A Teachers Introduction To OUTCOMES BASED LEARNING

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A Teachers Introduction To OUTCOMES BASED LEARNING

• By Dr. Mark Debowski

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What You Will Know/Achieve By the End Of this
Presentation

• By the end of this presentation you will have a
  basic knowledge of
• Basic Themes of OBL
• Challenges To Teaching By OBL
• The Steps To Learning
• Linking What Is Already Known With New
  Information
• Teaching Students To Warm Up For Learning To
  Direct Energies
• Organising Thoughts And Time
• Using Resources and Strategies Effectively
• Directing Energies
• Overcoming Distractions
• What Teachers Need To Do 1
• What Teachers Need To Do 2
• Lesson plan layout
• Example Of OBL Feedback
• Summary

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Basic Themes of OBL

• Underlying theme The student is in charge and
  accountable for their own learning. The teacher
  is a learning tool to direct and encourage the
  learning.
• If a student knows what they have to learn, how
  to learn it and how it will be assessed they then
  have ownership of their learning (not the
  teacher!).
• Students must have access to all information on
  the program and their achievement at all times

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Challenges To Teaching By OBL

• The teacher must
• be organized, knowing the program and assessment
  from the beginning.
• accept the student is in charge of their own
  learning
• be able to recognize deal with signs, symptoms
  and causes of underachievement in students.
• build self-esteem.
• recognising and negate learned helplessness in
  students.
• develop multiple strategies to successfully treat
  learned helplessness.
• be able to identifying and promote differing
  learning styles.
• provide a multi sensory (strategy) approach
• master learning facilitation management skills.

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Steps To Learning

• To learn any person must know three procedures.
  They must know
• the various strategies of learning
• how to most effectively use the best resources
  strategies for themselves
• and
• when to use these resources strategies
• To achieve this students should receive
  everything they will experience on day one of the
  course and have it explained to them (including
  sample exam papers)

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Linking What Is Already Known With New
Information

• To remember and understand is best achieved by
  linking new information to what is already known.
  To do this I need to ask myself
• What do I know about this topic already?
• How does what is learnt relate with what is known
  already?
• Does the new idea make the whole topic clearer?
• Does the new idea shed light on ideas I was
  unsure of?
• Do I need to replace incorrect ideas with new
  ones?

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Teaching Students To Warm Up For Learning

• In regard to what I need to know about myself
• What do I know?
• What are my strengths?
• What are my weaknesses?
• What is expected of me.
• What am I expected to achieve?
• How much time do I have to accomplish this task?
• On what skills and ideas will I be assessed?
• How will I know if I have successfully completed
  the task?
• How can I use what I have learnt in the future?
  
  

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Organising Thoughts And Time

• Students need to be trained to ask themselves the
  following questions
• Do I know what I have to do?
• Do I know how to reach my goal?
• What are some ways I could do this?
• Of the choices I have, which one is best in this
  situation?
• How much time do I have?
• What checks can I use to ensure I achieve this?

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Using Resources and Strategies Effectively

• Teachers need to train students to ask
  themselves
• Resources Required
• Who or what will I need to complete the task?
• Are there any experts (teachers, tutors) on hand
  to help me learn and understand?
• What material resources are there I can use?
  Where are these resources available from?
• Strategies
• What must I do to successfully complete each
  task?
• Can I break down the task into smaller steps?
• How and when do I take those steps in relation to
  my deadlines?

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Directing Energies

• It is your main task to ensure students work
  productively

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Overcoming Distractions

• Teachers need to promote self and group help. Get
  students to ask
• Do I monitor internal distractions, such as
  hunger, fatigue, and emotional highs and lows?
• What about external distractions, such as noise,
  lighting, my mates, and supplies?
• Can I use my friends to help me solve this
  problem?

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What Teachers Need To Do 1

• Weak students often hide track each student
  (especially the quiet ones)

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What Teachers Need To Do 2

• Watch and act at the first signs of absence or
  lateness of work!

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What Teachers Need To Do 3

• Share outcomes and expectations with pupils
• Promote open questioning
• Use comment marking which identifies clear
  targets for improvement
• Employ components of self and peer assessment
• Analysing and devising mark schemes
• Using feedback from tests

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LESSON PLAN LAYOUT

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Example An Unedited Students Response

• Hi Dr.Debowski,
• I am one of the people listening to your lecture
  at the Gurney Hotel in
• Penang recently..My name is Victor,I am the one
  in white sitting at your
• left corner..
• There's a problem which has been bothering me
  quite a while.That day I can't
• get to you after the lecture a I need to ruch
  back home...
• My problem is I am forgetful..No mater how much
  practices and revise a math
• topis,I intend to forget about it..I practise
  atopic very very well and I
• really know how to deal with the problems
  regarding to the topic but after a
• while,I will forget about it...
• I did do practise constantly but it's always the
  same...
• I just wanna ask if you will be able to help me
  in such matter.
• Your kindness will be appricieated. Thank you

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• Dear Victor
• I have found that not being able to remember
  tends to stem from not really understanding what
  is being done.
• Mathematicians often try to force understanding
  by getting you to do many repetitions of the same
  problem.
• Can I suggest you try the following strategy with
  your next problem
• 1. Ask yourself and answer in your own words what
  the problem wants you to solve.
• 2. State to yourself what steps you will take in
  order to achieve this solution (perhaps even
  write them down - line 1 I do this ... line 2 I
  do that)
• 3. Ask yourself afterwards is this answer what I
  would expect (approximately)? Does it answer the
  question I was given?
• Sometimes its good to get another persons answer
  and see if you can write down line by line what
  they did and why they did each step. Then try a
  similar problem following those same steps and
  see how you go.
• Its important that each maths problem be answered
  like it was a paragraph ... with a beginning
  -(this is what I want to solve), a middle (each
  line being a logical step in achieving the
  solution) and an end (a numerical and unit answer
  that demonstrates you know the context of the
  answer).
• A check can also be done by redoing the problem
  this time including your answer and testing for
  one number in the given problem.
• Try these strategies and get back to me if
  understanding and analysing what you do does not
  seem to help!
• Regards
• Dr Mark Debowski

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In Summary

• Outcome based learning is a more real form of
  learning.
• OBL is initially hard on teachers and students
  but when achieved is better for all involved.
• OBL puts the pressure to organize on the teacher
  and the pressure to achieve on the student
• OBL is always open and transparent
• OBL encourages joy of the subject and ownership
  and pride in the product
• (For further reflection and background theory in
  support of this approach see Good Learning
  Pedagogy By Dr. Mark Debowski)