL LUZON COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OLONGAPO CITY

PERFECTING THE IMPERFECTIONS: A PHENOMOLOGICAL STUDY ON PRACTICES ON OUTCOMES BASED EDUCATION AMONG HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUIONS IN OLONGAPO

JHESSIE L. ABELLA, RN, RM, MAN

Introduction Galileo Galilee once said a man cannot teach a man anything but rather he can only help him find in within himself. This means that you can only go so far to help someone learn and make the right condition for the learner to discover what already known to be true. The principle of outcome based education relates to this passage from Galilee where Outcome-Based Education means 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, then organizing the curriculum, instruction, and assessment to make sure this learning ultimately happens (Spady, 1994:1). In this approach learners may identify what are the things which are important and what is essential for them. It is indeed true that learning may not be significant with someone unless it may reflect the importance of learning in real life and utilize it in different life roles. OBE has been around for centuries. The origins of modern outcomes-based education can be traced back to the work of Italian educator Maria Montessori, whose teaching theories shaped the development of Montessori schools the world over. Working in the early 1900s, Montessori believed that instead of setting up arbitrary grading systems, tests, and the like and teaching inputs based on them, education was best measured by encouraging individual student achievement, which can occur at different rates for different students. This method would allow students of different skill levels and abilities to learn at their own individual rates (or outcomes), rather than lumping all students together and measuring them at the same standard at the same point in time. In the local setting, government educational bureau, school administrators and educational gurus are continuously seeking ways and means to upgrade the standards and quality of education in terms of its delivery system and other related components of quality education. The continuous growth of population, government budgetary allocation for education, and educational political will have been a great factor in the affects the quality of education one can experience. Other than that, some other problems occurred such as: lack of qualified teachers, inadequate classrooms and ineffective programs. These are more evident to public schools here in the country.

Recognizant of this reality, the Commission on Higher Education in pursuit of an ongoing paradigm shift to learning competency based standards mandated all Higher Education Institution to incorporate a Quality Policy utilizing an Outcomes Based Education. This policystandard, which applies to private and public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country, is issued to enhance the quality assurance system of Philippine higher education through learning competency based standards and an outcomes-based system of quality assurance that is differentiated by type of HEI. CHEDs rationale in implementing this policy is very specific as they believe that this mandate will contribute to building a quality nation capable of transcending the social, political, economic, cultural and ethical issues that constrain the countrys human development, productivity and global competitiveness. The commissions focused in mandating all HEIs underscores a quality assurance that is rooted in research which suggest that there has been a lack of a critical pool of graduates with the necessary thinking, technical and behavioral competencies are among the factors constraining the re-launching of the Philippine manufacturing sector and the achievement of the full potentials of the service sector. Another important ideas of this policy is that change is dynamic the Philippine educational system should adopt with the ever changing climate of systems that Philippine s has been left behind. The reality is that in 2015 where ASEAN community will facilitate the free flow of qualified labor in the region and either open up opportunities for graduates of Philippine HEIs or threaten their employment even in this country. The Philippine educational system should move on this suggest that Philippine should keep on track or be left behind. (CMO No. 2 S. of 2011) This mandate from CHED aims to contribute to building a quality nation capable of transcending the social, political, economic, cultural and ethical issues that constrain the countrys human development, productivity and global competitiveness. The fulfillment of this action entails all HEI to offer quality programs that will meet the national and the international standards of programs for the different professions/disciplines. Quality assurance is viewed as an important ingredient in the social development of the population especially the Filipinos out of the poverty condition. CHED defines quality as the alignment and consistency of the learning environment with the institutions vision, mission, and goals demonstrated by exceptional learning and service outcomes and the development of a culture of quality. This definition highlights three perspectives of quality. One the quality as fitness for purpose, which is generally

