Submitted Fall, 2003
Economics students were assessed using two direct and three indirect assessment measures.
The direct measures were scores on the Major Field Exam and scores on the assessment rubric for student research papers. The nationally-normed Major Field Exam scores were generated by students taking the exam in BMGT495 - Administrative Strategy and Policy during Final Week of Fall 02, Spring 03 and Summer 03. The results, scored and provided by ETS, were then compared to the Spring 02 results. To assess the student research papers, two sets of three faculty reviewers each read ten randomly sel ected student papers from upper division Economics courses. Each faculty panel read a different set of papers, so a total of twenty student papers were reviewed using the Department's assessment rubric.
The indirect measures were responses from the Department's alumni survey, the results from the College of Business and Technology Skills Competencies Survey and the Senior Exit Survey, both administered by the Director of the Center for Rural Research and Development.
Major Field Exam
A total of 5 Business Economic Comprehensive students graduating in 2002-03 took the Major Field Exam. For the sake of comparison, the Spring 2002 score is also reported. The results are summarized in the following table:
| Mean Score |
| Semester |
Econ Students |
No. of students |
UNK |
| Spring 2002 |
156 |
(1) |
153.6 |
| Fall 2002 |
157 |
(1) |
156.4 |
| Spring 2003 |
154 |
(4) |
*** |
| Summer 2003 |
|
|
158.1 |
Range of scores for Economics students: 146 - 161
Given the small sample size, little can be said about the performance of Economics students relative to other business students. As one can see from the table, in Spring 2002 and Fall 2002, the Econ students did slightly better than the mean for all students taking the exam. Because there was a major violation of testing protocol in Spring 2003, a UNK mean was not calculated. It is not known if some of the Economics student scores were impacted. If, in the future, the Spring 2003 score appears to be an anomaly it will be discarded. At the present time there is less reported information for Econ and Agribusiness majors than the other business division students. There is no detailed reporting regarding how these students performed on the various sections of the exam.
Student Research Papers
The Economics Department uses an assessment rubric to evaluate student papers regarding the student's learning outcomes. A randomly selected sample of student papers from upper division Economics courses was evaluated by two three-faculty member panels. Papers were evaluated regarding the ability of the student to demonstrate the following:
- An understanding of the core knowledge of the discipline
- The ability to find relevant economic data and use it in appropriate ways.
- The ability to read and comprehend economic literature.
- The ability to write in a manner appropriate to the discipline.
The results are given in the linked table. The 2002-2003 Academic Year was the first year that this assessment activity was undertaken, so it cannot be compared to earlier results. This year's results will become the baseline for future assessments.
The Economics Department sends out a questionnaire to alumni. As part of that survey, alumni are asked to rank undergraduate economics courses on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 indicating a course now ranked by the alum as most useful and 5 least useful. The survey of 2002-2003 graduates has not yet taken place. As a baseline, results of the previous questionnaire in Fall 2000 are included in this report.
25 respondents - Fall 2000
| Rank |
100 |
270 |
271 |
314 |
320 |
321 |
322 |
335 |
350 |
380 |
395 |
398 |
420 |
430 |
465 |
499 |
| 1 |
|
3 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
11 |
|
|
12 |
1 |
|
1 |
3 |
| 2 |
2 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
2 |
|
2 |
|
|
| 3 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
|
3 |
1 |
|
|
| 4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
1 |
|
3 |
|
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
| 5 |
|
3 |
|
2 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
Results of the College of Business and Technology Skills Competencies Survey and the Senior Exit Survey, both administered by the Director of the Center for Rural Research and Development, assess the business division's curriculum & program and can be found in the overall assessment of the business program and the college.
On the basis of the Major Field exam scores, students in the "Other" category which contained the Economics students tended to score relatively low in Quantitative Business Analysis and Legal and Social Environment. All professors teaching upper division economics courses will be informed of this, and asked to make changes in course material and assignments to improve student performance in these areas.
On the basis of faculty review of student papers, all professors teaching upper division economics courses will be asked to make changes in course material and assignments to improve student performance regarding the use of economic theory, appropriate methodology, data use, and writing specific to the major.
Faculty will be informed of the results of the Fall 2000 alumni survey, and asked to make appropriate changes in course content and assignments in courses identified as not useful.
From this first iteration, the Department needs to make slight changes in its Assessment activities. First, Economics students need have more details reported from the Major Field Exam. Right now, Economics students are grouped into the "Other" category, so the only information available to the Department is the overall score of each individual student. Second, all upper-division courses with research paper assignments should keep a copy so the "sample" of student papers is not coming from only two courses. In the future, once the capstone course is in place, this issue will disappear.