QUALITY ASSURANCE STRATEGIES: TYPOLOGY AND OUTCOMES-BASED TEACHING INNOVATION EXPERIENCES IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES

Abstract

Quality assurance has been a global quest for institutions of higher learning. In the Philippines, the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED), has designed a new strategy, an approach geared toward
developing competent and high-level human resources and generating knowledge and technologies
needed for advancing the country’s national development and competitiveness. This study presents
experiences of three academic institutions of higher learning in Southern Philippines in its
implementation of the new quality assurance strategy; present the quality assurance framework of
the Commission on Higher Education; discuss the innovative instructional strategies (Outcomes -Based Education) mandated by the quality assurance framework; describe the experiences of three
Southern Philippines universities; and, present personal analysis of the realizability of the quality
assurance framework. The quality assurance framework includes the categorization of the
institutions of higher learning as University, Professional Institution and College, all with their
corresponding nature and tasks in the educational process. It is in the fulfillment of their tasks that
they could be sustainable as higher education institutions. Further, quality assurance mandates the
shift to innovative teaching strategies known as the Outcomes Based Education in which outcomes
are the indicators of quality. The outcomes are classified as Institutional Graduate Outcomes,
Program Outcomes, Course Outcomes and Learning Outcomes. Based on the experiences of the
three institutions whose implementation are being studied, there are difficulties experienced because
the change necessitates the matching shift in instruction, in the policies and behavior of faculty.
However, despite the difficulties, generally, the schools are slowly making the quality assurance
framework work in their schools.
Keywords: Innovative Teaching Strategies, Quality Assurance, typology, Outcomes-Based
Education