used by international bodies for assessment and accreditation, requires the translation of the institutions vision, mission, and goals into its learning outcomes, programs, and systems. Second quality as exceptional means either being distinctive; exceeding very high standards; or conformance to standards based on a system of comparability using criteria and ratings. And lastly quality underlies CHEDs definition of exceptional; and Quality as developing a culture of quality is the transformational dimension of the CHED notion of quality. Quality assurance utilizing the OBE has been widely argued by educational administrators, though this would impact the educational system of the country where Philippines has been left behind years back by our neighboring ASIAN nations. This paper aims to assess how well the HEIs administrators in Olongapo adapted to the provision of the OBE and the practices of the educators with regards to OBE or are thy well equipped with the knowledge and skills relating to OBE. This issue is very timely and is pressing the education administrators. It is imminent that this policy is another challenge facing the educational sectors to adopt and practice the quality assurance utilizing the OBE principle. There are several questions that determine the direction of this study. What are the best practices of the HEIs administrators with regards to OBE as well as theory instructors? How well they adopt and practice quality policy as set forth by the CHED? And their reasons in adopting or implanting this quality policy? An explication of OBE will be dealt with this forgoing study this will also illuminate the performance of the HEIs in Olongapo.

Review of Related Literature This paper aims to explore the principles of OBE as practiced among the HEIs in Olongapo. This is intended to explain the principles and how this principle is incorporated in their system. In addition this paper will definitely help teachers and administrators understand the process and practices on OBE among other HEIs in Olongapo which will certainly facilitate other institution to espouse the practices of their counterpart. The Philippine educational system as observed by the researcher has been through a lot of curricular development. Policies and standards have been laid; OBE is one of the recent development to which it has been advocated by some and critics by many. Where will this process lead the curriculum?

Outcomes based education is a process that involves the restructuring of curriculum, assessment and reporting practices in education to reflect the achievement of high order learning and mastery rather than the accumulation of course credits (Tucker, 2004). According to Tucker the primary aim of OBE is to facilitate desired changes within the learners, by increasing knowledge, developing skills and/or positively influencing attitudes, values and judgment. OBE embodies the idea that the best way to learn is to first determine what needs to be achieved. Once the end goal (product or outcome) has been determined the strategies, processes, techniques, and other ways and means can be put into place to achieve the goal. The major problem in all curricular frameworks is the outcome or product measurement. Geyser (1999) stated that OBE deals with the product Outcomes are clear learning results that learners have to demonstrate at the end of significant learning experiences: what learners can actually do with what they know and have learned. Outcomes are actions/ performances that embody and reflect learner competence in using content, information, ideas and tools successfully. He further proposed that when learners do important things with what they know they have taken a significant step beyond knowing itself. Vela, Berardinelli & Burrow (1998) reminds us of the importance of accountability mechanisms (learner assessment) that directly reflect student performance and help learners know what they know. Thus outcomes describe the results of learning over a period of time the results of what is learned versus what is taught. Spady and Marshall (1994:20) an advocate of OBE has explained the meaning and concept of outcomes as: Outcomes are 'clear, observable demonstrations of student learning that occur after a significant set of learning experiences. They are not values, attitudes, feelings, beliefs, activities, assignments, goals, scores or averages, as many people believe. Typically these demonstrations reflect three things: What the student knows What the student can actually do with what he or she knows The student's confidence and motivation in carrying out the demonstration. They further state that outcomes are what learners can actually do with what they know and have learnt. In other words they are the tangible application of what has been learnt. That assists the learners to know themselves. OBE compels educators to use action verbs like describe, explain, design or produce. These action verbs are preferred more than the vague and nondemonstration processes like know, understand, believe or think. It should be noted that since

