Finance BBA students will be proficient in the quantitative formulas required in financial applications. This will prepare the student for a career in finance after graduation.

Finance BBA students will correctly apply financial models used in solving quantitative problems in finance.

Assessment will be made using embedded questions and assess student performance on core quantitative concepts and principles in finance. The core questions will be composed from the core modeling concepts addressed in each course. The embedded questions were created by collaboration of the finance faculty.   FIN 367 & 432

Based on assessment data from the previous year, it was determined that increased focus in the modeling and quantitative area would yield improved student performance.  Therefore, this year the average correct in this area of the exam will be 75%.  After data is compiled a review of the curriculum will be completed to ensure that the change in focus was successful.

Fall 2009 assessment data was collected by using 30 multiple choice embedded questions.  The same embedded questions were used by all instructors that assessed Finance 367.  Thus, we have a large sample size 121 students.  The average score on the embedded questions was 75.92%.  The difference between the concept (75.94%) and quantitative (75.92%) questions did not yield any significant differences.  However, the assessment results by major yielded some interesting results.

Accounting (82.6%) and management (78.18%) majors outperformed banking and finance (76.11%) majors.  This may be an anomaly; we will review the Spring 2010 data to determine if there is any significance to this finding.   If the data continues to validate this trend, then it will cause for concern since this is the most basic finance course that finance and banking majors are required to take. 

Another area of concern is that the scores from last semester to Fall 2009 have decreased.  In prior semesters students obtained a passing grade on all 20 assessment questions.  Although the assessment questions have been changed from prior semesters to Fall 2009, it still calls for concern that the grades have decreased.  Out of the 30 embedded assessment questions, students only had a passing grade in 80% of the overall concept and quantitative skills in this course.  The instructors of Finance 367 will review the embedded questions to ensure that all the relevant material is sufficiently covered to ensure that all sample students have the knowledge to properly answer assessment questions.

The Financial Statement and Credit Analysis course has three key course objectives; 1) review and gain factual knowledge of various accounting principles that affect financial reporting as well as methodologies used to evaluate financial reports; 2) find and use appropriate resources for conducting financial analysis; 3) applying appropriate resources in the analysis of financial statements.

The faculty members selected twenty multiple choice questions by which to conduct the assessment.  The embedded questions were integrated with the traditional exam questions in the three unit exams.  The goal of an overall seventy-five (75%) correct was achieved during the Fall 2009 semester, but not in the Spring 2010 semester. 

Although some successes are noted, the overall percentage of correct responses fell from seventy-nine (79%) in the Fall 2009 semester to seventy-one (71%) in the Spring 2010 semester.  The faculty noticed a semester to semester decline in each of the three course objectives.  The biggest decline in performance arose from questions dealing with the second objective, finding and using appropriate resources.  Only sixty-eight (68%) of the questions were answered correctly.  This is down from eighty-three (83%) percent in the Fall 2009 semester.  Most of the drop-off can be attributed to specific questions, in this case, to two questions that deal with basic accounting and finance concept topics.  These topics should have been covered in the prerequisite courses.  Therefore, greater remedial accounting and finance reviews must be incorporated in future semesters.

The faculty found similar results with questions dealing with the third course objective, applying the course material.  Historically, this has been the weakest element of the course, with only about a seventy (70%) percent success rate in previous semesters.  However, this area also suffered a decline in the Spring 2010 semester and was down to sixty (60%) percent correct.  This is concerning because additional class time was devoted to covering the material in this section, yet to disappointing results.  Again, the material is related to concepts that the student should have been exposed to in prerequisite courses.

Based on the information obtained through the assessment process, course modifications must be made.  In addition to tweaking individual lectures during the course to emphasize the areas that students historically underperform, a change in textbooks is being implemented.  The previous textbook was very technical and obviously not of value to the students.  The new textbook does a much better job of reviewing the basic accounting and finance concepts.  This should help the students, since this appears to be an area of weakness for most of them.

Based on assessment results, course modifications must be made.  In addition to tweaking individual lectures during the course to emphasize those areas in which students are particularly underperforming, a change in textbooks is required.  The previous textbook was extremely technical and apparently did not do an adequate job of reviewing finance and accounting concepts covered in prerequisite courses. 

The goal of the Finance program is to provide students with a broad base of knowledge in finance.

Finance students will demonstrate an understanding of the qualitative aspects of finance.

Assessment will be made using embedded questions and analyze the students performance on core qualitative concepts and principles of finance. The questions for the embedded questions were selected from each of the core areas of the respective course. The finance faculty collaborated on the selection of the questions to ensure that there is uniformity amongst the respective courses.  FIN 334W, 367, 471

The class average on individual embedded exam questions will be 70% correct on the qualitative portion of the exam. Embedded questions will be included on each unit examination.

The finance faculty members selected a series of seven (7) short answer questions that were embedded in examinations throughout the semester.  Assessment data was collected based on the students' performance in responding to the short answer questions. 

