IMPROVING LEARNING QUALITY THROUGH OUTCOME-BASED COURSE EVALUATION: A STEP TOWARDS STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING

Even though recent reforms according to Bologna process in Estonian higher education have mainly focused on enhancing student-centered learning, none of the existing measuring instruments implemented so far have been appropriate for assessing the nature of that phenomenon in relation to learning outcomes. The purpose of this study is to analyze the results of implementing a modified outcome based course evaluation instrument adapted from the Curtin University in Australia. In this mixed method research 287 students from 21 different courses had to evaluate and describe what helped them to learn; how well they have obtained learning outcomes; what are the aspects that help or hinder them to achieve learning outcomes. The analysis showed that outcome-based course evaluation instrument is suitable for measuring students learning through the achievement of learning outcomes. The results indicated that student's ratings to learning environment, learning experiences and reasoning how to improve their learning were evaluated the highest. The lowest scores were given to learning factors like clear learning outcomes, learning materials, motivation and satisfaction with the course, relevance of the topics and to the achievement of curriculum goals. The results indicate that the aspects that hinder students to achieve learning outcomes are mostly personal, but the aspects that support students learning are commonly influenced by the school.