outcomes occur at the end of a learning experience, they represent the ultimate result of the didactic situation. In general, OBE standards are clearly defined and are known by all learners. This system allows the learners to reach and receive full credit for achieving any performance standard. OBE focuses on increasing students learning and ultimate performance abilities to the highest possible level before leaving school. That means that OBE takes an overview of the students learning and achievement. In this situation mistakes are treated as inevitable steps towards development and demonstration of high-level performance capabilities. The traditional system takes the opposite approach where testing and permanently grading of learners is very important and emphasizes on rewards learners for assigned work covered in class. Those who are fast and consistent performers get the best grades and records and those who are slower never get the opportunity to catch up because previous mistakes cannot be erased. Outcome-based methods have been adopted in significant ways in the United States, Australia, South, and Hong Kong to mention a few. Each education agency specifies its own outcomes and its own methods of measuring student achievement according to those outcomes (Goals setting strategies). Though it is claimed the focus is not on "inputs", OBE generally is used to justify increased funding requirements, increased graduation and testing requirements, and additional preparation, homework, and continuing education time spent by students, parents and teachers in supporting learning as well as the unit cost of training a student. (European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 13, Number 2 2010) In the Philippine education system, the quality and quality assurance in education has been the major theme from the past decade not only in the Philippines but from the rest of the world. Valisno (2000) in her presentation at the International Conference on the Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Standards, Mechanisms and Mutual Reorganization. She recognized that more and more people are concerned about the products or outputs of universities and colleges, whether societies are getting the real value for their investments in higher education. Harman(1996) points to the following main concerns on the quality issues that presently dominate the debates on higher education: 1) maintenance and improvement of levels of teaching, learning, research and scholarship; 2) improvement in the quality and adaptability of graduates; 3) how to define and measure quality; 4) whether management approaches of and colleges improve outcomes; 5) the use of benchmarking and performance indicators; and 6)how

to convince stakeholders that institutions and systems are doing a competent job in ensuring quality outputs. Valisno further explained that universities and government agencies just used different terms such as academic standards, standards of degrees and diplomas, student assessment, and accountability. But the main issue also was largely about maintaining academic standards according to some national or international norm, the maintenance and improvement of levels of' teaching and learning, and how to provide sufficient financial and other resources to achieve quality higher education, As can be observed, many of' these issues are still significant today, but the new quality debate is centered largely on the achievement of quality outcomes; which necessitates the establishment of appropriate internal quality auditing and quality management processes not only to continuously monitor achievement, and to ensure rising achievement developing but also to determine and implement the quality policy and such as the management of' quality control and improvement. The lesson of the past as understood by the researcher could be the driving force of the educational managers of this country to adopt the process of OBE as an educational process which is based on trying to achieve certain specified outcomes in terms of individual student learning. Malan (2000) affirmed that the shift toward OBE is similar to the total quality movement as it reflects the best way for individuals and organizations to get where they are going is first to determine where they want to be then plan backward to determine the best way to get from here to there. Proponents of OBE assume there are many ways to arrive at the same results. OBE is currently favored internationally in countries such as Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and United States. CHED, PRC, IMO, PACUCOA and the like has driven several institutions in the Philippines to adopt the implementation of OBTL. One of which is the Technological Institute of the Philippines. In the paper published by Dr. Cynthia Llanes the Vice President for Academic Affairs of TIP. On her paper she has enlightened the readers about the experience of the TIP with regards to OBTL. How did they do it? The first step was to define the graduates they want to produce. As suggested by John Biggs and Catherine Tang (2007), they have formulated the intended learning outcomes at three levels: 1) the institutional level, as a statement of what the graduates of TIP are supposed to be

able to do, 2) the degree program level, as a statement of what graduates from a particular degree program should be able to do, and 3) the course level, as a statement of what students should be able to do at the completion of a given course or subject. On the institutional level, they have defined the TIP graduate attributes and the Institutional Intended learning outcomes. TIP wanted their graduates to exhibit professional competence, critical thinking and problem solving skills, communication skills, lifelong learning, social and ethical responsibility, productivity and interpersonal skills. After coming out with the TIP Graduate Attributes and Institutional Intended Learning Outcomes, workshops were conducted to define the intended learning outcomes of all program offerings of TIP ensuring that these student outcomes at program level are aligned with the TIP institutional Intended Learning Outcomes. All program offerings of TIP now have student outcomes that are aligned with the TIP graduate attributes and Institutional Intended Learning Outcomes

To re-align the course intended learning outcomes, seminar workshops were conducted to revise all course syllabi to incorporate intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks. All departments were required to re-align all course syllabi along OBTL concepts of ILO, TLA and AT. Appropriate learning activities and assessment tasks to attain the intended learning outcomes were planned. The appropriate grading criteria to measure the attainment of a given objective were also specified in the revised syllabus. Some actions taken by TIP in the implementation of OBT were also cited in the paper of Llanes. Highlights of these areas of step includes; 1) Information Dissemination, 2) Constructive Re-alignment, 3) Capacity Building, and 4) Evaluation and Improvement.