As one would expect for such a large course (285 students assessed), assessment results for the embedded questions were mixed by both section and major.  The results indicate that, on average, finance majors (72.26%) performed better on the embedded questions than did non-finance majors (62.8%).  Even when parsed on discipline, all College of Business Administration majors (65.73%) performed better than other non-business disciplines (62.25%).  A portion of these results can be explained by the requirement for business majors to take FIN 367.  Many College of Business (COBA) majors have either completed FIN 367 prior to taking FIN 334W or took it concurrently with the course.

When reviewing the detailed assessment data, there is one area that the majority of students appear to have difficulty.  Students continually under perform in the area relating to moral hazard, a topic covered under asymmetric information.  This function of financial institutions is key to understanding why they exist, and students do not adequately understand the material.  More emphasis must be placed on the instruction on the problems of asymmetric information and how financial institutions exist to help solve these problems.

In previous assessment cycles the finance faculty had used twenty embedded questions.  This year, the finance faculty thought that a larger pool of assessment questions would provide more a more accurate assessment of students learning during the FIN 367 course.  Therefore, the faculty selected thirty multiple choice questions and placed in each core unit’s exam. 

The average score of all students assessed was almost seventy-six percent (75.92%).  The differences between concept and quantitative questions did not yield any significant difference in score.  However, after reviewing the data by major, accounting and management majors outperformed students majoring in finance and/or banking.  It is hoped that this is an anomaly and that finance majors would perform other majors in future assessment cycles.  Since this is the first semester of reviewing the assessment data by major, the faculty wants to make sure that these results are truly indicative of students’ performance by major before making any modifications to the course curriculum.

The finance faculty selected twenty multiple choice questions and embedded them in exams throughout the semester.  The questions selected cover a wide variety of topics that are in line with the course objectives and test basic knowledge of terms, concepts and basic calculations used in international finance.  This course introduces the student to the economic and political environment of international finance and examines how various entities manage their financial activities in an increasingly global environment.

The key course objectives that are assessed are; 1) gaining factual knowledge on types of global financial markets, institutions and instruments; 2) learn fundamental principles, generalizations and theories such as factors associated with the appreciation and depreciation of foreign exchange rates; 3) applying the knowledge base in the analysis of different scenarios common to businesses operating in a global environment.

The assessment data collected showed that students correctly answered the questions almost sixty-seven percent (66.9%) of the time.  This is an increase from the Fall 2009 assessment cycle, where students had an overall average of sixty-three percent (63.5%).  However, the results are mixed when analyzing the questions by course objective and individual questions.  Questions relating to basic factual knowledge are the area that students demonstrated the highest level of proficiency.  In the Spring 2010 assessment cycle students answered correctly seventy-four (74.1%) percent of the time.  This is an increase from the Fall 2009 assessment cycle, where students answered correctly sixty-six (66.9%) percent of the time, when answering questions based on factual knowledge. 

However, questions dealing with the second course objective, developing an understanding of fundamental theories, continue to display disappointing results.  Students correctly answer assessment questions fifty-eight (58%) percent of the time.  Slight improvement was noted from the Fall 2009 assessment cycle. 

The third course objective, applying course material, shows very mixed results.  Although only around fifty-eight (58%) percent of the questions were answered correctly overall, the results were skewed based on the abysmal results from one question.  The question is arguably the most difficult conceptual questions used, since it brings together multiple theoretical constructs within the structure of the question.  However, this concept is an extremely important one for students to grasp.  Therefore, the finance faculty will modify the curriculum to more adequately address this concept. 

Progress was made in many areas in this course as a result of modifications that were made based on assessment data from prior assessment cycles.   However, it is evident based on the assessment data that improvement can still be made.  Additional "real-world" examples may assist students in grasping important qualitative concepts that are essential to this course.

Students continually under perform in the area relating to moral hazard, a topic covered under asymmetric information.  This function of financial institutions is key to understanding why they exist, and students do not adequately understand the material.  More emphasis must be placed on the instruction on the problems of asymmetric information and how financial institutions exist to help solve these problems.

Finance students will be satisfied with the instruction that they receive.

Finance students will be satisfied with the level of instruction that they receive.

Ratings and feedback of the Finance student as measured by the IDEA form.

Finance faculty will have an IDEA score average of 50% in at least one course taught.

The department, college, and university utilize the IDEA System as part of its evaluation of classroom performance. The IDEA System, developed by the IDEA Center at Kansas State University, is a nationally normed, validated and reliable measure of classroom performance based on the top 12 learning objectives. The IDEA scores are a major portion of the department's Faculty Evaluation System (FES) as it relates to classroom performance.

The finance faculty have exceeded the goal set of achieving a score of fifty percent or greater in at least one course taught.  One hundred percent of the finance faculty met this goal.  Based on the performance of the finance faculty members, this goal will need to be increased for the next academic year.

The finance faculty have exceeded the goal set of achieving a score of fifty percent or greater in at least one course taught.  One hundred percent of the finance faculty met this goal.  Based on the performance of the finance faculty members, this goal will need to be increased for the next academic year.