Читать книгу The Wiley Handbook of Sustainability in Higher Education Learning and Teaching - Группа авторов - Страница 42

A different approach to the assessment and practice of OBE‐centric components was followed in several other courses, one such being that of Image Processing (CSE 5X08). The components used in this course were almost similar to those in course ECE 3X20, except one more component was added. The components are:

1 Tests (Test‐1, Test‐2, Test‐3, mid‐term and CEs)

2 Group assignment (different approach)

3 Question‐answering and a response during the lectures

4 Problem statements for practicing in a MATLAB or PYTHON environment

The assessment of the first three was similar to that for ECE 3X20. The number of students was different; however, the assessment impact of the tools used and observable ripples in the students remained same. The pattern of attainment of various types of skill set and SLOs remained the same as that of ECE 3X20. Table 3.3 shows the exact number of students in a class of 42 students who attended the course. This table presents the SLOs for each assignment component. This course also helped the students to attain programming skills since the theoretical fundamentals were practiced in a MATLAB environment.

Table 3.3 Specific SLOs of the recorded version of response to the assignment in CSE 5X08.

SLOs	Number of students performing at different levels
Average	Excellent	Outstanding	Not exhibited
Fundamental/conceptual knowledge of the topic	18	11	07	06
Communication/presentation skill	10	18	09	05
Knowledge of mathematical concepts used	17	12	06	07
Critical thinking	12	07	04	19
Programming skill	17	15	08	02

The programming skill assessment component was also evaluated with the help of a structured assignment of tasks. The fundamental concepts covered in the class were formulated as major problem statements to be solved using either MATLAB or PYTHON, whichever the students were more comfortable with. This could help the students in developing strong programming skills and this aspect was observed while examining the programs, their concepts, algorithms, and application.

So, the ways in which the courses were conducted and assessed, as discussed, could truly helped in assessing the attainment of SLOs in the students. The attainment of SLOs is being emphasized because they empower students and make them competent so that they can enjoy a sustainable career growth. We know that the OBE framework is of great importance in achieving sustainable goals of higher education; moreover, the SLOs and their mapping with POs and COs play an even more important role in determining if students can actually demonstrate what has been taught or delivered to them.

The SDG 4 agenda highlights objectives of sustainability in education that talk about the specific set of skills to exist in learners in the education system (Tom et al. n.d.; TWI2050 – The World in 2050 2018; Franco et al. 2019; Kioupi and Voulvoulis 2019). Major competencies that were set as learning objectives under SDG 4 are:

 Critical thinking and system thinking competence

 Strategic and collaboration competence

 Anticipatory and strategic competence

 Problem‐solving and self‐awareness competence

If the above competences are seen in context with the case studies of mapping SLOs and objectives then we find that critical thinking, problem‐solving, self‐awareness, and collaboration can be seen and measured very clearly using the tool that has been discussed in the two courses. These two were not the only courses using this approach; the same or similar schemes were adopted in many other courses and SLOs were evaluated honestly.

Another initiative, TWI2050 (The World in 2050; 2018), discusses the transformative approaches and measures that can be used to achieve SDG 4 goals for higher education. The key domains of TWI2050 are listed as:

 Human capacity and demography (Franco et al. 2019): This is related to the development of human capital and associated demography with elated human resources.

 Consumption and production (UNESCO 2019): This is directly associated with the economy and also indirectly impacts the area of education.

 Decarburization and energy (Coughlan 2011): The impact of OBE also lies in responsibility toward nature by utilizing energy optimally.

 Food, biosphere, and water (Marshall and Oxfam Education 2019).

 Smart cities (Carminati et al. 2021) (Ullo and Sinha 2021).

 Digital revolution (UNESCO 2016).

All the above domains are correlated with SDG 4 one way or another because education and its transformation affect all the above sectors of growth and sustainability. Human capacity and human resources at the top of the list are the most precious resource that governs all other domains because the enhanced human capital will add to every other domain of the transformation listed in the TWI2050.