Development of an Outcome-Based Authentic Learning Model for Enhancing Students’ Professional Competence in Higher Education

This study aimed to develop and examine the validity, practicality, and preliminary effectiveness of the Outcome-Based Authentic Learning Model (OBALM) for strengthening the professional competence of prospective vocational educators. This Research and Development (R&D) study employed the ADDIE model and involved 54 third-semester students of the Vocational Makeup Education Study Program at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts Padangpanjang. Data were collected through expert validation, implementation observations, student responses, and a professional performance rubric, and were analyzed using Aiken’s V, percentage scores, N-gain, and inferential statistics. OBALM comprises six stages: Authentic Problem Orientation, Problem Analysis, Strategy Design, Implementation, Feedback, and Reflection. Expert validation yielded an Aiken’s V of 0.89, indicating high content validity, while the overall practicality score was 85.0%. Students’ mean professional competence score increased from 62.18 to 82.94, with an N-gain of 0.55. The pretest–posttest difference was statistically significant, t(53) = 13.44, p < .001, with a very large effect size (Cohen’s dz = 1.83). Improvements were observed across the seven targeted professional competence dimensions. These findings provide initial empirical support for OBALM as a structured learning approach that integrates outcome-based learning, authentic problems, practical performance, feedback, and reflection in vocational higher education. Keywords: outcome-based education, authentic learning, professional competence, vocational education, instructional model.