The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > The predictable journey of outcomes based education > Comments

The predictable journey of outcomes based education : Comments

By Peter Sellick, published 9/10/2006

Welcome to outcomes based education - a slow plod to a destiny already prescribed by someone at a distance from the class.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. Page 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. All
Outcomes based education is GOOD......but...one cannot apply the same approach to all spheres of education.

E.G. SCIENCE & MATHS should be VERY outcomes based. Get your science or maths wrong and the next space shuttle goes down in a screaming heap.

I think 'outcomes' based education is better described as 'training'.
I did a course on this once, and the idea of having an educational goal for 'training' purposes is pretty much the ONLY way you can approach it.

At the end of this session, you will be able to:

a) Draw connecting tracks on a screen joining components.
b) Modify and create library symbols for new components
c) Transform the created connectivity into manufacturable art work.
d) Create a bill of materials.

ASSESSMENT
You will be deemed to have attained this goal if:
a) You can do it correctly.
b) You can do it within a specified time period (based on a standard model/schematic)

There is no other way to go with training for real world activity.

SELLS SAID:

"The educational process is subverted because our destination has already been set. So it does not matter how well the teacher excites the interest of the class or what the members of the class bring to the classroom, the destination will be the same"

errrr...YES.. the destination had jolly well BETTER be the same.. of we will be building an Eiffel tower instead of the Sherman Tank we were intending to make !

SELLS ur reading too many of dem liberal theology works :)

There is Education
-to perform specified tasks' (training ?)
-to approach problems from many angles and arrive at valid conclusions.
(the power of observation and critical thinking ?)

It seems to me that a different approach is needed for the Sciences and Humanities/Arts.

If we applied 'training objectives' approach to Art appreciation, we would probably end up with a blinkered graduate.
If we applied 'critical thinking' to science in a subjective way, some of our planes would fly.....into the ground
Posted by BOAZ_David, Tuesday, 10 October 2006 6:04:58 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Gadget and Mercurius, you have fairly caught me out speaking "from the gut". Since G W Bush has discredited this approach forever, it seems that I must make the effort to substitute grey matter for brown matter.

- fair enough.

Thanks for the explanation of OE vs CE.

I will do what I should have done in the first place:

- wait until the argument develops and get an education from your comments -

Thankyou.
Posted by Chris Shaw, Carisbrook 3464, Tuesday, 10 October 2006 7:12:54 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Outcome based education is only good if it is pitched at the right pace and level appropriate for an individual students need.

When my daughter started Kindergarten she was already reading fluently she has a measured IQ of 161. The school used an outcome based curriculum and taught her phonics and, at the end of the year they gave her the phonics outcome test. She was reading novels for goodness sake, my daughter felt humiliated! Nobody saw a problem with that?

In Kindergarten the teacher sometimes gave her some extension because it was obvious that she was extremely gifted and she could already read but blending sounds instead of phonics when the child can already read fluently doesn’t make a difference.

Outcome based education stops the system from identifying those that beyond stage outcomes and/or are gifted and doesn't allow for individuality or growth.

The next year they taught her blending sounds, she had been assessed at high school level with 95% comprehension (she hit the ceiling of the test). The school outcome based curriculum didn't allow her, not just to learn, but to show what she knew. Surprise, surprise she got full marks again. She couldn’t enjoy her results because it was so easy that it was embarrassing. School was so boring and a total waste of time. My daughter became unhappy, depressed and sick.

Outcomes based curriculum work only if the students are graded on the basis of ability and not age. They are stifling our children. The early years cause the most damage and that is where outcome based education is doing the most harm.

Children should be encouraged to progress through education and a level and pace that is beneficial to them in the different subject areas as everybody is different, even if they are the same age.
Posted by Jolanda, Tuesday, 10 October 2006 8:25:05 AM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Jolanda,

Agree. Outcomes (sic. Competency) Based Education can be effective in its own niche. CBE is more relevant to vocational educational education than higher education. A read of the Australian Quality Framework gives some good guidlines. Just the same, when pedagogy becomes andragogy things change. Adults need a sense they are partipating indendently and going beyond the textbook.

At university the best business studies classes are when academics (often with little pactical experience)and senior managers (with little theoretical knowledge) come together.

As for the teaching of religion, it is often the case the priest, minister or rabbi, is looked up to as have special insights, possibly reinforced by indoctrination from theological college. This is poor andragogy. That pastoral figure is often patriarchal and it would be bad form to rigourously challenge that person, on pain of being alienated from the reference group. For example, if one told Father O'Reilly in front of a congregation that Christian church had thirteen Jewish bishops before Christianity emerged, the historically accurate facts would put aside. The whole nature of a sermon places congregation in the position of patients. When did you last hear a congregation member verballyinteract with a priest at the alter in the middle of mass or a minister ask for dissenting questions from the pulpit, as might a university lecturer?
Posted by Oliver, Tuesday, 10 October 2006 10:38:08 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Jolanda,

Again, I agree with you, regarding streaming students. A selective school is an option, but she would need to deal emotionally with perhaps not always coming fist in the class. An 161 IQ is unusual given that psych. tests used by psychologists, tend to measure to three standard deviations (plus) based of fifteen raw scores.

There are also social factors to consider and depedence/independence matters [related to being child and nor an adult]. Because cognitive abilities can mature "early" in some children and IQ is MA/CA, some differentials can tend to narrow over time. Just the same, I guess it is best to give her an advanced start, before she becomes too bored. Also, bear in mind, she could be a much smarter than her teachers: A potential problem in high school.

It might be an idea, if have not done so already, to check for specific abilities, such as, verbal comprehension and manual dexterity, in insolation. It is good she has developed sound reading abilities. Reading ability is not genetic: Some superiorly gifted can be poor readers [Einstein, Darwin]
Posted by Oliver, Tuesday, 10 October 2006 5:37:55 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Oliver, my daughters aim has never been to come first. Her aim has always been to enjoy her childhood and grow up happy, confident and strong.

Yes IQ 161 is unusual. She was tested by the UNSW on the SB4. Apparently only a handful of people have ever scored that high on that test. It is essentially the ceiling of the test and extremely difficult to obtain. There is no doubt that my daughter is exceptionally to profoundly intellectually gifted. It was also across the board, in math’s, writing and in every single area. She is also extremely sensible and mature and excells in sport.

The system tried it’s best to cut her down and hold her back. They totally neglected her and it needn’t even have taken any money. They could have just given her the work from a few years up.

Next year she will be going to Year 11. She should be going to University that would be the best place for her to be to meet her needs.

The problem about being smarter than the teachers and being able to ‘read between the lines” has caused my children so much grief and has even resulted in hostility from some teachers towards my children
Posted by Jolanda, Tuesday, 10 October 2006 10:46:27 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. Page 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy