Assessment Topics
The focus of education is on learning and the needs of learners.
Business schools and programs need to focus on students active learning and
development of problem solving skills. The following article was taken
from the American Association for Higher Education website.
ASSESSMENT FORUM
9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning
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The assessment of student learning begins with educational values.
Assessment is not an end in itself but a vehicle for educational
improvement. Its effective practice, then, begins with and enacts a vision
of the kinds of learning we most value for students and strive to help them
achieve. Educational values should drive not only what we choose to
assess but also how we do so. Where questions about educational
mission and values are skipped over, assessment threatens to be an exercise
in measuring what's easy, rather than a process of improving what we really
care about.
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Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of
learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over
time. Learning is a complex process. It entails not only what
students know but what they can do with what they know; it involves not only
knowledge and abilities but values, attitudes, and habits of mind that
affect both academic success and performance beyond the classroom.
Assessment should reflect these understandings by employing a diverse array
of methods, including those that call for actual performance, using them
over time so as to reveal change, growth, and increasing degrees of
integration. Such an approach aims for a more complete and accurate picture
of learning, and therefore firmer bases for improving our students'
educational experience.
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Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have
clear, explicitly stated purposes. Assessment is a goal-oriented
process. It entails comparing educational performance with educational
purposes and expectations -- those derived from the institution's mission,
from faculty intentions in program and course design, and from knowledge of
students' own goals. Where program purposes lack specificity or agreement,
assessment as a process pushes a campus toward clarity about where to aim
and what standards to apply; assessment also prompts attention to where and
how program goals will be taught and learned. Clear, shared, implementable
goals are the cornerstone for assessment that is focused and useful.
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Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to
the experiences that lead to those outcomes. Information about
outcomes is of high importance; where students "end up" matters
greatly. But to improve outcomes, we need to know about student experience
along the way -- about the curricula, teaching, and kind of student effort
that lead to particular outcomes. Assessment can help us understand which
students learn best under what conditions; with such knowledge comes the
capacity to improve the whole of their learning.
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Assessment works best when it is ongoing not episodic.
Assessment is a process whose power is cumulative. Though isolated,
"one-shot" assessment can be better than none, improvement is best
fostered when assessment entails a linked series of activities undertaken
over time. This may mean tracking the process of individual students, or of
cohorts of students; it may mean collecting the same examples of student
performance or using the same instrument semester after semester. The point
is to monitor progress toward intended goals in a spirit of continuous
improvement. Along the way, the assessment process itself should be
evaluated and refined in light of emerging insights.
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Assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from
across the educational community are involved. Student learning is
a campus-wide responsibility, and assessment is a way of enacting that
responsibility. Thus, while assessment efforts may start small, the aim over
time is to involve people from across the educational community. Faculty
play an especially important role, but assessment's questions can't be fully
addressed without participation by student-affairs educators, librarians,
administrators, and students. Assessment may also involve individuals from
beyond the campus (alumni/ae, trustees, employers) whose experience can
enrich the sense of appropriate aims and standards for learning. Thus
understood, assessment is not a task for small groups of experts but a
collaborative activity; its aim is wider, better-informed attention to
student learning by all parties with a stake in its improvement.
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Assessment makes a difference when it begins with issues of use
and illuminates questions that people really care about.
Assessment
recognizes the value of information in the process of improvement. But to be
useful, information must be connected to issues or questions that people
really care about. This implies assessment approaches that produce evidence
that relevant parties will find credible, suggestive, and applicable to
decisions that need to be made. It means thinking in advance about how the
information will be used, and by whom. The point of assessment is not to
gather data and return "results"; it is a process that starts with
the questions of decision-makers, that involves them in the gathering and
interpreting of data, and that informs and helps guide continuous
improvement.
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Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part
of a larger set of conditions that promote change. Assessment alone
changes little. Its greatest contribution comes on campuses where the
quality of teaching and learning is visibly valued and worked at. On such
campuses, the push to improve educational performance is a visible and
primary goal of leadership; improving the quality of undergraduate education
is central to the institution's planning, budgeting, and personnel
decisions. On such campuses, information about learning outcomes is seen as
an integral part of decision making, and avidly sought.
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Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students
and to the public. There is a compelling public stake in education.
As educators, we have a responsibility to the publics that support or depend
on us to provide information about the ways in which our students meet goals
and expectations. But that responsibility goes beyond the reporting of such
information; our deeper obligation -- to ourselves, our students, and
society -- is to improve. Those to whom educators are accountable have a
corresponding obligation to support such attempts at improvement.
Authors: Alexander W. Astin; Trudy W. Banta;
K. Patricia Cross; Elaine El-Khawas; Peter T. Ewell; Pat Hutchings; Theodore J.
Marchese; Kay M. McClenney; Marcia Mentkowski; Margaret A. Miller; E. Thomas
Moran; Barbara D. Wright
Simulations allow students to learn from their own experience and to
experiment with different strategies without the fear of failure. This
creates a learning laboratory where students can be evaluated based on desired
outcomes. By assessing performance at various stages of the simulation
process, an instructor can evaluate the progress of students toward stated
outcomes. When simulation is used in conjunction with the presentation of
new business content, it becomes an application tool. This tool can then
be used to assess learning and application of the new content material.
The BusSim family of simulations provide
this application and assessment for six core business classes.
Benefits of Simulation
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Application of theoretical material leading to improved learning retention.
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Learning by experience and experimentation.
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Dynamic decision making under uncertainty using realistic environment.
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Uses technology that today's students find more
stimulating.
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Provides assessment of learning through performance metrics
that can be tracked over time.
