Issues and challenges on outcomes-based education teaching practices among engineering programs of SUCs in Region III [manuscript] / Rafael P. Delos Santos.

Thesis (MEM) - BPSU, 2020.

The introduction of OBE in HEI has brought tremendous issues and concerns to the birth pains of implementation. These bring shifts from the traditional to the outcomes-based and evidence-based practices to improve instruction. Hence, the study explored the issues and challenges on outcomes-based education (OBE) teaching practices among engineering programs of SUCs in Region III during Academic Year 2018-2019. The implementation of OBE among engineering programs of SUCs has been assessed by the faculty and deans along with knowledge, attitude, environment, attainment of intend student outcomes, relevance of intend student outcomes, organization of courses, instructional process, support for instruction, and assessment. More so, significant differences in their assessment had also been investigated along with their significant experiences in handling the issues and challenges. On the outset of the study, a framework for effective OBE implementation in the engineering programs was developed. The study utilized the concurrent triangulation design of mixed-method research. There were 349 respondents in the study, comprising of 341 engineering faculty and 8 college deans. In the gathering of the data, the researcher used survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Permission letters and consent forms were given to solicit the respondents' participation. The quantitative data were treated through the aid of descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Independent Samples ttest). Meanwhile, to assist in the analysis of the qualitative data, in this study, the researcher employed thematic analysis. Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are drawn: The faculty and deans in the engineering programs of SUCs in Region III observed the issues vii in the implementation of OBE, primarily on the aspect of understanding of the essence of OBE; there is a significant difference in the assessment of faculty and deans in the implementation of OBE in engineering programs of SUCs in Region III; the deans observed challenges in the implementation of OBE in terms of knowledge, attitude, environment, attainment of intend student outcomes, relevance of intend student outcomes, organization of courses, instructional process, support for instruction, and assessment; and he study proposed framework for effective OBE implementation in the engineering programs representing the challenges that may be addressed through the cyclical implementation of planning, monitoring, and evaluation for the needs-based implementation and continuous improvement of OBE. Meanwhile, based on the findings, the study has drawn the following recommendations: the SUCs in Region III must strengthen further the implementation of OBE in the engineering programs, primarily on information and immersion activities leading to a better understanding of the essence of learning outcomes in tertiary education; in providing measures to better implement the OBE among SUCs, undertakings must consider the level of understanding of stakeholders on the essence of OBE, their attitude, perception to the learning environment, provision for the attainment of intend student outcomes, adherence to quality instructional process, provision for support for instruction, and functional assessment since significant differences on the perceptions of faculty and deans were accounted therein. Such ensures the appropriateness and responsiveness of any academic undertaking in the tertiary level; the deans may work hand-in-hand with the faculty and students to collaborate in meaningful projects that will empower them to maximize the use of OBE in the engineering practice; the developed framework for viii effective OBE implementation in the engineering programs should be applied and test its validity to the locales of the study; and other studies focusing on the significant factors affecting the effective implementation of OBE may be explored further to contribute meaningfully in addressing the concerns in the implementation.