The College of Business Administration will provide a common business foundation for all its majors. This foundation consists of financial and managerial accounting principles (ACC 231 and 232), micro and macro economic principles (ECO 233 and 234), the principles of business law (GBA 281), fundamental quantitative skills (BAN 232 and 363), the principles of finance (FIN 367), the principles of marketing (MKT 371), the principles of business management (MGT 380, 475, 476), business communications (GBA 389), and information systems (MIS 388).

Oral and written communication skills are essential to the modern business professional. The pace at which modern business is conducted necessitates that the communication of ideas take place accurately and quickly. Conducting business in a global environment also means that modern business professionals need to accommodate cultural differences in their communications.

The degree of competency in written communication will be assessed through writing assignments in the business communication courses. A rubric developed by the communications faculty will be used to ascertain the level of proficiency.

At least 80% of sampled students will score at least 70% on the written business communication rubrics.

The Business Communications faculty assessed the following key objectives for the General Business 389W course:  1) develop a foundation and principles for successful communication; 2) adapt language and style in various letter- and report-writing situations; 3) construct clear sentences and paragraphs using accepted standards of English grammar and punctuation, with emphasis on variations in sentence structure and effective paragraph design; and 4) develop and employ effective writing strategies that maintain goodwill and are tactful, courteous, and positive. 

Previous assessment findings indicated a general lack of basic writing skills in the areas of grammar, mechanics and paragraph development.  The objectives of this course build upon fundamental writing skills, which should be a prerequisite for the GBA 389W course.  However, students often lack these basic writing skills.  If students entered the course with the required prerequisite knowledge, then the course could better address various business communication issues. 

As a result of the assessment process which indicated some deficiencies in basic writing skills across all majors, GBA 389W instructors have included in the course curriculum a pre- and post-semester basic grammar assessment test.  In addition, students were required to take on-line writing skills assessment which addressed the areas of grammar, mechanics and paragraph development.  Based on individual scores students were then required to participate in area-specific training and review.  Students were also encouraged to visit the on-campus Writing Center for further reinforcement of these principles. 

Results compiled during the AY 2010-2011 assessment process include a sampling of nine sections of the GBA 389W course during Spring 2011.  The assessment instrument/rubric measured three performance elements:  1) document format; 2) content; and 3) grammar, mechanics and paragraph development.   The results were broken down by major, and the data was compiled in a detailed spreadsheet (see attached SP11 Writing Competency Assessment Findings by Major). 

The results by major were also combined to indicate overall results for all business majors in 2010-2011.  We then compared assessment results for all majors from previous years (AY 2008-2009 and AY 2009-2010) to determine trends in improvement or in a lack of improvement in skills competency (see attached 2009-2011 Comparison-Writing Competency).

The AY 2010-2011 results illustrate that most (65%) of accounting majors exceeded expectations or met (35%) on document format showing improvement over the previous year.  All accounting majors either exceeded expectations (50%) on content or met expectations (50%) on content showing significant improvement over the previous year.  All accounting majors either exceeded expectations (25%) on grammar/mechanics and paragraph development or met expectations (50%) on grammar/mechanics and paragraph development showing a significant improvement from previous assessment years. 

Economics majors exceeded expectations (83%) in document format with the remaining 13% of students scoring below expectations in format showing significant improvement over the previous assessment year.  Economics majors either met (33%) or exceeded expectations (67%) in the areas of content, and met (50%) or exceeded expectations (50%) in  grammar/mechanics and paragraph development again showing improvement over the previous assessment years in both performance categories.

All (100%) of Human Resource Management majors showed improvement and exceeded expectations on document format, while more than half (57%) met or exceeded expectations (29%) on content showing slight improvement over the previous year.  In grammar/mechanics and paragraph development, half (86%) met expectations and the remainder fell below expectations on content.  Even so, students sowed improvement from the previous year. 

Nearly two-thirds of International Business majors exceeded expectations on document format.  Thirty-one percent met expectations on document format.  Although seven percent fell below expectations in this category, students showed improvement in this category over previous years.  Thirty-eight percent of majors scored above expectations on content; 38% percent met expectations showing no improvement over previous years.  The majority of students (53%) met or exceeded expectations on grammar/mechanics and paragraph development; the remaining forty-six percent fell below expectations in this category, which indicates little improvement in this category.

