Assessment Plan 2015-2017
September 2015
Submitted by Susan Dana, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Program Learning Outcomes
The College has established the following learning outcomes, goals and objectives for each of the learning goals listed in its mission statement:
| Mission-Driven Learning Outcomes | Goals & Objectives |
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Knowledge of Business Students shall acquire a common body of knowledge and vocabulary of business. As articulated in course syllabi, students shall gain knowledge of the theory and practices used in management of organizations, operations, and human resources; accounting; corporate finance; marketing; information systems and technology; and law. As they specialize further in their respective option(s), students shall demonstrate their ability to integrate this knowledge in solving business problems. |
Goal & Objectives Students will have strong working knowledge of fundamental concepts in accounting,
finance, management, marketing, information technology, strategy and law. |
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Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the process of purposeful, self-regulatory judgment.* Critical thinking is defined as the ability to structure and synthesize ambiguous information, to sort relevant from irrelevant information, to apply technical knowledge to new problem settings, to analyze and summarize information and to interpret the results of analysis. Critical thinking makes use of the higher cognitive objectives: application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. *The American Philosophical Association. (1990) Critical Thinking: A Statement Of Expert Consensus For Purposes Of Educational Assessment And Instruction, ("the Delphi Report"). ERIC Doc. No. ED 315-423, pp. 80 |
Goal Students will be able to engage in critical thinking to solve business problems. Objectives
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Quantitative Reasoning Quantitative reasoning is the ability to use mathematical concepts to understand and interpret data, make sound inferences, draw logical conclusions and make well-supported decisions. Quantitative reasoning, as a component of critical thinking, requires the use of application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Based on Mathematics Association of America, Quantitative Reasoning for College Graduates: A Complement to the Standards, Part II: Quantitative Literacy: Goals (1998), available at the Mathematical Association of America's (MAA) website here. |
Goal Students will be able to employ quantitative reasoning as a tool for solving business problems. Objectives
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Effective Written Communication Effective written communication demonstrates professionalism and the use of standard business English. Such writing is direct, courteous, grammatically correct, and not overly casual. A student’s writing must demonstrate appropriate sentence structure, mechanics, grammar, word usage, tone and word choice, organization and focus, and development of ideas. |
Goal Students will be able to communicate effectively and professionally in writing.
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Effective Oral Communication Effective oral communication requires facility with standard oral presentational forms including impromptu, extemporaneous, informational, and persuasive speaking. |
Goal Students will be able to communicate effectively and professionally in oral presentations. Objectives
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Ethical Decision-Making & Social Responsibility Rational and ethical decision-making deals with issues of human conduct and the rules that should govern human action. It is characterized by respect for others, an awareness of justice, and sensitivity to the universal application of rules of conduct. Rational and ethical decision-making focuses explicitly on two critical questions: What is right or wrong? and What is good or bad? A graduate of the COB will be competent in rational and ethical decision-making when s/he is able to assess critically her/his actions and the actions of others with respect to these two questions. |
Goal Students will appreciate the ethical and social responsibility dimensions of business decision-making. Objectives
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Life-Long Learning Following the work of Knowles (1990), the COB defines lifelong, self-directed learning as the process by which "individuals take a lifelong initiative, with or without the help of others, to diagnose their own learning needs, formulating their own learning goals, identifying human and material resources for their own learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating their own learning outcomes." |
Goal Students will experience a learning environment that promotes the skills needed for life-long learning. Because life-long learning is a difficult concept to operationalize and resistant to measurement, the objectives for this learning goal refer primarily to the learning opportunities provided to students by the College. Objectives 1.Learning will take place in the context of authentic and complex business problems 2.Students will have extensive opportunities to learn in team settings and to develop effective team skills 3.Students will have the opportunity to develop the ability effectively to research information in furtherance of learning 4.Students will demonstrate effective critical thinking skills. |
In 2015-16, the College will revise its strategic plan which may result in a revisions of the College’s learning goals. Should that occur, the College will develop new learning outcomes, goals and objectives.
Assessment Schedule
|
Outcome |
2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 |
|
Knowledge of Business |
X | X | X | ||
|
Critical Thinking |
X | X | |||
|
Quantitative Reasoning |
X | X | X | ||
|
Written Communication |
X | X | X | ||
|
Oral Communication |
X | X | X | ||
|
Ethical Decision-Making |
X | X |
Because life-long learning is difficult to measure since it does not begin to occur until after a student graduates, efforts to provoke and support lifelong learning among students at the MSU College of Business are concentrated in the following objectives:
- Learning will take place in the context of authentic and complex business problems
- Students will have extensive opportunities to learn in team settings and to develop effective team skills
- Students will have the opportunity to develop the ability effectively to research information in furtherance of learning
- Students will demonstrate effective critical thinking skills
The College’s approach to assessment of life-long learning is to map the first three objectives above to the curriculum to ensure that students have the opportunity to develop these skills (critical thinking is already assessed separately as described above). The curriculum provides multiple opportunities to students to practice these skills.
Annual Assessment Process
1.Student learning is assessed in BGEN 499, the Senior Strategy Seminar. Assessment methodologies differ according to the learning outcome:
- Knowledge of Business: Major Field Test –Business, administered to all seniors in BGEN 499, Senior Strategy Seminar
- Critical Thinking: Three faculty members who are members of the College’s Assessment of Learning Committee apply the College’s rubric to random samples of student case analyses in BGEN 499.
- Quantitative Reasoning: Until 2014-15, the College used the quantitative skills subsection of the Major Field Test-Business. In spring 2015 the College administered for the first time its own test assessing students’ quantitative skills in BGEN 499.
- Written Communication: Three faculty members who are members of the College’s Assessment of Learning Committee apply the College’s rubric to random samples of student case analyses in BGEN 499.
- Oral Communication: Bracken Business Communications Clinic coaches observe oral presentations in BGEN 499 and apply the College’s rubric to assess both team and individual oral communication skills.
- Ethical Decision-Making: Three faculty members who are members of the College’s Assessment of Learning Committee apply the College’s rubric to random samples of student case analyses in BGEN 499, Senior Seminar.
2. The College’s Assessment of Learning (AoL) Committee tabulates the results, highlighting areas in which student learning has changed significantly from the last assess mentor does not meet expectations.
3. The AoL Committee determines whether any results may be attributable to the assessment method or process and whether to change the method or process.
4. The AoL Committee reports the assessment results and its conclusions about assessment methods and processes to the full faculty at least once per year.
5. The AoL Committee reports the results to the College’s Academic Programs Committee which is charged with making recommendations for improving student learning to the full faculty. Recommendations may include anything from changing an assessment method to changing course content, pedagogy or curriculum.
6. Faculty votes whether to adopt the recommended changes.
7. The AoL Committee conducts assessments again every two years.
The College’s annual Assessment Reports are on file with the Provost’s Office.
