Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Curriculum & Instruction/Literacy Studies

Committee Chair

Elizabeth Jones.

Abstract

As higher education enters into an era of increased accountability, the need to demonstrate evidence of student learning has become more important. The practice of documenting evidence of student learning and systematic evaluation of the learning process has been adopted by discipline specific accrediting bodies. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an accrediting agency and an association of institutions devoted to the advancement of business education. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation was to examine what two AACSB-accredited Colleges of Business are doing to close the loop using a case study approach. Interviews with multiple administrators and business faculty, as well as key assessment documents, were analyzed. The assessment process was compared at both Colleges of Business from their learning goals to the actions taken to improve student learning. Interviewees (N=16) at both colleges identified how the assessment process improved learning through the systematic approach of measuring student performance.;Faculty felt that the process should be faculty driven, but acknowledged that having leaders who embraced assessment helped move the process along. The college got faculty to buy into the process by setting clear expectations. Resistance to assessment was attributed to the time that was required to conduct the process and a lack of understanding of assessment. Areas that both colleges struggled with were including external constituents into the assessment process and publicizing assessment results. Recommendations for successful assessment practices and for future research are made.

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