Sixty percent of Finance majors exceeded expectations in the area of format; thirty percent met expectations in this category indicating improvement.  Ten percent of students exceeded expectations on content; seventy percent met expectations and twenty percent were below expectations on content, down from previous years.  Fifty percent either exceeded or met expectations on grammar, mechanics and paragraph development; the remaining fifty percent scored below expectations in this category, down from previous years.

Over half of Banking and Finance majors (58%) exceeded expectations or met expectations (42%) in document format indicating improvement over previous years. Sixteen percent exceeded expectations, seventy-five percent met expectations, and eight percent were below expectations on content, showing improvement in that category. Thirty-three percent scored above expectations, half met expectations, and seventeen percent scored below expectations in grammar, mechanics and paragraph development showing improvement.

Thirty-three percent of Management majors exceeded expectations on document format; sixty percent met expectations in the same category showing significant improvement.  Thirteen percent of management majors exceeded expectations on document content; the remaining eighty-seven percent met expectations in the same category showing significant improvement.  Twenty-seven percent of majors exceeded expectations, forty-seven percent met expectations, and twenty-seven percent were below expectations in grammar, mechanics and paragraph development showing significant improvement. 

Fifty-six percent of Marketing majors exceeded expectations in document format; thirty-nine percent met expectations and five percent scored below expectations in the same category showing significant improvement.  Seventeen percent exceeded expectations in document content; seventy-two percent met expectations and eleven percent scored below expectations in the same category showing some improvement.  Eleven percent of marketing majors exceeded expectations in grammar, mechanics and paragraph development; sixty-one percent met expectations and twenty-eight percent scored below expectations in grammar, mechanics and paragraph development showing significant improvement.

Half of (50%) of Management Information Systems (MIS) majors exceeded expectations in document format; the remaining fifty percent met expectations in this category--roughly unchanged from previous assessment years.  Thirteen percent of students exceeded expectations and the majority of students (62%) met expectations with twenty-five percent scoring below expectations on content which was slightly down from previous years.  Thirteen percent of MIS majors scored above expectations in grammar, mechanics and paragraph development; the remainder (87%) met expectations in the same category showing significant improvement from previous assessment years. 

Fifty-two percent of General Business Administration (GBA) majors exceeded expectations in document format; forty-one percent met expectations and seven percent scored below expectations in the same category showing some improvement over previous years.  Twenty-four percent exceeded expectations in content; seventy-two percent met expectations and four percent scored below expectations in the same category--an improvement over previous years.  Eleven percent of GBA majors exceeded expectations in grammar, mechanics and paragraph development; forty-eight percent met expectations and forty-one percent scored below expectations in the same category showing some improvement over previous years.

Statistical analysis of the data included (attached) using regression and chi square tests.  The results indicated no significant differences in performance by major, primarily because some of our sample sizes were too small.  However, we continue to import data each year into a database which we hope will eventually provide additional insight on the writing performance of students by major. The total percentages from AY2009-2011 for business majors, however, generally indicate continuous improvement across all business majors in the areas of format, content, and writing skills.

Part of the variation in overall performance can be accounted for by our increased emphasis on grammar and mechanics this year. As a result of the assessment process, GBA 389W instructors included in the course curriculum a pre- and post-semester basic grammar assessment test.  In addition, students were required to take an on-line writing skills assessment which addressed the areas of grammar, mechanics and paragraph development.  Based on individual scores, students were then required to participate in area-specific training and review.  Students were also encouraged to visit the on-campus Writing Center for further reinforcement of these principles.  Instructors also added new drills, exercises, and assignments designed to help students learn and apply the basic rules as needed.

Additionally, part of the variation in overall performance may be explained by weaknesses in our research design. Two of the three business communication instructors who assessed their students in AY 2009-2010 did not teach GBA 389W in AY 2010-2011. Further, the instructor whose students made up 67% of the 2011 sample did not participate in assessment in 2010. Thus, the evaluators were inconsistent across the two years.  Going forward, an attempt will be made to include the same instructors in the assessment process and to standardize the assessment tools, the evaluation standards, and the class materials in the areas of grammar, mechanics and paragraph development.

The Business Communications course (GBA 389) requires students to give an oral presentation. Professors teaching the course use a common rubric to grade the presentations.

At least 80% of sampled students will score at least 70% on the oral presentation rubric.

