Assurance of Learning

Assurance of Learning (AoL) is the methodical process, evaluation, and analysis of information about your degree program and/or major to enhance the program and to improve student learning outcomes. To make sure we are delivering on these promises, we have devoted to the Assurance of Learning initiative that will require the you to demonstrate, before graduation, that you have, indeed, acquired the foundational knowledge, expertise, and skills that we have identified as "overarching learning objectives" and "specific learning outcomes" for your cumulative undergraduate business student experience and for your degree program and major.

As a college, we are concerned about the quality of the undergraduate business education we are providing to you. We care because:

• We want to make sure you have the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors you need to succeed, and which current and future employers will value.
• We want to enhance our reputation as the business school of choice among urban, public business schools and continue to be acknowledged as one that meets the highest of quality standards.
• We want to exceed the standards and processes for excellence required by the bodies that accredit our school: the AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and the State of Florida, particularly through its mandated Academic Learning Compacts.

Accreditation in higher education is a voluntary, non-governmental process that includes an external review of a school's ability to provide quality programs. It is helpful in many aspects, from ensuring that you are learning relevant material to allowing students and the University access to funding. Accreditation reviews include self-evaluations, peer-reviews, committee-reviews, and the development of in-depth strategic plans. It also includes reviews of a school’s mission, faculty qualifications, and curricula to ensure currency and relevance.

Yes! Student learning is the central activity of higher education. Definition of learning expectations and assurance that graduates achieve learning expectations are key features of our academic programs within the College of Business. In accordance with standards established by the Florida Board of Governors through their Academic Learning Compacts, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the College has established Assurance of Learning goals that evaluate how well it accomplishes its educational objectives. AACSB and SACS require the use of direct (course‐embedded) measures for assessment. Direct measures can be objective tests or other demonstrations of the mastery of skills, knowledge and abilities in the general curriculum or business‐specific areas. For course‐embedded measures, the work of individual students (not student teams) is to be used to assess student learning outcomes, (exception: assessing “teamwork” as a learning goal). A student’s course grade is not sufficient to measure achievement of the specific learning goal and program objectives. In addition to direct measures, AACSB and SACS require the College to use indirect (surveys) measures to gain student feedback and assess various elements of its programs. These include overall quality, teaching quality, and satisfaction with advising or career services.

At the undergraduate level, the College has established an AoL exam requirement in order to implement this initiative. All students in MAN 4720, ACG 4651, FIN 4486, ISM 4151, and MAR 4804 will be required to take at least one section of the exam. MAN 4720, Strategic Management, has been identified as the capstone course for all Business and Accounting students and should ideally be taken in the final semester. The other courses listed above have been identified as capstone courses for their respective major.

At the graduate level, several different direct measures are employed, depending on the program. For the majority of the programs, including all MBAs, an AoL exam is used. A course in the final semester, typically the capstone for each program, has been identified to implement this initiative.

Please note these are College of Business requirements, the University may have additional requirements that are in addition to these.

The objectives and outcomes we want the students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to accomplish, also will enable our faculty to ensure relevancy and currency of the curriculum, improve the quality of their instruction and by extension, your own learning. We do this by continuously finding innovative ways to improve student learning and achievement.

You will be assessed on the extent to which you have met these requirements throughout your study with us, but especially toward the end of your program at the College. Some of this assessment will take place in your courses—like answering embedded questions in scheduled exams, orally presenting your assignments, or taking a specialized exam. The College, and/or course instructor will notify you in advance of testing procedures that will be used to assess your learning. In addition, you will be notified by the College or on your individual course syllabi if and how the results of these assessments will affect your grade in a course. Importantly, your eligibility to graduate will not be affected.

The purpose of AoL is to ensure that the College of Business is transparent and accountable to its accreditors and constituencies and to assist the College and its faculty to improve programs and courses. Graduates of Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral programs are expected to demonstrate certain student learning outcomes and this exam or any other direct measure used assists with the assessment of these competencies.

There are multiple types of the AoL exam. The types you take will be based on the program you are in.

Graduate students are expected to take two sections – 1) the Exit Assessment and 2) a multiple choice exam based on their program.

Undergraduate students are expected to take the two sections below:

1. Major Exit Exam: this section is based solely on coursework of a specific major
2. Core Exam (or Oral Communications Assignment) & Exit Survey:
   • Core Exam (or Oral Communications Assignment) – this section is based on the core coursework required for all students.
   • Exit Survey– this section is an indirect measure to assess the program.

All students in MAN 4720 are expected to take the Core Exit Exam (or Oral Communications Assignment). Additionally, those majoring in Management, Human Resource Management, or International Business will also be expected to take the Major Exit Exam in this course. All other majors will take the Major Exit Exam in the designated capstone course for that major.