Information dissemination. Part of the development phase is the creation of action plan for OBTL implementation and the creation of OBTL Project Team. An intensified information drive was launched through awareness brochures, memoranda, posters, and meetings with stakeholders to introduce the OBTL concept. An OBTL awareness brochure was published. It is meant to provide basic information about OBTL and its significance in the TIP educational process. An OBTL Checklist that enumerates guide questions for all faculty members in line with OBTL implementation was also developed. Every faculty member is given a copy of the OBTL checklist at the beginning of a semester. This is our way of reminding them of their role in the OBE process. All faculty members were required to introduce the OBTL concepts in the instructional process through the application of appropriate teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks that facilitate achievement of the intended learning outcomes Capacity building and constructive re-alignment. The action plans on OBTL for school years 2010-2012 focused on continuous capacity strengthening. Orientation of newly hired faculty members, re-orientation of old faculty members, and seminar workshops for academic and non-academic officers and staff on OBTL were intensified. This is to ensure that all faculty members, concerned officers and staff are fully equipped with the knowledge and pedagogical skills needed for the effective integration of OBTL. A series of seminar workshops were conducted as part of capacity building for faculty members in the development of intended learning outcomes, alignment of teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks with ILOs, facilitating active learning, and development and deployment of evaluation rubrics. In August 2010, Dr. Paul Lam and Dr. Sai On, Engineering Professors of City University of Hong Kong were invited to conduct a capacity building seminar for officers and faculty members of TIP. The

resource speakers shared their best practices about OBTL implementation in Civil Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong. For a more objective assessment of students performance, rubrics for the assessment of student performance were also developed. Faculty members handling laboratory subjects were encouraged to grade their students using the rubric for laboratory performance. We also developed rubric for oral presentation, rubric for reflection paper, and rubric for research paper, among others. Evaluation and improvements. As part of TIPs process along continual improvement, assessments and evaluation of the early implementation of OBTL were done. Surveys on the pilot implementation of OBTL were conducted. The results were used in the continual quality improvement of the process, specifically, improvements in the areas of information dissemination, capacity building, and in the conduct of teaching and learning activities. Some TIP faculty members also did their share of evaluating and improving the OBE implementation at TIP. In TIP Manila, 9 faculty researches were conducted while TIP Quezon City produced 11 faculty researches on OBE for the past 3 years.

Search for Outstanding OBTL Portfolio To further promote the practice of OBTL among faculty members, the search for best outcomes-based teaching and learning (OBTL) portfolio was started in October 2010. It is meant to encourage outstanding instruction, effective facilitation of learning, and innovation in the classroom by integrating the OBTL elements of intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks. TIP believes that by recognizing outstanding contributions of faculty members, other members of the teaching

force shall be inspired to achieve continuous quality enhancement of teaching and learning using OBTL. Winners receive cash awards ranging from PhP 6,500 for consolation prizes and as much as PhP 13,000.00 for the best OBTL portfolio. In addition TIP has integrated a 4-year student development program (SDP) which was likewise launched starting SY 2010-2011. The objective of the SDP is to enhance the students employability and desirability by industry after graduation. Graduates shall have that winning mindset that shall make them winners, confident and ready to face lifes challenges and to make a difference in society. The 4-year SDP consists of four (4) modules which were incorporated in some subjects in the curriculum of each academic program. Module 1Self Awareness CWTS11, Module 2Goal SettingCWTS 12, Module 3Values DevelopmentEthics, Module 4Developing a Winners MindsetPE 4, Practicum, Seminars and Plant Visits . The syllabi of these subjects were revised to integrate the elements of OBTL and SDP. Further details on the institution missteps has been laid in this paper which includes the; 1. The inadequate effort to educate the faculty members about OBTL Concepts resulted in many misconceptions and wrong implementations.2. They have also realized that their Deans and Department Chairs, but not all of them, who were expected to cascade the idea on OBTL to the faculty members and ensure proper implementation themselves did not have very clear understanding of OBTL.3. Also, TIP was doing so many assessments. They were assessing the attainment of learning outcomes every semester in almost all subjects until they have realized that it can be done only in selected subjects. These missteps made them realize the need for 1) continual information dissemination, 2) continual capacity building, and 3) the need to implement a more systematic assessment process. More so they tried to clarify many misconceptions about OBTL using brochures and through

