CO PO PSO attainment- Outcome based education (OBE)

The major components of Outcome Based Education(OBE) are Course Outcome(CO) and Program Outcome(PO). Based on how well these two parts are defined and evaluated, OBE attainment is measured.COs are the statements of knowledge/ skills/ abilities that students are expected to know, understand and perform as a result of their learning experiences in each course. A well written CO facilitates lecturers in measuring the achievement of the CO at the end of the semester. It also helps the lecturers in designing suitable delivery and assessment methods to achieve the designed CO.

Direct method-Calculating Course outcomes : Calculating Course Outcomes (CO) involves calculations from the marks obtained by the students in their internal exams, university exams and internal assessment metrics such as quiz, seminar, presentation, mini project, assignment etc.,

Indirect method - The indirect method represents a part of Program Outcome is purely survey oriented, so the calculations are based on data and surveys collected from the Current passing out students, Stakeholders, Alumni, Survey from placement officers etc.,

Calculating CO level for internal and University examination

RUBRICS helps us to define the threshold through which level of attainment of a CO’s are calculated. Rubrics are a simple way to set up some grading criteria through which level of attainment is calculated by using some predefined values. Rubrics example used in sample calculation is given below.CIE for 25 marks:

Continuous internal evaluation (CIE): Internal examination is conducted in two spells,i.e MID I and MID II examinations.MID I is conducted for the first two units and MID II is conducted for the remaining three Units. Maximum marks are 20. The question paper is set as per CO statements of learning outcomes. Average of two MID’s are considered for 20 marks. Assignments, quiz, projects and seminars are considered for 5 marks as a part of continuous internal evaluation (CIE).

Semester End Examination (SEE): University examinations are conducted by the University at the end of the semester for 100 marks. Letter grades are awarded.The letter grades are converted to marks as per the University guidelines. Threshold is set as 40% of marks for both the Internal examination and University examination. The Threshold value is the Minimum pass percentage for each CO in a Course. 

Rubrics: As per the selected rubrics, attainment levels are calculated for each course and semester under a program (BA/BSC/BCOM)

Step 1- Attainment levels for each course

50% of students have scored above the threshold value,i.e., 40% of maximum marks in the said examination- 1 (Low)

60% of students have scored above the threshold value,i.e., 40% of maximum marks in the said examination - 2 (Medium)

70% of students have scored above the threshold value,i.e., 40% of maximum marks in the said examination- 3 (high)

Step 2: Calculating Final CO attainment for the course: The weightage for CIE is given as 0.25 and SEE is 0.75. 

Example: The attainment is calculated as given below for maximum values. Maximum value for attainment is 3 for both the CIE and SEE. As per the weightage.

[3(0.25) + 3(0.75)]/3 = 1 Hence maximum value for attainment is 1

Programme Outcomes (PO)

Programme Outcomes (PO) are the knowledge, skills, and abilities students should possess upon graduation, they are the central organizing feature of student learning. Program Outcomes (PO) can only be achieved and demonstrated through the integration of course components and Course Outcomes (CO).

Characteristics of Program Outcome (PO)

To effectively define your PO statement check them whether they satisfy following characters

1. Must define the scope and depth of the program 2) Should focus on the end-point of the program 3) Identify what typically students will know and be able to do on graduation 4)Should be measurable, realistic and achievable within the context and time-frame 5) Must be realized through component courses over the extent of the program 6) They should be demonstrated through course assessment particularly in final year courses, and especially through capstones.

As per OBE, two methods are used for calculating and obtaining Program  Outcomes and they are, Direct method and Indirect method.

What are CO/PO matrix?

For measure PO in direct method a CO/PO matrix is used to measure PO. The CO are linked to the PO using the CO vs PO matrix as stated in Course Syllabus blueprint. When designing the CO, lecturers of each course map their CO to the appropriate PO to ensure that all PO are delivered throughout the study.

Defining CO weightage for a PO in CO/PO matrix, the weightage scale is obtained by using the scale 1-3 helps us to simplify our calculations, Where  1 represents Low, 2 represents Medium, 3 represents High.

Example: All CO's correlated high

For each PO

Weighted product = (weights of each  PO in mapping with CO-PO) CO attainment= (3) 1= 3

Weighted product/ weights = 3/3 =1= CO-PO mapping coefficient

CO-PO mapping coefficient = 1 

Final CO attainment for the course

Final attainment =(CO-PO mapping coefficient) CO attainment = (1) 1 = 1

Indirect Method: It is calculated as above