ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR



Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Information Systems (BBA-IS)
Instructional Degree Program

Fall 2003_
Assessment Period Covered

February 1, 2004
Date Submitted

Expanded Statement of Institutional Purpose Linkage:
Institutional Mission Reference:
Texas A&M International University, a Member of The Texas A&M University System, is committed to the preparation of students for leadership roles in their chosen profession and in increasingly complex, culturally diverse state, national, and global society … Through instruction, faculty and student research, and public service, Texas A&M International University is a strategic point of delivery for well-defined programs and services that improve the quality of life for citizens of the border region, the State of Texas, and national and international communities.

College/University Goal(s) Supported:
It is intended that these programs will contribute to the students’ success in leadership positions in both domestic and international settings. The quality of these programs from the College’s increased expectations for faculty regarding teaching, scholarly activities (including research), and service to students, organizations, and community

Intended Educational (Student) Outcomes:

1. The graduate will have a basic understanding of systems concepts

2. The graduate will be able to demonstrate competency in written communications.

3. Students should demonstrate a basic understanding of the concepts included in the COBA Common Body of Knowledge



ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR



Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Information Systems (BBA-IS)
Instructional Degree Program

Fall 2003_
Assessment Period Covered

February 1, 2004
Date Submitted


Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
NOTE: There should be one form for each intended outcome listed.  Intended outcome should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended outcome number entered in the blank spaces.

1 The graduate will have a basic understanding of systems concepts 

First Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
1a. Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
An objective test developed by members of the department will be given to all the students attending a required senior course measuring the students’ knowledge of the following:

a.     General system concepts
b.  Networking concepts
c.  Systems management concepts
d.  Database concepts
e.  Programming

Success is deemed to be a 70% attainment in each area (average of all student scores for the topic) with no area being below 50%.

1a. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:

Data was collected from 8 seniors in the CIS 4390 class. The results of the test are:

a. General system concepts 58.73%
b. Networking concepts  77.78%
c. Systems management concepts    41.67%
d. Database concepts  70.37%
e. Programming  57.41%

Overall, the average score was 65.91% (116 of 176 questions answered correctly).

1a. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
While the students were better prepared, the sample size from Fall 2003 (n = 8) is too small to accurately indicate were corrective measures should be applied or where programmatic change might be useful in improving students’ learning. The overall performance (65.91% compared to 64.43% in Spring 2003) improved; however, the sample size does not permit concluding that this is a statistically significant improvement.

The result was considered by the entire department, and the unanimous decision was that the same assessment instrument would be applied to the CIS 4390 class in April 2004, and the results of Fall 2003 and Spring 2004 would be considered together and then compared to the “baseline” established in Spring 2003.

There were discussions based upon the Spring 2003 results of the need for more peer involvement in the design of content of both the database and networking courses, and content suggestions were made and incorporated in those courses. The results for those two knowledge areas showed dramatic improvement (database from 32.61% correct to 70.37%, and networks from 58.70% to 77.78%), but other areas declined (e.g. systems management from 76.92% to 41.67%).

While the statistics suggest that radical intervention might be appropriate, the sample size would indicate that caution and patience would be the more reasonable response. Therefore the faculty has decided to wait for the Spring 2004 assessment results prior to undertaking any significant curricular changes.




ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR



Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Information Systems (BBA-IS)
Instructional Degree Program

Fall 2003_
Assessment Period Covered

February 1, 2004
Date Submitted

Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
NOTE: There should be one form for each intended outcome listed.  Intended outcome should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended outcome number entered in the blank spaces.

2 The graduate will be able to demonstrate competency in written communications.

First Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:

2a. Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:

A random sample of 11 final examinations was extracted from the BA 3310 (Business Communications) course. The student responses were read by a committee of four (4) senior faculty and evaluated on the following criteria:

   1. Clarity = understandability

   2. Style = is the writing appropriate for a business environment

   3. Grammar = spelling, syntax, sentence structure, etc

   Each examination was scored as acceptable (1) or unacceptable (0) for each criteria.

   Overall, the percentage of acceptable answers should exceed 70%; in each category the    percentage should exceed 75%.

2a. Summary of Assessment Data Collected: 
Eleven essays answers to the same question were selected at random from the final examinations in BA 3310. Each essay was read and evaluated on the following criteria by four Professors in the College.

   For clarity, the total number of acceptable essays was 36 (of 44), and the average    number of acceptable essays (from a maximum of 11) was 9.00 (81.82%).

   For style, the total number of acceptable essays was 35 (of 44), and the average    number of acceptable essays (from a maximum of 11) was 8.75 (79.55%).

   For grammar, the total number of acceptable essays was 23 (of 44), and the average    number of acceptable essays (from a maximum of 11) was 5.75 (52.27%).

   Overall, 94 of a possible 132 “Acceptable” submissions were recorded; this represents a    71.21% acceptability.

2a. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
While the overall score exceeded the minimum standard (71.21% versus 70%), the overall success rate was marginal. This was due to the substandard performance in grammar. This information will be shared with both the Business Communications faculty, and the faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. Additional emphasis will be placed upon this aspect of communications during Spring 2004.

A similar procedure will be used to evaluate communications skills in Spring 2004, with the following improvement: the Communications faculty will request that students, as part of a late semester examination, respond to a written assignment provided by the COBA SACS/AACSB Standards committee (e.g., a letter to a firm requesting product information and availability). A random sample of responses will be selected, and they will be evaluated by the SACS/AACSB Standards committee based upon the criteria used in Fall 2003 (and reported above).

 



ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR



Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Information Systems (BBA-IS)
Instructional Degree Program

Fall 2003_
Assessment Period Covered

February 1, 2004
Date Submitted

Intended Educational (Student) Outcome:
NOTE: There should be one form for each intended outcome listed.  Intended outcome should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended outcome number entered in the blank spaces.

3 Students should demonstrate a basic understanding of the concepts included in the COBA Common Body of Knowledge

First Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
3a. Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
This outcome was not assessed during Fall 2003. During Spring 2004 a revised version of the standardized test instrument used in Spring 2003 will be administered to the various capstone classes. The modifications that have been to the original national standard test include the addition of a short set of major field specific questions.

3a. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
There was no data for Fall 2003

3a. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
No recommendations at this time.