The Business Communications faculty assessed the following key objectives for the General Business 389W course:  1) develop a foundation and principles for successful communication; 2) adapt language and style in various letter- and report-writing situations; 3) construct clear sentences and paragraphs using accepted standards of English grammar and punctuation, with emphasis on variations in sentence structure and effective paragraph design; and 4) develop and employ effective writing strategies that maintain goodwill and are tactful, courteous, and positive. 

Previous assessment findings indicated a general lack of basic writing skills in the areas of grammar, mechanics and paragraph development. 
GBA 389W instructors included in the course curriculum a pre- and post-semester basic grammar assessment test.  In addition, students were required to take on-line writing skills assessment which addressed the areas of grammar, mechanics and paragraph development.  Based on individual scores students were then required to participate in area-specific training and review.  Students were also encouraged to visit the on-campus Writing Center for further reinforcement of these principles. 

Results compiled during the assessment process include a sampling of three sections of the GBA 389W course during Spring 2011.  The assessment instrument/rubric measured three performance elements:  1) oral presentation content; 2) PowerPoint slide design; and 3) delivery.  The results were broken down by major and the data compiled in a detailed spreadsheet (see attached SP11 Oral Competency Results by Major ). 

The results indicate that that a majority (81%) of accounting majors met expectations on presentation content; the majority of accounting majors also met expectations (76%) or exceeded expectations (19%) on delivery.  Accounting majors exceeded expectations (71%) or met expectations (29%) in slide design.  These findings represent a significant improvement over previous years in all categories.

Economics majors met (67%) or exceeded expectations (33%) in slide design.  They met expectations (50%) or exceeded expectations in presentation content.  Economics majors met (67%) or exceeded expectations (33%) in the area of delivery. These findings represent a significant improvement over previous years in all categories.


Fifty-six percent of Human Resource Management majors exceeded expectations on content; forty-four percent met expectations on content.  The majority (100%) exceeded expectations in slide design.  None of the students surveyed fell into the below expectations category for delivery in oral presentations.  These findings represent consistency in performance over previous years in all categories.


The majority (75%) of International Business majors met or exceeded (17%) expectations on content.  The majority of students (91%) exceeded and met expectations on slide design.  Thirty-three percent of students exceeded expectations in delivery; fifty-eight percent met expectations in this category.  Eight percent of the students surveyed fell into the below expectations category for delivery in oral presentations. These findings indicate decline in skills competency over previous years among INB majors in all categories.


Ninety percent of Finance majors met expectations in the area of slide design.  The majority (75%) of finance students met expectations in content; eight percent exceeded expectations.  Seventeen percent of surveyed students were below expectations in content.  Sixty-seven percent of students met expectations in the area of delivery; twenty-five percent exceeded expectations   the remaining eight percent were below expectations in that category. These findings represent a little improvement over previous years in all categories.


Banking and Finance majors met (60%) or exceeded (40%) expectations in the categories of content; one hundred percent exceeded expectations in  slide design.  Forty percent of Banking and Finance majors exceeded expectations in delivery; forty percent met expectations in that same category. Twenty percent of the students surveyed fell into the below expectations category for delivery in oral presentations. These findings represent a decline in improvement in delivery over previous years.


Management students met (36%) or exceeded (57%) expectations in the area of content.  Seventy-one percent of students exceeded expectations in slide design; fourteen percent met expectations. Students met (71%) or exceeded (14%) expectations in delivery.  Although these findings are within goals, these findings indicate some decline in improvement among Management majors in the areas of slide design and delivery over previous years.

The majority of Marketing majors met expectations in content (67%) with twenty-two percent exceeding expectations.  Eleven percent fell below expectations in the content category.   Thirty-three percent of students met expectations in the area of slide design; sixty-seven percent exceeded expectations.  Sixty-one percent met expectations in delivery; thirty-nine percent exceeded expectations. These findings represent a significant improvement over previous years in slide design and delivery.


The majority (75%) of Management Information Systems (MIS) majors met expectations in the categories of content and delivery.  Thirty-eight percent exceeded expectations in content; fifty met expectations in content.  Twelve percent of the students surveyed fell into the below expectations category for content and slide design in oral presentations, indicating some decline in performance in these categories over previous years.

