Outcome-Based Education Curriculum Development: Conceptual Foundations and Implementation Challenges in Indonesian Higher Education

Journal: Cendekia: Jurnal Pengembangan Kurikulum dan Pendidikan

Publication: 2025-06-26

DOI: 10.64683/cendekia.v3i1.57

Abstract

The adoption of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) has become the mainstream of higher education curriculum reform in Indonesia, driven by the Indonesian National Qualifications Framework (KKNI), the National Standards for Higher Education, the Merdeka Belajar–Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) policy, and national as well as international accreditation requirements. Its implementation, however, often stops at the documentary level and has yet to reach the transformation of learning processes and assessment. This article is an integrative literature review that aims to (1) examine the conceptual foundations of OBE, (2) synthesise models of outcome-based curriculum development, (3) analyse implementation challenges in the Indonesian context, and (4) formulate a coherent development framework. A search was conducted across 64 sources from the Scopus, ERIC, DOAJ, and Garuda databases for the period 1994-2025, then analysed thematically using Spady’s OBE principles and Biggs’ constructive alignment. The review shows that effective OBE curriculum development requires vertical alignment from the Graduate Profile down to lesson-level learning outcomes, constructive alignment among outcomes, learning experiences, and assessment, and a continuous quality improvement mechanism that closes the loop. The main challenges include shifting lecturers’ mindsets, assessment workload, learning-outcome inflation, limited information systems, and the gap between the written and the enacted curriculum. The article proposes a capacity-building framework and an agenda for further research.