intensified discussions in faculty meetings. A brochure was prepared to correct the varied misconceptions of some faculty members about OBTL based on the feedback that were gathered during the initial survey. The VPAA and the OBTL coordinator, sometimes with the school president, went around the different academic departments to discuss the contents of the brochure in an effort to correct the misconceptions of faculty members about OBTL. Some teachers thought that OBTL is not content focused; therefore, they may not cover the entire syllabus of the course. They explained that the teacher should cover every topic that is necessary for the attainment of a given intended learning outcome. If the teacher feels that a given topic is important to make the students acquire or develop the learning outcomes, then, that particular topic should not be missed as part of the lesson. On the misconception that OBTL is allowing the students to study on their own without the teacher doing his role to facilitate the learning process, TIP administrators explained that OBTL is a paradigm shift from teachercentered to student centered learning, but it does not remove the teacher from his role as facilitator of the learning process.

Qualitative Approach This paper utilized the phenomenological approach in research. This will illuminate the issue of outcomes based education concerning the best practices of the HEIs in Olongapo where the particular actors of the present phenomenon are the HEI administrators and the instructors. They will be the locus of the study. Personal perspective and personal interpretation of the subjects will be given importance in illuminating the purpose of this study. This approach is very effective in bringing to frontage the experience and perception of individuals their own perspective of OBE and will therefore be used as a basis to inform, be inform and to give support to the surfacing issue on OBE.

The strength of qualitative research is its ability to provide complex textual descriptions of how people experience a given research issue. It provides information about the human side of an issue that is, the often contradictory behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and relationships of individuals (Qualitative Research Methods p.1-2). Qualitative methods are also effective in identifying intangible factors specifically in the light of OBE utilization in some HEI in Olongapo. The data collected in a qualitative study includes more than words; attitudes, feelings, vocal and facial expressions, and other behaviors are also involved. The data which may consist of interview transcripts, field notes from observations, a wide variety of records and historical documents, and memoranda, are treated to rigorous ongoing analysis. Three processes are blended throughout the study: collection, coding, and analysis of data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967): This approach encourages the kind of flexibility so important to the qualitative researcher who can change a line of inquiry and move in new directions, as more information and a better understanding of what are relevant data are acquired (Blumer, 1999) All the higher educational institution in Olongapo will be covered by this study namely; CELTECH College, Columban College, Mondrian Aura College, Gordon College and the Lyceum of Subic Bay. The school administrator represented by their president or the vice president for academic affairs together with the instructors of the premier or the flagship program of the institution will be utilized as the respondents of this study. Data collection and sampling is an important aspect of any type of research study. Inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately lead to invalid results. A purposive sampling technique will be utilized to depict the purpose of this study. According to Cormack (2000) suggests that qualitative researchers use a small selective sample, because of the in-depth nature of the study and the analysis of data required. The HEIs administrators as well as the instructor are purposively chosen to provide vital information that will shed light to the foregoing study. An interview will be utilized as the primary data collection technique. Interviewing is widely used in qualitative research. Compared with observation, it is more economical in time. Interviewing is trying to understand what people think through their speech. (www.ssrc.hku.hk/er/qr0204.doc) Prior to gaining consent from participants, letters requesting permission to carry out the study will be sent to the necessary institution. If all permission requests are granted, a letter of