Seventy-four percent of General Business Administration (GBA) majors met expectations in the area of content; eight percent exceeded expectations and eighteen percent fell below expectations in the same category.  The majority (54%) of GBA students met expectations in slide design.  Forty-two percent of surveyed students exceeded expectations and four percent fell below expectations in this category.  In the area of delivery, seventy-eight percent of students met expectations, fourteen percent exceeded expectations and eight percent fell below expectations. These findings indicate consistency in performance among GBA majors in all areas.

Overall, all majors performed well consistently (met or exceeded expectations) from AY 2010 to 2011 in all performance categories and showed significant improvement in comparison to the AY 2009 findings. However, content continues to be an area of weakness for the majority of students.  The GBA faculty believes, as stated previously, that students are generally unskilled at developing original thought and in critical thinking skills.

In addition to continuing our emphasis on basic writing skills training, the business communication faculty will develop and/or make available a series of online training modules that address specific areas in which students are having difficulty.

An attempt will be made to include the same instructors in the assessment process and to standardize the assessment tools, the evaluation standards, and the class materials in the areas of grammar, mechanics and paragraph development.

The student must demonstrate competency in critical thinking.

The Texas Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills (TACTS) instrument is a 45 minute, multiple choice test which evaluates 12 thinking skills that the SHSU team identified as important in the business disciplines.

The mean score on the TACTS critical thinking instrument for students in the senior level class will be statistically higher than the mean score for the student in the sophomore level class.

The TACTS exam was not administered during this time period.

The TACTS exam will be administered in the 2011-2012 school year. New ways of assessing critical thinking skills across the curriculum need to be developed.

Students should be able to demonstrate competency in the principles of accounting, business statistics, business law, economics, finance, management, and marketing.

All Management 475 students will take exams at the beginning of the semester and then retake the same exam at the end of the semester. Multiple professors teaching multiple sections of MGT 475 administer the same exam. The combined results are an indicator of how well COBA students are learning the principles of management.

Students taking a pre-test and post-test in MGT 475 will earn a mean score significantly better on the post-test than on the pre-test.

Questions were developed for pre-test and post-test comparison covering the following topics:

• Forecasting
• Capacity Planning
• Layout
• Processes
• Resource Planning
• Human Resources (Job Design, Work Measurement)
• Quality
• Statistical Process Control
• Inventory
• Aggregate Planning
• Materials Requirement Planning
• Project Management

 The average performance score on the pre-test was 38%, whereas the average on the post-tests was 74.3%.  Questions were analyzed by topic area, and specific areas were identified for future emphasis to improve students’ understanding.

 

Questions were embedded in the final exams of multiple sections of Accounting 231 and 232 in the Fall of 2010. Student performance on these questions across the various sections is an indicator of how well COBA students are learning the fundamentals of accounting.

Questions covering four learning objectives will be embedded into the Fall 2010 final exams of ACC 231 and ACC 232. Students should achieve at least a 70% average on these questions.

The following course objectives were assessed in the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters.

1.  Understanding of the role and scope of financial and managerial accounting and the use of accounting (Correct Response Rate: 67.4% Fall 2010 and 72.0% Spring 2011)

2. Understanding various terms and concepts and their appropriate uses including the idea of using (Correct Response Rate: 58.9% Fall 2010 and 66.0% Spring 2011)

3. Obtaining a level of proficiency in various calculations that are routinely used in financial and managerial accounting such as debt and equity financing and investments, preparation of a statement of cash flows, product cost determination, C-V-P analysis, and budgeting.
(Correct Response Rate: 74.2% Fall 2010 and 76.2% Spring 2011)

4. Becoming aware of the behavioral implications of financial and managerial accounting in virtually all aspects of business activity.
(Correct Response Rate: 59.2% Fall 2010 and 60.8% Spring 2011)

Questions were embedded in the final exams of multiple sections of BAN 232 and BAN 363 in the Fall of 2010 and Spring 2011. Student performance on these questions across the various sections is an indicator of how well COBA students are learning the fundamentals of business statistics.

Final Exams in BAN 232 and BAN 363 will include embedded questions covering topics considered to be essential by all Business Analysis faculty. Each of these questions should have a 70% correct response rate or better.

