Have formal Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) or Student Learning Outcomes (SLOS) been developed?
Yes.
Published where? (website)
See CoBE SLOs, Curriculum Matrix, and Rubrics. SLOs are also published in the UH Hilo Student Catalog for the General Business BBA and the Accounting BBA.
Do PLOs include or imply link to Core Competency? (AY 2022-2023: Written Communication)?
Yes.
Process of Core Competency Assessment:
Course (400- level)
Management 423 Business Ethics. For Fall of 2022, the Course was also designated as Writing Intensive (WI)
Type of Student Artifact
Short Essay
Assignment
Minimum three- page essay articulating student’s view of the responsibilities of business to society in light of scholarly work covered in the course. Students must submit in MLA style with a minimum of three citations. Work is assessed with a home-grown rubric using depth of consideration and writing/formatting as the rubric categories. Students are given feedback after an initial draft, though not all students have taken advantage of this option by submitting a second draft.
Rubric or other instrument
GE Rubric for Written Communication and rubric for Writing Intensive
Data (measurement of the competency)
Two readers from the college served as evaluators and read five (n = 5) papers using the Written Communication Rubric (WC) and the Writing Intensive Rubric (WI). Readers noted there appeared to be a clear range of written communication abilities in this sample. For the lower scored students, the lack of content detracted from other areas of assessment such as the line of reasoning and organization because it appeared in a disjointed fashion. For the higher scored writers, the content was well organized which helped them to support their arguments. While all writers attempted a line of reasoning, the higher scored writers were able to smoothly weave in their references and transition the reader between paragraphs in a logical way.
Action Taken in Response to the Data (What will you do in response to the Findings?)
The instructor thanks the committee for assisting in the assessment of Political Science’s majors’ competency in written communication and writing intensive. The number of years for which students have been with the Political Science Department might explain the large discrepancy among students. Some students have been with the department from their first year while others have just transferred from colleges/universities and Fall 2022 was their first year with the department. The assessment data has alerted us to this discrepancy and so the department plans to provide more tools and assistance to transfer students so that their writing competence can rise to a level comparable to that of those who have been at UH Hilo for their entire college experience.
It appears from the data together with the evaluators’ comments, that organization/structure along with content/course materials are the two areas where the most impact can be achieved. Students can likely benefit in both areas by taking advantage of the instructor feedback provided in the first draft. Going forward, a significant emphasis will be placed on providing a first draft for instructor feedback so that students can better integrate course content as they structure their written assignment.
Date of Last Program Review
The College underwent review by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in 2022. Links to documents are available on the website for programs completing Secondary Accreditation.