Outcome Based Approach Applied to a Mechanical Engineering Course to Advance the Teaching-Learning Processes

Increasing significance of OBE has made the faculty of engineering programs to move towards preparing course outcomes. Also, they are expected to see how they are attained at the end of the course. Only few works have attempted the aspect of outcomes of a course and its use in the improvement of the program. In this work, an undergraduate course like 'Applied Thermodynamics' related to Mechanical Engineering program is considered, which is similar to any other course taught across India or elsewhere. Suitable action verbs are recommended, based on the topics associated with different modules of the course. These are then compared with the reference bloom's taxonomy table to ascertain their suitability according to the abilities acquainted. Using the appropriate assessment methods, the coverage of COs is presented in a comprehensive way. It is identified that action verbs like understand, estimate, know, analyze and discover are appropriate as per the syllabus. Later, these verbs are compared with the reference taxonomy table, while determining the type of knowledge gained. It is observed that cognitive levels like understand, apply and analyze are covered by the course. The correctness and coverage of respective course outcomes in the assessment processes adapted are also deliberated. Again, CO attainment is calculated, which is based on both internal and external examinations. Results show that the average grade mark for the last two years is same. Also, the CO attainment for the latest year is good. Thus, the present work provides the teaching community, a best way to adapt the OBE approach appropriately, in order to ensure that the overall outcomes of the program are achieved through the course outcomes.