Ontological Framework for the Analysis of Outcome-Based Curriculum in Higher Education

Outcome-Based Education (OBE) is a globally recognized approach for enhancing educational quality and aligning academic programs with industry needs. Despite its advantages, implementing OBE poses significant challenges, particularly in maintaining alignment across program-level outcomes, course-specific learning outcomes, and other curriculum components. This paper introduces OBC-ONTO, an ontology developed to streamline curriculum design within the OBE framework in higher education. The proposed ontology addresses curriculum coherence issues by applying core OBE principles, such as clarity of focus, backward design, expanded opportunities, and high expectations. OBC-ONTO was developed based on in-depth domain analysis and the formulation of competency questions derived from scenarios where a reviewer assesses whether a curriculum meets OBE requirements. The uniqueness of this framework lies in its application of OBE principles, its support for curriculum reviewers' tasks, and its ability to accommodate various educational levels, including diploma, vocational, bachelor's, and master's programs. The framework's effectiveness is demonstrated through automated consistency checks, competency questions answering, and expert evaluations, proving its versatility across various academic settings. This study highlights OBC-ONTO as a valuable tool for curriculum designers and reviewers, offering a systematic approach to ensure alignment with OBE standards and enhance curriculum quality assurance.