Demonstrating Learning Achievement

The Assurance of Learning processes we employ make use of direct and indirect assessments of student performance to guide program development and revision. The following definitions apply:

Direct Assessment

Includes direct observations of student performance via course and class activities. The direct assessment approaches we employ are:

Course-embedded assessment

Faculty make use of current planned course activities which require student performance (e.g., graded written exercises, tests, course project work) to evaluate learning objectives (via assessment rubrics). For example, a course may require a written term paper on a particular topic, and the faculty member may, in addition to grading the work as an input to the student’s course grade, use the term paper to assess the students in the class on elements of the written paper which relate to the relevant goals/objectives of the curricular program.

Demonstration through stand-alone testing or performance

The ETS Major Field test in Business is required of students taking BUS 465 Strategic Management (this course is the culminating course for the Business Core program). The scores on the exam are included as a component of the student’s overall course grade. The ETS test is used to assess the learning objective for the goal that students have an understanding of functional business knowledge.

Indirect Assessment

Includes indirect measures of student learning and program outcomes. The indirect assessment measures we use are:

EBI Survey

We use the EBI Undergraduate Business Student Exit Survey to gather information about the value of general program components and global student satisfaction with program elements. We use the survey as a diagnostic tool to highlight areas of strength/concern.

NSSE Survey

We use the National Survey of Student Engagement as an indirect measure of student learning and as a guide to program development and improvement.

First Destination Surveys and Follow-up Surveys

We use the First Destination survey, administered at graduation, and the Follow-up Surveys, administered three and nine months after graduation, as indirect measures of program effectiveness as measured through acceptance to graduate school, employment, and starting salary.

Surveys provided by IR

We use the resources of the Department of Institutional Research to understand student trends and enrollment patterns. This information helps us plan faculty staffing and indirectly aids curriculum development.