Enhancing Course Evaluation with Achievement Pathways in Outcome-Based Education Frameworks

Course evaluation, a critical component for the implementation of outcome-based education (OBE), provides substantial data support. The reliability, validity, and discriminative power of evaluation results are significantly influenced by the choice of course evaluation methods. An effective course evaluation method identifies weak links in the teaching process, offering a foundation and reference for continuous course improvement. This study introduces a course evaluation method based on achievement pathways, establishing the supportive relationship among course-related graduation requirement indicators, course objectives, and achievement pathways. Grounded on formative assessment, a system to quantify the achievement of teaching objectives in courses is constructed. The method has been applied to courses, such as Data Visualization and Software Engineering, at the Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology. Practice demonstrates that this method is capable of identifying weaknesses in the course implementation process, providing theoretical foundation and reliable assurance for ongoing course improvement.