Teaching development grants final and financial report: Student perspectives on outcomes: Insights for course development within OBL and 335 frameworks

HKIEd is moving into the 334/335 curriculum and a more student-centered and outcomes-based approach. Research into students' perceptions of outcomes may significantly contribute to outcomes construction, review, and refinement, and increase alignment of teaching, learning, and assessment with student-centered institutional quality enhancement. The current trend in outcomes-based teaching, learning, and assessment focuses on a curriculum design model that is learner-centered. However, course outcomes are typically designed by instructors or faculty committees with little or no student input. If higher education serves the professional practice of our students and graduates in the workplace, the "outcomes of teaching" ought to consider students' perceptions of the outcomes imbedded in their learning. This raises the question, to what degree can the intended outcomes in a course be identified by students? Further, are there differences between instructors' and students' perceptions of the appropriateness and utility of the course outcomes? The study addresses these questions through a sample of students and teachers involved in the C&I core module, "Curriculum and Assessment." Data collection consists of two stages: survey and focus groups. Qualitative and quantitative analysis will result in a hierarchical coding family of outcomes categories. Reporting of results will focus on understanding the meaning behind respondents' choices, and examining variations that may be related to students' background, learning attitude, ability and professional experience. This project aims to produce findings that may inform course outcomes construction across the institute, enrich the research and knowledge about OBL and student-centered learning in professional practice, and contribute to the Hong Kong and international context of outcomes-based higher education.