STUDENT LEARNING ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

SUMMARY FORM AY 2011-2012

Degree and

Program Name:

Submitted By:

PART ONE

What are the learning objectives? / How, where, and when are they assessed? / What are the expectations? / What are the results? / Committee/ person responsible? How are results shared?
1.Comprehend the role of networking in a business environment, and develop technical solutions to the information needs of an organization using networks, including configuration and management activities. / Spring, 2012 MIS 3200
Assessed by multi-part comprehensive networking lab project. See the attached rubric.
Spring, 2012 MIS 3200
Assessed by scores on a comprehensive final examination / At least 70% of students will achieve a 3.0 or better (out of 4.0 scale) on all categories on the Assessment Rubric for MIS 3200 Lab Projects.
At least 70% of students will achieve a 3.0 or better (out of 4.0 scale) on all categories on the Assessment Rubric for the MIS 3200 final exam. / MIS 3200, Spring, 2012
Rubric Criteria / N / Average for all students / Students achieving level 3 or better
Installing and configuring network / 34 / 2.29 / N=21
62%
Disk management / 24 / 3.21 / N=20
83%
Managing user/group accounts / 24 / 3.17 / N=20
83%
Implementing directory services / 24 / 3.33 / N=22
92%
Implementing group policies / 24 / 3.13 / N=19
79%
Configuring Web services) / 24 / 3.29 / N=21
88%
MIS 3200, Spring, 2012
Rubric Criteria / N / Average for all students / Students achieving level 3 or better
Understanding of the OSI and the TCP/IP models including encapsulation / 24 / 3.13 / N=20
83%
Knowledge of internetworking devices / 24 / 3.21 / N=20
83%
Understanding of data and signal transmission / 24 / 3.25 / N=21
88%
Knowledge of physical and wireless media / 24 / 3.21 / N=20
83%
Understanding of the Internet operation and IP addressing / 24 / 3.29 / N=21
88%
/ The Management Information Systems discipline unit acts as an assessment committee of the whole. Results are shared during discipline unit meetings and the Summary Form is distributed to all faculty in the discipline unit.
2.Demonstrate competent problem-solving and logical skills. / Fall, 2011 MIS 2000
Spring, 2012 MIS 2000
Assessed by series of 4 homework assignments, each of which test different criteria on the Assessment Rubric for MIS 2000—Homework Assignments 1-4. See the attached rubric for which homework assignments test which criteria. / At least 70% of students will achieve a 3.0 or better (out of 4.0 scale) on all categories on the Assessment Rubric for MIS 2000—Homework Assignments 1-4. / MIS 2000, Fall, 2011
Homework Rubrics
Rubric Criteria / n / Average for all students / Students achieving level 3 or better
Logical Reasoning / 31 / 3.68 / N=30
97%
Problem solving / 31 / 3.71 / N=30
97%
Logic development / 31 / 3.71 / N=30
97%
Program documentation / 31 / 2.97 / N=23
74%
Program requirements / 31 / 3.68 / N=30
97%
Record processing / 31 / 3.06 / N=25
81%
Looping constructs / 31 / 2.45 / N=20
65%
Modularization techniques / 31 / 2.97 / N=23
74%
Identify user decisions / 31 / 3.61 / N=29
94%
MIS 2000, Spring, 2012
Homework Rubrics
Rubric Criteria / n / Average for all students / Students achieving level 3 or better
Logical Reasoning / 27 / 3.67 / N=24
89%
Problem solving / 26 / 3.77 / N=25
96%
Logic development / 26 / 3.81 / N=25
96%
Program documentation / 26 / 2.77 / N=23
88%
Program requirements / 26 / 3.77 / N=24
92%
Record processing / 31 / 2.48 / N=17
55%
Looping constructs / 28 / 2.54 / N=15
54%
Modularization techniques / 29 / 2.24 / N=14
48%
Identify user decisions / 32 / 3.76 / N=24
92%
/ The Management Information Systems discipline unit acts as an assessment committee of the whole. Results are shared during discipline unit meetings and the Summary Form is distributed to all faculty in the discipline unit.
3.Analyze, design, develop and implement a business information system by using system development methodologies and enterprise databases. / Spring, 2012 MIS 4200
Assessment by a comprehensive multi-part systems and database project which runs throughout the semester. See the attached rubric. / At least 70% of the teams will achieve a 3.0 or better (out of 4.0 scale) on all categories on the Assessment Rubric for MIS 4200 Database Project. / MIS 4200, Spring, 2012
Team Projects
Rubric Criteria / n / Average for all students / Students achieving level 3 or better
SDLC Deliverables / 32 / 3.34 / N=29
91%
Process diagrams / 32 / 3.28 / N=28
88%
Logical data models / 32 / 3.25 / N=27
84%
Relational principles / 32 / 3.28 / N=28
88%
Human Interface Design / 32 / 3.28 / N=28
88%
Programming logic constructs / 32 / 3.25 / N=27
84%
Multiple program application / 32 / 3.28 / N=28
88%
Systems and user documentation / 32 / 3.16 / N=27
84%
/ The Management Information Systems discipline unit acts as an assessment committee of the whole. Results are shared during discipline unit meetings and the Summary Form is distributed to all faculty in the discipline unit.
4. Develop technical solutions to information system needs of an organization in a multi-platform environment. / Spring, 2012 MIS 4330
This objective applies only to students who are majoring in MIS in the Programming track. Each programming language has a two-course sequence. The second course is assessed for each language. Each language has a separate rubric since one is procedural and one is object-oriented. The assessment rubrics are attached. / At least 70% of the students will achieve a 3.0 or better (out of 4.0 scale) on all categories on the assessment rubric for MIS 4300—Advanced COBOL and MIS 4330—Advanced Java. / MIS 4330, Spring, 2012
Rubric Criteria / N / Average for all students / Students achieving level 3 or better
Syntax / 15 / 3.33 / N=13
87%
Object-oriented concepts / 15 / 3.53 / N=13
87%
User Interface / 15 / 3.93 / N=15
100%
File I/O & Serialization / 15 / 3.07 / N=12
80%
Multithreading / 18 / 3.11 / N=15
100%
Swing Components / 15 / 3.80 / N=15
100%
Database / 15 / 4.00 / N=15
100%
Web Programming / 15 / 2.73 / N=9
60%
/ The Management Information Systems discipline unit acts as an assessment committee of the whole. Results are shared during discipline unit meetings and the Summary Form is distributed to all faculty in the discipline unit.
5. Analyze and design enterprise-level networks including security and network management. / MIS 4850, Spring 2012
This objective applies only to students who are majoring in MIS in the Networking track. The comprehensive final exam assesses 5 criteria. / At least 70% of the students will achieve a 3.0 or better(out of 4.0 scale on all categories on the Assessment Rubric for MIS 4850 Final Exam. / MIS 4850, Spring, 2012
Rubric Criteria / n / Average for all students / Students achieving level 3 or better
Understanding of various types of systems attacks / 34 / 3.35 / N=30
86%
Knowledge of defense systems, etc. / 34 / 3.20 / N=30
86%
Understanding of cryptographic systems / 34 / 3.34 / N=32
91%
Understanding of applications’ security / 34 / 3.20 / N=30
86%
Configuring defense tools / 34 / 3.40 / N=33
94%
/ The Management Information Systems discipline unit acts as an assessment committee of the whole. Results are shared during discipline unit meetings and the Summary Form is distributed to all faculty in the discipline unit.

