Assessment Highlights for the Undergraduate Program

The School of Business established a set of program goals and learning outcomes and collects assessment data to measure student achievement of these outcomes. In the past school year 2007-08, we assessed outcomes related to knowledge and skills in areas of business. We used course-embedded assessment techniques to gather data on forty-five learning outcomes in sixteen core undergraduate courses. We are happy to report 100-percent participation of faculty in course-embedded assessment.

We collect assessment data every semester. The faculty then use benchmarks to evaluate the data, and establish whether the student learning in an outcome is Excellent, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement. In 2007-08, the performance of students in most outcomes was Satisfactory. Four outcomes were seen as Excellent in Fall 2007, and nine outcomes were Excellent in Spring 2008. One outcome was identified as needing improvement in Fall 2007, one more outcome needed improvement in Spring 2008. For the outcomes that needed improvement, the faculty examine whether the outcome achievement is down due to temporary reasons, or whether changes in course structure are needed in order to improve student learning. In 2007-08, we completed a three-year cycle of assessment data collection that allows us to establish a baseline of student learning and distinguish between short-term and long-term trends in assessment data.

The School also uses the ETS Major Field Test in Business to measure the knowledge and skills of all graduates. The results of this national standardized ETS test taken by the graduates provide external validation to our course-embedded assessment data. The School’s graduates performed very strongly on this national test in both Fall 2007 and Spring 2008. In particular, the average score of IU Kokomo students was in the 95 th percentile compared to all institutions participating in the ETS testing nationally. This sample includes 447 institutions and 37,217 students in 2006-08.

In 2008-09, we continue to collect course-embedded assessment data. Having collected data on business knowledge and skills for three years, we now move the focus of assessment to general skills, starting with communication skills in 2008-09. All graduates also continue to take the ETS Major Field Test. The assessment results are continually evaluated by the Assessment Committee of the School, and faculty in the appropriate areas.