Student Achievement Assessment Committee

2002-2003 ACADEMIC YEAR

Learning Outcomes:

Achieving the educational mission of the MBA degree means that graduates of our MBA programs should:
1. Know the fundamentals of business well including the core areas as defined by the AACSB.
2. Understand the domestic and global business environments including the social, political, legal, environmental, and technological issues that impact business.
3. Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
4. Appreciate the value of diversity and ethical behavior.
5. Engage problems creatively and cross-functionally.
6. Work well in teams, both as members and leaders.
7. Understand and adapt to the personal and organizational implications of change.
8. Have the ability to learn on her/his own, continuously.

In addition, we believe that graduates of our Executive MBA program should be prepared to:
1. Employ collaboration and teamwork strategically to achieve commitment and success.
2. Anticipate change and know how to lead and achieve change in organizations.
3. Communicate effectively as leaders.

To achieve these qualities, each of our MBA programs must offer courses and other educational experiences that encourage students to:
1. Acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding of business and of the critical social, political, legal, environmental, and technological issues that impact business.
2. Integrate theories, concepts and principles within and across courses including the core areas as defined by AACSB.
3. Apply theories, concepts, principles, and cross-functional approaches to business problems.
4. Think critically and creatively and employ appropriate quantitative and nonquantitative analysis.
5. Act ethically and responsibly with appropriate consideration to ethnic and cultural diversity.
6. Recognize the implications of a changing, global environment.
7. Develop their professional skills including written and oral communication and computer competency.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational process, the following learning outcomes have been identified:

The students pursuing an MBA degree will:
1) Demonstrate a knowledge of
a) Business terminology.
b) Specific business disciplines.
c) Theories, concepts, and principles from the business disciplines including the core areas.
d) Social, political, legal, environmental, and technological issues affecting business.
e) Information technology.
2) Demonstrate an understanding of the
a) Theories, concepts, and principles from the business disciplines.
b) Decision-making process and techniques including quantitative and nonquantitative analysis.
c) Written material, graphs, tables, and data used in business decisions.
d) Implications of business decisions, both internally and externally.
e) Role of information technology in business.
f) Ethics, both personal and professional.
g) Implications of ethnic and cultural diversity for business and society.
h) Implications of the rapidly changing, domestic and global economic environments of organizations.
i) Expectations employers and communities hold for professionals.
3) Demonstrate an integration of
a) Theories, concepts, and principles from the business disciplines.
4) Demonstrate the application of
a) Theories, concepts, and principles from the business disciplines.
b) Cross-functional approaches to organizational issues.
c) Team and leadership skills.
d) Decision-making processes and techniques.
e) Information technology.
f) Problem-solving skills including the use of quantitative and nonquantitative analysis.
5) Demonstrate
a) Critical thinking.
b) Creativity.
6) Demonstrate skills in
a) Oral and written communication.
b) Computer proficiency.
c) Leadership, especially team leadership.
d) Problem-solving.
e) Negotiation.
f) Career management.
7) Demonstrate qualities such as
a) Pride in a job well done.
b) Teamwork.
c) Respect for the opinions and rights of others.
d) Tolerance of uncertainty, ambiguity, and change.
8) Demonstrate the capacity for
a) Life-long learning.

Annual Report

1. Learning (or Service) Outcomes assessed this year:

The MBA Committee conducted assessments on the full-time program and on the Executive and Dana MBA programs. For the full-time program, learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 were assessed. For the Executive and Dana MBA programs, learning outcomes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 were assessed.

2. Assessment Methods and Procedures:

For the full-time program, two methods of assessment were employed. First, full-time students representing 68% of the graduating class of 2002 worked in teams to review the program. Second, faculty members reviewed the programs as part of the AACSB self-study process. Both sets of information were presented to the MBA Committee in the 2003 fall semester. For the Executive and Dana MBA programs, the MBA Committee had approved the use of Kansas State University’s IDEA Center assessment survey, which was administered by the GSB staff to all Executive and Dana MBA sections during 2001-2002. The survey consisted of 28 Likert-type items and two open-ended questions. The survey measures the students’ perceptions of their learning progress on each of twelve learning objectives and provides statistical summaries on the objectives that each faculty member has identified as important or essential for the course. The twelve learning objectives are as follows:
1. Gaining factual knowledge
2. Learning fundamental principles, generalizations, or theories
3. Learning to apply course material
4. Developing specific skills, competencies, and points of view needed by professionals
5. Acquiring skills in working with others as a member of a team
6. Developing creative capacities
7. Gaining a broader understanding and appreciation of intellectual/cultural activity
8. Developing skill in expressing myself orally or in writing
9. Learning how to fund and use resources for answering questions or solving problems
10. Developing a clearer understanding of, and commitment to, personal values
11. Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view
12. Acquiring an interest in learning more by asking my own questions and seeking answers

The surveys were sent in batches to the IDEA Center for processing. The results, which were received in fall 2003, were shared with the MBA Committee and relevant faculty members and their department chairpersons.

3. Inferences from Assessments:

As for the full-time MBA program, the assessment confirmed that many aspects of the program were working as expected, e.g., the diversity of the international students was contributing to the ethnic and cultural experiences of the domestic students. However, the assessment identified some problem areas that demanded action by the MBA Committee to improve the program (see Appendix A). These problem areas included learning outcomes but also involved areas such as student placement, program structure, and scheduling. With regard to the learning outcomes, both students and faculty members identified problems with oral communication, computer proficiency, topic integration and application, and curriculum design. The assessment confirmed problems that had been suggested in focus groups of graduating students conducted previously. The learning outcome issues are summarized in Appendix B.

As for the Executive and Dana MBA programs, the IDEA assessment provides a course average on each learning objective, a normative score for each learning objective, and a learning progress rating (see Appendix C). Learning progress score for learning objectives that are rated either as low or low average are highlighted. The results indicated that some courses were very successful (e.g., MBA 607, 608, and 610), that some courses had significant problems (e.g., ECON 600, STAT 601, MBA 601, MBA 604, MBA 606, and MBA 609), and that the two programs had some learning objectives for which more courses scored as low or low average than scored as average or above (e.g., learning objectives 1, 4, 8, and 12).

4. Actions Taken/Program Improvements:

In 2002-2003, the MBA Committee was extremely involved in program review and revision: (1) made changes in the full-time program in response to accreditation standards and learning outcome assessment; (2) adjusted the credit hour requirements for students with and without prior study in business in accordance with accreditation standards; (3) added four self-study courses to the Executive and Dana MBA programs for students without appropriate prior academic work in business; (4) and increased the admission standards for all MBA programs. The MBA Committee approved substantial changes in the full-time program curriculum in response to both learning outcome assessment and accreditation (see Appendix D).

The assessment of learning objectives for the Executive and Dana MBA programs were shared with the appropriate faculty members and departments. In some cases, new faculty members were assigned to courses for 2002-2003 as a result of the assessment feedback. In other cases, faculty members made changes in course content and pedagogy as a result of the feedback. IDEA assessments were conducted during 2002-2003 and are being prepared for processing at this time. The results will provide feedback that will help assess whether changes made in teaching assignments and/or courses were successful in improving student perceptions of the courses. Discussion of these results will continue within the MBA Committee and with the relevant department faculties.