What is outcomes-based education and how does it compare with other educational models like competency-based education or mastery-based learning? Learn about the similarities and differences of these models and the challenges that can come with it.

In 1993, Research Roundup published a collection of reviews that described outcomes-based education (OBE) as “a controversial model of educational restructuring,” where learning was defined as a clear demonstration of what a student can know and show.

Almost two and a half decades later, the concept of organizing curriculum, content, and learning activities around specific, demonstrable outcomes is still rather controversial.

To make matters more challenging, terms such as competencies and competency-based learning, mastery and mastery-based learning are often used in the same sentence to describe different aspects of the same idea.

If we’re to thoughtfully unbox the ways these terms and models differ, let’s start with how they’re similar since they all focus on what a learner should be able to know and do.

What is outcomes-based education (OBE)?

First and foremost, OBE is an organizational structure. It’s a way to structure content around activities that lead to demonstrable proficiency of a specific skill, knowledge, or behavior. As a learning model, OBE is non-prescriptive. Instead, it offers a handful of principles that are worth considering in more detail.

Student-centered

As a learning model, outcomes-based education starts by asking: what does a learner need to do to demonstrate mastery of a particular skill, knowledge, or behavior? Such an approach puts student needs front and center of the learning design process.