The exam tests you on knowledge, skills and competencies gained throughout your course of study. While you don’t have to study for it, you are expected to put a good faith and effort to provide your best.

All AoL activities, including exit surveys and assessment exams are administered via Qualtrics. Undergraduate students will receive two separate AoL exit exams/assignments, one is the Core assessment exam (some students may be assigned an Oral Communications assignment in lieu of this exam), and the other one is the Major assessment exam. The Core assessment exam (or an Oral Communication assignment) will be added in the module of MAN4720 course shell. When you complete Core assessment exam, you will be shown the link for a short exit survey. If you were assigned the Oral Communcations assignment, you receive and email with a link to the Exit Survey. The link to the Major Exit exam will be sent to your FIU Email account. Graduate students will receive an email with a link to their AoL exam and another email with the link to their exit survey, these will both be sent to their FIU email account.

As a student you also need to take responsibility for your learning! Many of us are busy with our job and family commitments. However your role is to ensure that you make the best of your education and use it as a foundation for a lifetime of learning and career advancement. This means you must do your part in being engaged with FIU both in class and through the co-curricular activities like student organizations and other events. When you take the AoL exams you should be pro-active, do a refresher on the material that will be tested, engaged, and do your best! The only way FIU’s reputation will grow if both student and faculty work together to enhance your learning and eventually your job performance!

Students who graduate with a Masters degree from the Chapman Graduate School of Business or a Bachelor  of Business (BBA) from the Landon Undergraduate School of Business or a Bachelor of Accounting (BACC) from the School of Accounting at the College of Business have been educated in a broad range of knowledge and skills for careers in business and to contribute positively in the larger society.

Graduates will achieve the knowledge and skills for successful performance in a business environment that is global in scope, thus requiring the intellectual ability to organize work, make and communicate sound decisions, react successfully to unanticipated events, be prepared to interact with persons from other cultures and to manage in circumstances where business practices and social conventions are different than the graduate’s native country. Graduates will also develop learning abilities necessary to promote higher-level intellectual capabilities. 

Student learning outcomes of Master’s programs are specific to each degree program.

Graduates with a Bachelor of Business or Bachelor Accounting will attain the following core student learning outcomes. There are additional specific outcomes pertaining to each individual major.

Skills

Critical Thinking

Students will be able to:

1. Identify complex business problems
2. Generate possible solutions to the problems
3. Recommend solutions based on a well-reasoned rationale

Oral Communication

Students will be able to:

1. Capture listener's attention
2. Identify topic and main points
3. Connect topic with needs and interests of audience
4. Substantiate main points with relevant evidence
5. Ideas and transitions are clearly organized

Written Communication

Students will be able to:

1. Support thesis or claims with appropriate reasons, examples, and evidence
2. Organize ideas in a formal coherent manner
3. Write clearly, utilize appropriate word choices, and structure sentences correctly
4. Effectively employs grammar conventions including punctuations and spelling

Quantitative Analytical Thinking

Students will be able to:

1. Identify and demonstrate basic statistical principles and techniques
2. Identify how results can affect business decisions
3. Employ appropriate problem-solving techniques to business problems 

Core Knowledge

Global Knowledge

Students will be able to:

1. Identify and demonstrate basic statistical principles and techniques
2. Identify how results can affect business decisions
3. Employ appropriate problem-solving techniques to business problems 

Ethics and Law

Students will be able to:

1. Identify the legal constraints and the options available to the business manager in responding to and resolving legal issues
2. Recognize the laws and governmental regulations that affect contemporary businesses
3. Evaluate ethical problems that are integrally connected to legal issues

Identify the concepts of ethics and the law with financial reality in implementing business decisions

Information Technology

Students will be able to:

1. Recognize concepts and terminology related to hardware, software, and networks
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of information systems in organizations
3. Identify the appropriate and effective uses of information technology

Financial Management

Students will be able to:

1. Identify financial concepts and terminology
2. Identify the goals of financial planning and the tools available to forecast an organization's finance requirements
3. Evaluate the concept of shareholder wealth maximization and how it relates to the organization's management and structure
4. Demonstrate various measures of project profitability using traditional capital budgeting techniques

Marketing Management

Students will be able to:

1. Recognize the importance of marketing within an organization and its role in society
2. Identify target market segments for a selected product or service
3. Analyze a company's marketing strategy and recognize appropriate and inappropriate marketing alternatives
4. Define and appropriately use marketing terminology and concepts

Organizational Management

Students will be able to:

1. Define the management functions and business processes that create value for an organization
2. Formulate a set of management policies, practices, and procedures that influence group and individual dynamics in organizations
3. Describe situations where management decision-making should incorporate ethical reasoning, multiculturalism, and internal inter-group behavior