Why future education needs to shift from traditional to results oriented curriculum
“The ability to change the measure of intelligence” – Albert Einstein.
One of the most compelling tasks for future development is to promote quality education in India. With the advent of technology and the adoption of artificial intelligence, big data and IoT, the education landscape is rapidly changing. The paradigm shift combined with multidisciplinary competencies across domains such as science, social sciences and humanities induces the need for a skilled workforce in the future, particularly those involving mathematics, computer science and data sciences.
Students need a conceptual understanding of the new national and global standards of employment, which can nurture student skills. To equip students with top skills for future growth, leading institutions need to adopt rapid results-oriented curricula. It is a student-centered model that bases every part of an academic system around predetermined outcomes. The curriculum is a dynamic roadmap that evaluates student performance at each step and is customized keeping in mind the level of preparation of students and future career opportunities.
At the heart of NEP 2020 is student interest and an emphasis on results-based learning, which refers to education as context-based rather than content-based. It will help them to acquire critical thinking skills, encourage problem solving, capture creativity, experiment, innovate and absorb transformational changes across different educational domains. Institutions should promote skills development by offering value-added courses such as technical training.
It is a unique curriculum that provides real life situations and experiences aimed at the overall development of students which serves as an opportunity for research, discussion and innovation. A carefully designed learning environment helps students achieve a set of predetermined learning outcomes through interdisciplinary integration, experimentation, and discovery. The teaching-learning process paves the way for child-centered, flexible and enjoyable and quality teaching and research. Many institutions have adopted it to measure their students’ learning outcomes and to enable them to learn new skills by launching specific student-centered courses or programs. This evidence-based assessment promotes a positive mindset among students. It is an ongoing process that has been customized and personalized for different levels of academic excellence, in terms of acquiring skills and increasing the skills required to reach a result. The process encourages learning among students, including assignments, presentations, case studies, projects, industry inspections and tests.
Conventional education systems or teacher-centered education rely on theoretical knowledge and follow a set syllabus regardless of students’ qualifications and interests. In contrast, results-based curricula are flexible and allow students to have a choice and a voice in the learning process.
The goal of outcome-oriented education is to prepare students for the modern workplace. It encourages them to solve real life problems and real-world applications by providing value-added courses and technical training. Focus on conceptual clarity rather than memorizing content / ideas / formulas within a given time frame. Teachers are like facilitators and are free to take creative steps keeping in mind the unique needs of the students. The purpose of teachers is to help research, instruct and mentor and engage students in meaningful activities to build skills, understand perspectives, and develop attitudes such as motivation and responsibility.
Rapidly changing educational dynamics and the abundance of employment opportunities in the wake of digitalisation demand a revised rule book for students to acquire the skills necessary to take advantage of future opportunities. To empower students with this skill set, it is essential to shift the reliance of assessment from collective assessment to regular skill-based, education and development-based constructive assessment. High-level skills, such as analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity, informative evaluation. Therefore, a results-oriented curriculum time is needed to make students competitive and efficient in order to survive in the future job market.