Upgrade: iOBE v4.0

The iOBE Software has undergone major upgrades from v3.2 to v4.0. The key upgrades are:

1. Improved computational algorithm to expedite the calculations significantly.
2. The two software modules (Calculator and Aggregator) merged into one.
3. Students' iCGPA and PO attainment computed for single and multiple courses.
4. Improved presentation of the graphs to show collective outcomes.
5. Improved presentation of the outcomes data and iCGPA of individual students.

The new version of the software and its instruction manual can be downloaded at:

1. iOBE v4.0 (updated 14/12/2016)
2. iOBE Software Manual v4.0 (updated 14/12/2016)
3. Users also need to install the Matlab Compiler Runtime prior to running the iOBE software.

Included in the iOBE v4.0 zip file above are the software's executable file, the research papers accompanying this work, its solution manual, and sample input files.

The software's new GUI panel are now much simpler than before, requiring only one button to run the data for a single course and another button to aggregate data from multiple courses.

Further upgrades on iOBE in the near future will include:

1. The spiderweb graphs to show the iCGPA for individual students.
2. Flexible labelling of the axis to reflect actual items being computed.

The GUI panel of the software is shown below:

These are some samples of the outputs produced:

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Contact

For further details on the software, or to arrange a workshop on OBE or the iOBE software, please contact the developer:

Dr. Zulfaa Mohamed-Kassim,
School of Aerospace Engineering,
Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Penang, Malaysia.
Email: zulfaa@usm.my

Receiving the main award for iOBE (front row, second from left) in the iCGPA International Conference 2017.

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An Article on the iOBE Software

The work on the development and implementation of the iOBE software has been presented and published in the Regional Conference on Engineering Education (RCEE 2016) on 9 August 2016 in Kuala Lumpur. A digital copy of the article, "Outcomes Assessment and Analysis using iOBE", can be downloaded from here. Other related papers can be downloaded from here.

The abstract of the article reads:

One challenging aspect of the outcome-based accreditation process for engineering programs in Malaysia is in its demand for detailed program assessment to measure the attainments of students’ learning outcomes from multiple perspectives. The main issues are: integrating assessment data across multiple levels and communicating outcomes data effectively. This contribution presents iOBE, a software-based solution to address this need. The package consists of two software modules: iOBE Calculator and iOBE Aggregator, for use at the course and program level, respectively. It is designed for robustness in its computational framework, flexibility in managing data, and simplicity at the users’ end. A case study of actual courses offered at the authors’ institution were done to illustrate the use of the software to assess multiple courses. Two matrices were defined for each course to map how assessment components in the courses addressed the course-level and program-level learning outcomes. Key outputs of the software are: emphases and attainments of outcomes for selected groups of students, populations of students attaining specific outcomes levels, and gaps in students’ performance. The software offers a number of advantages. First, its multi-parameter results offer analysis from various perspectives to asses performance at multiple levels. Second, aggregated data on the attainment of outcomes can assist course instructors and program administrators in recommending directions for improvements. In the case study, the disparity found in the results for a similar cohort of students highlights the need to review the teaching, learning, and assessment practices among these courses. Third, the ease and flexibility in operating the software improves the efficiency of assessing outcomes at the course and program levels, thus reducing unnecessary loads for engineering educators in implementing OBE.

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Upgrade: iOBE SOftware v3.3

Download the software modules and their associated input files:

1. iOBE Calculator v3.3 (updated 28/7/2016)
2. iOBE Aggregator v3.3 (updated 29/7/2016)

Upgrades in v3.3:

1. In both modules, additional symbols are added in the labels of the horizontal axis in the plots to reflect their variables (e.g., AT, LO, PO, and LD) .

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Upgrade: iOBE Calculator v3.2

Download: iOBE Calculator v3.2 (updated 15/3/2016)

The upgrades in iOBE Calculator v3.2 are mainly on improving the filters to detect errors in the input data.

They ensure that the input data are valid before being processed in the software. Without these upgrades, small errors in the input data (e.g., wrong assignments of marks or matrix mapping) would go undetected and thus invalidate the results produced by the software.

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Upgrade: iOBE Software v3.1

Download the software modules and their associated input files:

1. iOBE Calculator v3.1 (updated 2/3/2016)
2. iOBE Aggregator v3.1 (updated 2/3/2016)
3. Users need to download the Matlab Compiler (MCR v8.15); read further here.

Upgrades in v3.0:

1. Both modules were produced using Matlab 2015 (with better visual quality of the graphics); the previous versions use Matlab 2011.
2. More information have been added as outputs from the software.

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Sample graphical outputs with the new upgrades from both modules are shown below:

iOBE Calculator v3.0 (analysis for a single course):
Figures 1, 2 & 3: Outcomes data for collective groups of students in the course.

Figures 4 & 5: Outcomes data for a student in the course.

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iOBE Aggregator v3.0 (analysis for multiple courses):
Figures 1 & 2: Outcomes data for collective groups of students, aggregated from multiple courses.

Figure 3: Outcomes data for a student, aggregated from multiple courses.

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Upgrade: iOBE Aggregator v2.4

Download software & sample input files: iOBE Aggregator v2.4 (updated 1/2/2016)

The upgrades in iOBE Aggegator v2.4 are:

1. Students' individual marks and outcomes bands, as aggregated from all their enrolled courses, have been added into the output graphs and the corresponding text files.
2. The axes of the output graphs are now properly labelled (in the previous versions, the labels were not shown due to the limited space in the output windows).

There are now 5 output graphs for the aggregated analysis of a group of courses, as shown below. (The input files of this sample case are included in the downloadable files above.)

The analysis of a student, as aggregated from the courses that he/she has enrolled in, are shown in 3 graphs:

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Upgrade: iOBE Calculator v2.4

Download software and sample input files: iOBE Calculator v2.4 (updated 1/2/2016).

The upgrades in iOBE Calculator v2.4 are:

1. Students' individual marks and outcomes bands have been added into the output graphs and the corresponding text files.
2. The axes of the output graphs are now properly labelled (in the previous versions, the labels were not shown due to the limited space in the output windows).

There are now 7 output graphs for the overall analysis of a course, as shown below. (The input files of this sample case are included in the downloadable files above.)

As for the analysis of individual students in the course, there are 5 output graphs, as shown below.

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Upgrade: iOBE Calculator v2.1

The upgrades in iOBE Calculator v2.1 are:

1. The size of the main window panel of this software has been resized into a smaller input console. The console only contains the push-buttons to initiate computations and tabs to input/display text. In the previous versions, the main window is a fixed-size input/output panel containing these buttons, tabs, and six output graphs; these made the window size too large to be displayed in laptops with small screens.
2. The software is able to compute data for all class sizes, including small classes of 2 to 5 students (except for a class with 1 student). Previously, the software were not able to compute data for small class of 5 students or less.

The input console is shown below, with the same buttons and tabs as in the previous versions:

The outputs are displayed as graphs in two separate windows (as shown below) and as text files to display their numerical values. The graph-windows are now resizable (compared to the windows of the previous vesions, which had fixed sizes). Users can easily change the window size according to their needs.

iOBE Calculator v2.1 can be downloaded here. The manual and the compiler can be downloaded here.

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