invitation will be distributed to all the HEI administrators and instructors of the premier program of the HEIs inviting them to participate in the study. The researcher will use open-ended interviews as it allows participants to discuss their opinions, views and experiences fully in detail where as perhaps a interview with closed ended questions may inhibit them to express their full opinions and feelings. With the use of semistructured interviews the researcher will have prepared a topic guide or a certain amount of questions to be covered with each participant (Polit and Beck (2008). A face to face interview allows the researcher to observe any non-verbal communication but also allows both the interviewer and participant to seek any clarification necessary. The interviews will be audiotaped with permission from the participant to ascertain an accurate account of the interview which can be replayed for analytic purposes and anonymity will be assured during the course of the recording. A qualitative research interview seeks to cover both a factual and a meaning level, though it is usually more difficult to interview on a meaning level. (Kvale, 1996). Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participants experiences. The interviewer can pursue in-depth information around the topic. Interviews may be useful as follow-up to certain respondents to questionnaires (McNamara, 1999). A general interview guide approach will be used in this study. This guide approach is intended to ensure that the same general areas of information are collected from each interviewee; this provides more focus than the conversational approach, but still allows a degree of freedom and adaptability in getting the information from the interviewee Participants will be reminded of their right to withdraw from the study or terminate the interview at any time before commencing the session. The researcher also vows to ensure the participants anonymity and privacy during the conduct of interview. The purpose of data analysis is to organize, provide structure to, and elicit meaning from research data (Polit and beck 2008). Data analysis will be ongoing in conjunction with data collection as Polit and Hunglar (1999) state as interviews are conducted, gathered data is synthesized, interpreted and communicated to give meaning to it. According to Burns and Grove (1999) qualitative data analysis occurs in three phases: description, analysis and interpretation. The researcher will transcribe the interviews verbatim and analysis of the transcripts will be carried out by the researcher while utilizing Giorgis quality data analyses.

Ethical Consideration Ethics has become a cornerstone for conducting effective and meaningful research. As such, the ethical behavior of individual researchers is under unprecedented scrutiny (Best & Kahn, 2006; Field & Behrman, 2004; Trimble & Fisher, 2006). In todays society, any concerns regarding ethical practices will negatively influence attitudes about science, and the abuses committed by a few are often the ones that receive widespread publicity (Mauthner, Birch, Jessop, & Miller, 2003). The researcher must anticipate any ethical issues that may arise during the
qualitative research process (Creswell, 2009). Research involves collecting data from people, about people (Punch, 2005). Researchers need to protect their research participants by developing trust with them, promoting the integrity of the research, guarding against misconduct and any impropriety that might reflect on their organizations or institutions, and cope with new challenging problems (Creswell, 2009). First and foremost, the researcher has an obligation to respect the rights, needs, values, and desires of the participants. Phenomenological research solicits sensitive and deep answers to questions extracting meaning from statements and opinions.

To safeguard the interest of the participants a formal letter of will be sent to all chosen participants, institutions and will delineate the full nature of the study. They will also be advised
that at any time during the process they could decline to answer any question.

Confidentiality, rights and interest of the participants will be the highest consideration.

The Interview Guide Background 1. The participants personal information; name, age, length of service in the academe, position held. Background in Outcomes Based Education for the Administrators 1. What can you say about the implementation of OBE in the Philippine educational system? 2. What have driven you to fully implement OBT? How do they do it? 3. What are the administrators actions taken in the implementation of OBT? 4. How well do you adapt to its implementation? 5. What are the conveniences encountered during the full implementation and how do you manage to address these problems? 6. What are the problems encountered during the full implementation and how do you manage to address these problems? Instructors Experience 7. Teacher and students centered which one do you prefer? Why? 8. Driven by the external entities in the adoption of OBE. What is your own point of view about OBE? 9. In its implementation. What do you think is the best practice as an instructor to adopt the principle of OBE which aims to allow the students to learn the required skills and knowledge content? 10. Compare to the classical education what practice best soothes your outcomes based education teaching learning experience with your students? 11. What are your experience (conveniences and problems) with the utilization of OBE principle?