Outcome-Based Education (OBE): An Empirical Analysis of the Challenges in Implementing OBE to Improve Quality Education

Abstract

Aims: The overall contribution of this paper is to provide adequate support to all the academic stakeholders involved by offering a comprehensive understanding of the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) process and practices for accreditation strategy to ensure continuous quality improvement (CQI). Additionally, this study aims to offer some recommendations for overcoming obstacles and enhancing the quality of education. Study Design: The populations for this research are the faculty members of different universities, 64 questionnaires were distributed through surveys and 49 faculty members were considered. Place and Duration of Study: The research utilizes a data collection method that combines both online and offline surveys between December 2023 and March 2024. Methodology: The statistical analysis refers to the outcome-of the quantitative data. This study focused on demographic data such as gender, academic profession, and prior experience taking OBE classes. All respondents were faculty members. 91.8% had experience in OBE classes, while the remaining 8.2% did not. A structured questionnaire consisting of a five-point Likert scale is employed. Multiple regression analysis is the study methodology used. Cronbach's alpha is used to gauge internal consistency prior to performing the regression. Here, equations and associated tests are performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Every hypothesis has been examined at the 0.05 significance level. Results: Out of a total of 49 samples, it consists of 57.1% men and 42.9% women. 91.8% had experience in OBE classes. With a value of 0.908 for Cronbach's alpha, the reliability is accepted to be high. With an R-squared of.606, the model's explanatory variables account for 60.6% of the variance in the adoption of an OBE curriculum. The findings of this study show that Switching to OBE has a statistically significant positive impact on the quality of education. Conclusion: The challenges in the implementation of the OBE curriculum and possible recommendations in Bangladesh have been described in this paper.