Archived Assessment Report
| Program | Bookkeeping Certificate |
| Assessment Reporter | [email protected] |
| Theme | Practicing Community |
| Review Year | 2024-2025 - Midpoint Report |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Focus Area |
|---|
| 1. Identify, analyze and record business transactions. | Are students able to identify, analyze, and record business transactions in a workplace setting? |
| 2. Prepare common accounting documents, such as journals, ledgers, and financial statements. | Are students able to prepare common accounting documents such as journals, ledgers and financial statements in a workplace setting? |
| 3. Apply accounting knowledge in internship/cooperative education setting or simulated business situation. | Are students able to apply accounting knowledge in internship/cooperative education setting or simulated business situation? |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population or Courses Assessed | Hypothetical Analysis/Target |
|---|
| 1. Identify, analyze and record business transactions. | ACCT 1135 Common Final Exam. | ACCT 1135 | 75% of students will receive a score of 75% or higher on the Acct 1135 Common Final Exam. |
| 2. Prepare common accounting documents, such as journals, ledgers, and financial statements. | ACCT 1135 Common Final Exam , Bank Reconciliation Exam. | ACCT 1135 | 75% of students will receive a score of 75% or higher on the Bank Reconciliation Problem on the Acct 1135 Common Final Exam. |
| 3. Apply accounting knowledge in internship/cooperative education setting or simulated business situation. | ACCT 1150 Common Final Exam. | ACCT 1150 | Students will average 71% or higher on the ACCT 1150 Common Final Exam. |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Results | Reflection on Focus Area | Intepretation of Results |
|---|
| 1. Identify, analyze and record business transactions. | Target: 75% of students will receive a score of 75% or higher on the ACCT 1135 common final exam.
Results: Target not met. 63.41% of students received a score of 75% or higher on the ACCT 1135 Common Final Exam. Last year's percentage of students was 69.49% who achieved this benchmark. The average grade for the Common Final Exam was 78.50%, and this class average was very similar to last year's average of 78.58%. | The focus area question appears reasonable in its expectation of student performance. | Many very low scores earned by some learners were responsible for a substantial reduction in the overall average. 41.46% of students, in fact, earned a score of 90% or higher on the Common Final Exam. |
| 2. Prepare common accounting documents, such as journals, ledgers, and financial statements. | Target: 75% of students will receive a score of 75% or higher on the bank reconciliation problem on the ACCT 1135 common final exam.
Results: Target not met. 67.57% of learners received a score of 75% or higher on the bank reconciliation problem on the ACCT 1135 Common Final Exam. This is, nonetheless, an improvement over last year's percentage of 64.41%. The average grade on the bank reconciliation problem for this year was 80.51%. Last year's average was 73.89%. | The results in this focus area are reflective of the question posed here. This is particularly the case since substantial year-over-year improvement toward achieving the goal was accomplished. | A few very low scores, combined with a limited population size, had a material effect on the overall averages. 54.05% of learners, in fact, achieved over a 90% on the bank reconciliation problem. |
| 3. Apply accounting knowledge in internship/cooperative education setting or simulated business situation. | Target: Students will average 71% or higher on the Acct 1150 common final exam.
Results: Target was met. The average score on the ACCT 1150 Common Final Exam was 82.93%. Last year's average score was 79.75%. | The results do appear to support the rationale for the question at hand. | The average score for this assessment was well above the criteria selected, and moreover, learners achieved higher scores than their peers from last year. |
| 1. Identify, analyze and record business transactions. |
|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | The course has recently been redesigned. A new text for the course as well as a new online learning platform have been adopted. |
| Type of Change | |
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | No changes in the assessment methodology appear to be necessary at this time. The changes in the course tools employed, as noted above, have been implemented in an effort to improve learning outcomes. |
| What data motivated the change? | Given that a substantial number of students have been unable to meet the required standards, a course refresh was thought to have been in order. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | It is hoped that the new text will be easier for students to read and to learn the material. It is also believed that the new online learning system will be easier for students to navigate. |
| 2. Prepare common accounting documents, such as journals, ledgers, and financial statements. |
|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | The course has recently been redesigned. A new text for the course as well as a new online learning platform have been adopted. Additionally, the bank reconciliation problem has been rewritten in an effort to ensure more clarity as to student expectations as well as greater consistency in grading by instructors. |
| Type of Change | - Change in course content
- Grading Methodology Changes
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | The assessment approach does not appear to be in need of change. The change in the design of the activity itself, as noted above, it believed to be the appropriate intervention. |
| What data motivated the change? | Student performance on the bank reconciliation portion of the common final exam has been below standards. Additionally, it has been observed that a number of students have simply given up in their efforts to complete the reconciliation, thereby resulting in a significant number of incomplete submissions. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | It is believed that a reason for the low performance on the bank reconciliation problem is that it was poorly designed. Also, the assignment itself did not lend itself well to consistent grading practices by instructors. The redesign of this activity should provide for better student learning outcomes. |
| 3. Apply accounting knowledge in internship/cooperative education setting or simulated business situation. |
|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | No changes are recommended at this time, as student performance outcomes have exceeded the expectations for this activity. |
| Type of Change | |
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | No changes in the above are contemplated as being necessary at this time. |
| What data motivated the change? | Student performance on the common final exam exceeded the performance standard. Additionally, the most recent performance assessed exceeded the prior year’s results by a meaningful amount. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | No changes in course design, overall reworking of the activity, or changes in grading methodology are recommended at this time. We will continue to monitor student performance in this assessment in order to maintain and improve student learning outcomes. |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population of Courses Assessed |
|---|
| 1. Identify, analyze and record business transactions. | Data to be collected from instructors teaching this course. Instructors will collate this information after each fall and spring term. | ACCT 1135 |
| 2. Prepare common accounting documents, such as journals, ledgers, and financial statements. | Data to be collected from instructors teaching this course. Instructors will collate this information after each fall and spring term. | ACCT 1135 |
| 3. Apply accounting knowledge in internship/cooperative education setting or simulated business situation. | Data to be collected from instructors teaching this course. Instructors will collate this information after each fall and spring term. | ACCT 1150 |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Second
Round Results | Intepretation of Results,
Pre- and Post-Change | Follow up questions,
possible next steps |
|---|
Describe any change in student achievement observed as part of this assessment process, and what led to those changes.
Describe long-term changes in the program(s) that the assessment process led to, and what motivated those changes?
What did you learn about the teaching and learning of "Practicing Community" in your programs?
Describe any external factors affecting the program or affecting assessment of the program.