Microsoft Office in Multi-Level Monitoring of Outcomes in Outcome Based Education

Outcome Based Education (OBE) is called a recurring education transformation model because it requires continuous improvement in all stages of teaching and learning. Due to its cyclical nature, institutionalizing OBE not only involves intensive planning and implementation but also completing the cycle through remedial action thereby making the entire process taxing on instructors. Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) play an imperative role in bringing about qualitative changes in the practice of OBE.

This article focuses on demonstrating the potential of an ICT suite "Microsoft Office" in efficient completion of the "plan-implement-remedy" OBE cycle for an under-graduate course 'Advanced Computer Architecture' prescribed by VTU, India for the CS and E program. The study details in depth the role of Microsoft Office in effective implementation of the three key OBE components namely assessment/feedback, outcomes achievement evaluation, remedial measures and follow-up along with an extensive comparison in terms of features, time-investment, cost and suitability when practiced using Microsoft Office and other OBE ICTs. The system that has been developed using Microsoft Office 2016 is named as Multilevel Outcomes Monitoring in Engineering Education (MOMEE). An analysis of MOMEE indicates that it has highest overall score of about 90% and appears to be most suitable compared to other existing OBEICTs.