Third Year Certificate in General Business

Program Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
(AY 2019-2020)

AY 2016-2017

AY 2015-2016

Program Student Learning Outcomes(PSLOS)

At the completion of the Third Year Certificate in General Business, the student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of basic concepts in organizational behavior.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the intricacies of marketing planning and overall marketing strategy.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the concepts underlying corporate financial decision-making.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the role of entrepreneurship and small business in the (FSM) economy.
5. Demonstrate basic knowledge of international business.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of economic development issues.
7. Demonstrate an understanding of statistical methods of sampling and estimating population statistics.

PSLO Assessment Report Summary

As is true in every year, all the seven (7) Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs) covering seven (7) courses taught in Fall 2019 to Spring 2020 of the Third Year Certificate in General Business are assessed in this report. The data posted in TracDat, were the main source of this report, along with faculty collaboration in the Business Division. Improvement plans and recommendations had to be checked whether these were implemented and somehow affected the program in the assessment

What we looked at:

1. To assess GBU_PSLO1 covered in the course MGT320 Organizational Behavior offered in Fall 2019, a capstone project, which is a case study of an existing company (local, international, multinational), was used to assess the PSLO. The students enrolled in the course need to reserve a company which they should consider vis-à-vis the concepts discussed in each of the CSLO topics. Using a format guide with specific questions and elements to include, they will evaluate their chosen company and come up with a writeup. The structured writeup should contain a description of what is being practiced, how this matches with a concept discussed, and what could have been done to improve the company’s situation. On the last part of the writeup, the students should write their overall impression of the company and what they learned that they can apply later when they would be in a work environment. Their writeups will then be assessed using a grading rubric that will reflect a demonstration of their accomplishment of the CSLO considered.
2. To assess GBU_PSLO2 which should be accomplished in the course MKT311 Marketing Strategy, the assessment result of MKT311_CSLO_1 and MKT311_CSLO_2 using Marketing Plan Project were used. All these plans should have been executed during the staging of a collaborative event, the Friday Food & Fashion Festival (F4).
3. To assess GBU_PSLO3 using the course FIN312 Corporate Finance, the assessment result of FIN312_CSLO_1.4 and FIN312_CSLO_1.10 using major quizzes were used. Student will write an essay that demonstrates the understanding of the concepts underlying corporate financial decision making.
4. GBU_PSLO4 was assessed in the course MGT360 Entrepreneurial/Small Business Management. The assessment results of MGT360_CSLO_2 and MGT360_CSLO_3 using Final Project (Business Plan) were used. Students will write and present a business plan that demonstrates an understanding of the role of entrepreneurship and small business in the FSM economy.
5. GBU_PSLO5 was assessed in the course MGT350 International Business. The assessment result of MGT350_CSLO_1 and MGT350_CSLO_2 using a capstone Final Project were used. Each student chose a country and through a write-up requirement, the student will demonstrate an understanding of the importance of international business, the role of government in international business, cultural, political and legal issues, the theoretical foundations of international trade and investment and the international economic and financial environment. The student should also recommend a good business prospect in the chosen country including the requirements for entry, which can measure his/her understanding of how an international business goes, and how he/she truly understood his chosen country to focus his/her study.
6. GBU_PSLO6 was assessed in the course EC320 Economic Development. To assess this PSLO, the assessment result of individual projects in ECO320_CSLO_5 was used. Students will be asked to develop a self-designed economic policy that demonstrates an understanding of economic development issues.
7. GBU_PSLO7 was assessed in the course BU/MS310 applied Statistics. The assessment result of examination of BU/MS310_CSLO_1 was looked into. Student will solve and present solutions from the given problems to demonstrate an understanding of statistical methods of sampling and estimating population statistics.

What we found:

The assessments in the seven (7) PSLOs resulted as follows:

1. For GBU_PSLO1, 6 (5 females, 1 male) out of 8 (75%) students were able to demonstrate an understanding of the meaning, nature, and benefits of organizational behavior by earning at least a SATISFACTORY rating based on the grading rubric.
2. GBU_PSLO2 assessment showed 6 (5 females, 1 male) out of 6 (100%) students were able to write a marketing plan and earned at least a DEVELOPING level based on the grading rubric. The result seems excellent, but actually, 14 students enrolled in the course. The course just barely started when the lockdown at the College was enforced because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Four of the six successful accomplishers were graduating students at the moment. They were required to come up with online tests and turn in their Marketing Plans as minimum requirements. Courses should be designed in such a way that in emergency cases like what happened, alternative ways of completing the requirements could be resorted to.
3. GBU_PSLO3 assessment was not reflected in TracDat.
4. GBU_PSLO4 assessment showed 12 (9 females, 3 males) out of 14 (86%) students were able to at least the BENCHMARK level from the rubric used. Each student wrote and presented a business plan that could be viable in the FSM. The plan should have been executed in the staging of F4 (a collaborative activity), but the lockdown due to COVID-19 Pandemic did not make plans materialize.
5. GBU_PSLO5 assessment showed 8 (6 females, 2 males) out of 10 (80%) met at least the BENCHMARK based on the rubric used.
6. For GBU_PSLO6, no result of the assessment made by the instructor was reflected in TracDat.
7. GBU_PSLO7 assessment resulted with 10 (7 Females; 3 Males) out of 12 students (83%) achieved at least a SATISFACTORY rating. Similar to previous findings, Mindtap’s demonstrative step-by-step computation process features was very helpful for the students.

What we are planning to work on:

The 2018-2019 PAS plans should still be workable in the next assessment cycle. These are the following:

1. For all TYC in General Business courses requiring research write up and oral presentations, there should be planned a seminar at the onset of each semester that will help the students in their communication skills, specifically writing and public speaking.
2. For all TYC in General Business courses requiring computational skills, the usage of Mindtap and other modern software should be continuously used.
3. For courses that require collaboration with local resource persons and organizations, explorative meetings should be planned to lay down definite plans so TYC GBU students can respond to the needs of the job market.
4. The TYC in General Business Program Learning Outcomes should be revised so that parallel PSLOs can be aligned and unified into a comprehensive learning outcome so that assessment can be easier and manageable.

Recommendations for students:

Recommendations: (The previous recommendations still apply)

• Still, it is recommended that, the Business Division should have its own computer laboratory so students can always utilize educational technological advancements in different courses.
• As also recommended previously, TYC in General Business Program should come up with a pool of speakers and a system that can facilitate this mode of instruction.
• All the instructors handling the courses should be oriented towards the accomplishment of assessment. This should be especially done to those who are newly assigned to teach the courses so they would know the program and assessment plans and the implementation of the improvement plan. From the reflections, two courses were not assessed in TracDat due to the absence of orientation or training to the new instructor who handled two courses of the program.
• Since most of TYC General Business courses require writing research and oral presentations, there should be an entrance test or an assessment of the capabilities of students in regard to writing.