This Integrated Business Instruction System is designed to
help students understand the complex set of business relationships needed by the
business practitioner. BusSim
is a set of experiential learning programs that use the same business case in a
Windows based environment. From the
introductory level in an Introduction to Business class to the comprehensive
level in the Strategic Management class, BusSim
offers six modules of integrated assessment.
By tracking your student’s performance in these modules through
measurement of business core skills and knowledge, you can assess progress in
applying business decision making throughout your curriculum.
Integrated Case
Outdoor Limited, Inc. is the small
manufacturing company that provides the business environment for the BusSim
family of simulations. The company
begins by producing and selling one product, the OutdoorPak, a lightweight
backpack for hiking. The company
was formed in 1980 and in 1984 was sold to the current owners.
The new management team was put in place and the company has grown steadily
since 1984.
Outdoor
Limited, Inc. started with a 10,000 sq. ft. manufacturing site and a 2,000 sq.
ft. office area and employed 50 people.
In
1984 they were selling about 450,000 OutdoorPaks with revenues of $11 million
and profits of $600,000. By 1992 Outdoor Limited, Inc. had expanded their
physical plant by 50%, were selling a million OutdoorPaks and realizing profits
of two million dollars.
Module use of Case
Each of the BusSim
Modules takes the student through a
different phase of Outdoor Limited’s growth.
The Introductory Module begins in 1990 with Outdoor Limited producing
only the OutdoorPak. The Module
simulates the next two years of operation at Outdoor Limited.
Students begin to experience the effect their decisions have on company
profits. Physical growth is not
permitted in this module.
The Finance Module
also begins in 1990, but allows the student to begin to grow the company’s
manufacturing capability. Three
years of quarterly operation are simulated with this module.
The student should experience the challenges associated with growth,
namely cash needs, and begin to operationalize the financial statements and
budgets.
The
Marketing Module begins in 1993 and simulates three years of operation.
The primary challenge in this module is the introduction of a new product and the
selling of
Outdoor
Limited’s
three products through three distribution channels.
Twelve
quarterly decisions focusing on marketing mix variables are simulated with this module.
The student should experience the challenges associated with
the
management of increased demand.
The
Operations Module begins in 1997 and simulates one year of operation.
The primary challenge in this module is the production of three products
on two assembly lines. Monthly
decisions relative to all production variables
are simulated with this module.
The student should experience the challenges associated with
the
management of the production function in this small manufacturing firm.
The
Strategy Module begins in 1998 and simulates three years of operation.
Student teams are responsible for setting strategy, developing budgets
and scheduling all the resources necessary to produce and sell all three
products. Quarterly
decisions relative to
the
enterprise and to each functional division are simulated.
Students should experience the challenges associated with
the
coordination and management of all the elements of this small
manufacturing firm.
Financial Statements
One of the important integrating features of this instruction system is the
use of a common presentation of financial statements. This integrated
display provides financial information crucial to the understanding of operating
a business. By using the same format in each module the student becomes
very familiar with the integration of these financial statements.
Spreadsheets
Decision tools in the form of Excel Spreadsheets are provided with each
module in this instruction system.
Outcome Statements: As a result of using this simulation, students
should be able to:
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Describe a simple business model.
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Recognize the effect of basic business decisions on business
outcomes.
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Analyze Financial Statements and their relationship to the
business model.
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Formulate a Sales Forecast and a Proforma Income Statement.
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Evaluate business decisions in a small manufacturing industry.
Performance Metrics
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Perceived Quality
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Retained Earnings
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Cash Management
Outcome Statements: As a result of using this simulation, students
should be able to:
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Identify new business decisions available to the
Financial Manager.
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Demonstrate understanding of a more
detailed business model.
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Formulate Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
Proformas.
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Calculate the financial ratios and apply these ratios to
business outcomes.
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Manage cash through the growth phase of a business.
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Evaluate the effect of business decisions on stock
price.
Performance Metrics
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Financial Returns (ROA, ROE and ROI)
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Cash Budgeting
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Firm Growth
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Stock Price
Outcome Statements: As a result of using this simulation, students
should be able to:
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Identify new business decisions available to the
Marketing Manager.
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Calculate alternative demand/sales forecasts.
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Institute new product introduction.
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Demonstrate the application of marketing mix decisions to
enhance product sales.
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Analyze market research data.
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Formulate a Marketing Plan.
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Evaluate marketing decisions in a
multi-product small manufacturing business.
Performance Metrics
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Financial Returns (ROA, ROE and ROI)
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Market Share
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Marketing Efficiency
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Forecast Accuracy
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Perceived Quality
Outcome Statements: As a result of using this simulation, students
should be able to:
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Identify new business decisions available to the
Operations Manager.
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Understand the operations decisions affecting supply and
capacity management.
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Apply techniques such as MRP, JIT and EOQ to production
scheduling.
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Demonstrate the application of production objectives
relative to cost, delivery, quality and flexibility.
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Formulate a Production Plan.
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Evaluate resource effectiveness and their application
within a production system.
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Evaluate production decisions in a
multi-product small manufacturing business.
Performance Metrics
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Financial Returns (ROA, ROE and ROI)
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Operations Efficiency
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Product Quality
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Product Delivery
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Production Cost
Outcome Statements: As a result of using this simulation, students
should be able to:
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Identify new business decisions available to Senior
Management.
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Understand each of the elements of a complex business model.
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Formulate a Strategic Plan.
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Demonstrate the ability to function as a team.
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Analyze financial, market, production, labor and economic
data.
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Present annual results and strategic direction to Board of
Directors.
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Integrate the functional contributions to enterprise
decisions.
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Evaluate strategic decisions in a
multi-product small manufacturing business.
Performance Metrics
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Financial Returns (ROA, ROE and ROI)
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Operations Effectiveness
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Human Resource Morale
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Market Share
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Stock Price
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