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Outcome-based education

Engineering accreditation bodies have moved to an Outcome-based Education (OBE) framework to assess and evaluate the quality of engineering programs and graduates.

Outcome-based education

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Engineering accreditation bodies worldwide under the International Engineering Alliance and Washington Accord have moved to an Outcome-based Education (OBE) framework to assess and evaluate the quality of engineering programs and graduates. The OBE framework specifies what graduates should be able to do as an outcome of their program rather than detailing the content and processes they are exposed to.

At Swinburne, these graduate capabilities are clearly specified in our Program Objectives and Program Outcomes. They have been developed based on international standard set by the Washington Accord, incorporating the requirements and inputs from professional accreditation bodies and industry advisors, both in Australia and in Malaysia.

More information about the Program Objectives and Program Outcomes for our Bachelor of Engineering programs can be found on the following course information webpage:

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

The Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science evaluates and monitors its students’ achievement of Program Outcomes periodically for continuous quality improvements.

Since 2012, a Program Outcome Assessment System (POAS) has been developed on the University Blackboard Learning Portal (https://blackboard.swinburne.edu.my) to track the performance of each student in relation to the Program Outcomes. For each Program Outcome, marks from a set of selected assessment items are recorded and analysed through this system to evaluate and track student attainment of the Program Outcome.

Students may view their performance and progress towards achieving the Program Outcome via the Program Outcome Assessment System (POAS) on Blackboard. To do this, just logon to Blackboard and follow these steps:

  1. Click on “Courses” at the top right corner.
  2. Click on the Program Blackboard site (e.g. for Civil Engineering students, click on “Civil Engineering Program”).
  3. Click on the Program Blackboard site (e.g. for Civil Engineering students, click on “Civil Engineering Program”).
    • view the list of assessment items selected to assess each Program Outcome by clicking on “Program Outcome Assessment System” on the left panel.
    • view your mark for each Program Outcome by clicking on “Tools” on the left panel and then click on “My Grades”.

In addition to the Program Outcome Assessment Systems (POAS), the Faculty also surveys and engage external stakeholders in evaluating our graduate performance. Inputs from the employers, alumni, industry advisors as well as professional accreditation bodies have been most valuable in driving continuous quality improvement of our programs.