Obe: The Restructuring Of American Society. :: essays research papers

OBE The Restructuring Of American Society.     There has been a concern for some time throughout America regarding thequality of common education. Students ar graduating from highschool withoutadequate knowledge of the three Rs. Universities are recruiting a multitude ofincompetent pseudo-scholars. Employers dont understand why the new generationof workers do not possess the basic skills to perform the job. It would appearthat American students are not learning as much as their parents did. And yet,teachers are until now teaching, taxes are still being paid, and more funds thanever are being appropriated for public education. Whats going on in Americasclassrooms?     Up until the 1980s most(prenominal) schools used a standards based curriculum. Inthe traditional classroom setting, educators rivet on the input side ofeducation, teaching a specific soundbox of knowledge. Students were graded a shootstpredefined standards and passed or fai led based on their ability to meet thosestandards. This manner of teaching produced a graduate with a well roundededucation, and brisk him for further development of career skills. With theexception of those who did not apply themselves, the trunk worked.     Today Americas educators take a new approach in the classroom. The revolve about of education has moved to measuring what students can do, rather than whatthey understand. This is the core commandment of Outcomes found Education (OBE).An outcome, by definition, is something that follows as a result or consequence.So OBE then, is an approach to education where the end result is the most essential factor. This is very important in understanding what OBE is, and whatit intends to do. In the OBE classroom, every diorama of the curriculum is gearedtoward achieving a small group of specific goals. To gain an insight into OBE,it is necessary to learn something about its origins and those promoting it.B. F. Sk inner, a psychologist and learning theorist, certain thetechniques of learning (operant conditioning) based on conditioning phenomenafirst analyzed scientifically by Pavlov. Skinner called his technique his"teaching machine." Skinner thus develop the principles on which " subordinationLearning" was developed by Benjamin Bloom.controller Learning was the original name for the process known today asOutcome Based Education, also known as Performance Based Education, orRestructuring. Educational theories used in OBE are based on Benjamin BloomsTaxonomy of Educational Objectives. A curriculum, according to Bloom, "...may bethought of as a plan for changing student behavior." (p 14 of Ron Sunseris bookOBE brain the Truth about Education Reform, Questar Publishers, P.O.Box 1720, Sisters, OR 97759) Bloom called it "Mastery Learning." Techniques forhis new style of education, based on Skinnerian behavioral psychology, counsel on