As an AACSB and Equis accredited business school, we support continuous improvement of our curricula, programs, and teaching practices. Recently, our School formalized these efforts through the launch of an Assurance of Learning (AOL) initiative. This important undertaking enhances our commitment to quality assurance of student learning through evidence-based program-level curriculum redesign – and is critical for us to maintain our valued accreditation standing.
The activities described below support our AOL work and are consistent with the guidelines provided in this two-page overview on the Basics of the AOL (Assurance of Learning) process from AACSB. Dr. Valia Spiliotopoulos is the project lead on this initiative and is working with program directors, faculty, staff, and students to foster a culture of program improvement through direct learning assessment and to ensure that accreditation requirements are met. If you have any questions about this initiative, please contact Valia.
Assurance of Learning (AOL) Faculty Advisory
Assurance of Learning is intended to be a faculty-driven process. As such, a small group of AOL Faculty Advisory members meets several times a year to provide guidance on appropriate activities, criteria, and courses to use for assessment, to recommend curriculum changes that respond to gaps and opportunities reflected in the data collected, and to champion this process across the various programs offered by the School. This is the list of current Advisory members.
Assessment of Program Goals and Objectives
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Over the next year, we’ll need to analyze the first round of data collected and implement curriculum changes ('close the loop') to ensure that we are meeting the Program Goals and more specific, measurable objectives for each of the following degree programs: Bachelor of Commerce, FT-MBA, PT-MBA, Executive MBA, Master's of Management (Early Career Masters), and Ph.D. This diagram illustrates this process (click it for a bigger view).
Essentially, we need to identify activities within each program in which students display their knowledge and skills related to the Learning Objectives for each Goal – and assess their expertise against criteria that are specific to that objective. (For example, what evidence can we provide that students can think critically? What changes can we make to the curriculum at the program level to develop critical thinking skills at the beginning, middle, and end of the program?)
Once we have implemented curriculum changes, we need to conduct a second round of assessment to assess the impact of those changes on student learning. Two full rounds of this AOL cycle will be completed before Spring 2013.
Note that this AOL Assessment has nothing to do with student grades – nor do we collect any data related to the instructor’s teaching performance.
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Below are links to our working documents for this process:
Assessment plans: BCom, ECM, FT / PT / EMBA, PhD
Sample rubrics: Critical Thinking Skills (BCOM), Writing Skills (BCOM), MBA rubrics
For more information on the Assurance of Learning process, please visit our FAQ's