BY DAYO ADESULU

The National Universities Commission (NUC), on Tuesday, 10 September, 2013, organised a workshop on the Development of Learning Outcomes for Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) for undergraduate programmes in the NUS. In a welcome address, the Executive Secretary, NUC, Professor Julius Okojie, said that the first Minimum Academic Standards (MAS) for 13 disciplines, were developed in 1989 and served as a reference document for the first accreditation exercise in the system, in 1990. He said that the MAS was reviewed, in 2004, through a process that led to the evolution of the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS).

Professor Okojie said that the BMAS was different from the MAS, in that it contained learning outcomes, which were, primarily, achievements that were expressed in terms of what the learner was expected to know, understand and be able to do on completion of a degree programme. He said that the learning outcomes in the BMAS provided specific and clear information for students on what was expected of them and also served as a guide for assisting them in choosing elective courses. This would ensure that assessment methods as well as teaching and learning methods were appropriate to outcomes. Other benefits included facilitating feedback to students, serving as a reference for curriculum designers, providing clarification for external examiners and assessors as well as serving as a guide for the process of credit transfer, among others.

The Executive Secretary said that the Commission was reviewing the BMAS and had engaged the services of renowned experts, who would assist in developing learning outcomes that addressed the specificity of the respective disciplines, in line with current trends. He said that the team members were carefully selected for the assignment and urged them to give the assignment the commitment it deserved. At the programme were the Deputy Executive Secretary, Mr. Akinbode Agbaoye and some directors of the Commission.