1. Gain experience using algebra to solve business problems. (Correct Response Rate: 93.5%)

2. Be capable of computing a derivative of common business functions. (Correct Response Rate: 93.5%)

3. Be capable of interpreting the derivative. (Correct Response Rate: 82.0%)

4. Understand the basics of probability. (Correct Response Rate: 71.7%)

5. Know the difference between discrete and continuous probability distributions. (Correct Response Rate: 29.0%)

6. Understand the concept of a sampling distribution. (Correct Response Rate: 49.8%)

The following learning objectives were assessed in the Spring 2011 semester:

1. Understand the concept of statistical inference. (Correct Response Rate: 73.1%)

2. Understand the concept of inference involving a single population. (Correct Response Rate: 59.6%)

3. Understand the concept of inference involving two populations. (Correct Response Rate: 50%)

4. Understand the concept of Analysis of Variance. (Correct Response Rate: 67.3%)

5. Understand the concept of Multiple Regression. (Correct Response Rate: 65.4%)

Questions were embedded in the final exams of multiple sections of ECO 233 and ECO 234 in the Fall of 2010. Student performance on these questions across the various sections is an indicator of how well COBA students are learning the fundamentals of economics.

Questions embedded in the final exams of ECO 233 and ECO 234 will be used to measure BBA students' fundamental knowledge of economics. Students should attain an average of at least 70% on the questions.

Questions representing key concepts in macroeconomics were embedded in the fourth exam of Dr. Frank's Spring 2011 class. Most students knew the definition of fiscal policy, but a significant proportion did not understand the concept of "automatic stabilizers" in government spending. 47% of the students sampled misunderstood the effect of automatic stabilizers on the government budget during recessions. 41% misunderstood the effect of automatic stabilizers during economic expansions.

Questions were embedded in the final exams of multiple sections of Finance 367 in the Fall of 2010. Student performance on these questions across the various sections is an indicator of how well COBA students are learning the fundamentals of finance.

Twenty questions were embedded into the final exams of five sections of FIN 367. Students achieve an average correct response rate of at least 70%.

There are 17 concept questions and 13 quantitative questions/problems in the exam to assess the understanding of the students. 

• The overall class average was 70.47%, with concept questions having an average of 69% and the quantitative questions an average of 72%.

• Only finance/banking and accounting majors had average scores over 70%

All Marketing 371 students will take exams at the beginning of the semester and then retake the same exam at the end of the semester. Multiple professors teaching multiple sections of MKT 371 administer the same exam. The combined results are an indicator of how well COBA students are learning the principles of marketing

Students taking a pre-test and post-test in MKT371 will earn a mean score significantly better on the post-test than on the pre-test.

Students were given a pre-test and post-test covering key concepts and terms for principles of marketing. Three sections were included in the assessment, 127 students took the pre-test and 131 students participated in the post-test. Class performance on the pre-test was 36 percent and for the post-test 84 percent, a significant improvement. Despite the apparent overall excellent performance, some areas were identified as needing improvement. Students had difficulty: distinguishing between the four growth strategies presented in Ansoff’s Strategic Opportunity Matrix, classifying Boston Consulting Group’s portfolio mix strategies, identifying the unique characteristics that distinguish services from tangible goods, distinguishing consumer sales promotion from the other promotional mix elements, identifying the different price strategies, and could not define Customer Relationship Management.

Questions were embedded in the final exams of multiple sections of GBA 281 in the Fall of 2010. Student performance on these questions across the various sections is an indicator of how well COBA students are learning the fundamentals of business law.

Questions embedded on the Fall 2010 GBA 281 final exam covered the U.S. Constitution, the origins of our legal system, dispute resolutions, and torts. Students should be able to answer at least 70% of these corrections correctly.

The students in the GBA Legal Environment courses took a pre-test at the beginning of the semester and achieved an average 61% correct for all units tested. 

 The course is divided into five core units and assessment is made using post exam questions in each of the course's five units.  There were several significant increases in the students learning outcomes.  First, in the Origins of Law core section, students made significant gains.  The GBA majors increased their performance in this section to 92.2%.  Non GBA Majors scored a 82% - a significant improvement in their performance although not as great as that of GBA majors.  Non- business majors also improved with a score of 88.6%

 The second, area of significant increase in performance was in the Business entities section. After all students scored a 56.9% in the pre-assessment, GBA majors improved on the embedded questions with a score of 84.8%.  The Non business majors had an even greater increase scoring a 86.7%.  The greatest improvement in this section was made by the Non-GBA business majors with a score on the embedded questions of 89.1%.

Efforts to create online learning materials and tutorials are ongoing.