PART TWO

Describe what your program’s assessment accomplishments since your last report was submitted. Discuss ways in which you have responded to the CASA Director’s comments on last year’s report or simply describe what assessment work was initiated, continued, or completed.

The Management Information Systems faculty have undertaken a comprehensive review of the major, since the major has been in existence since 2007 and in that time there have been widespread industry changes as well as changes in the marketplace for information systems majors. The faculty members continued to offer, using grant monies, national certification testing in several areas. Also, the faculty has looked at whether current courses have relevant content, are sequenced properly, and can continue to be taught with existing resources.

A substantive change to the major, dropping the major’s concentrations, was made during this academic year. The change was part of a year-long curriculum evaluation, based upon assessment data, conversations with external constituencies (recruiters, advisory board members), an analysis of the employment marketplace, conversations with alumni, and an evaluation of possible future internal resources. The modifications will allow us to continue to offer the major with significantly reduced resources. A more complete and comprehensive curriculum initiative is scheduled for AY 2013 where the major will be re-tailored and modernized and possibly rolled together with additional content areas within the School of Business.

The faculty has also made decisions regarding which three of the four learning goals of the EIU general education program will be incorporated into the MIS major. Currently, we have incorporated the following:

1.  EIU graduates will demonstrate the ability to write effectively. We have piloted included a writing assignment in MIS 3200 which is a core class for all MIS majors. This will be assessed using the School of Business Writing Rubric, beginning in Fall, 2012. Also, MIS 4200 already includes a significant writing component in the database project that includes both general and technical writing. The MIS 4200 database rubric will be expanded to include additional criteria to better address writing as that assignment is made permanent.

2.  EIU graduates will demonstrate the ability to think critically. Critical thinking is already a component of MIS 2000 which is a core class for all MIS majors.

3.  EIU graduates will demonstrate the ability to function as responsible global citizens. Although all business majors take international courses and are take ethics and responsible citizenship in a number of classes, the MIS faculty plans to include additional topics on ethics and responsible information use. The decisions about which courses will be made in AY13 as part of a new curriculum initiative.

The University learning goals will be part of the comprehensive assessment review to be completed in AY13 and as part of the new curriculum development initiative for this major. The three university learning goals have been incorporated on a preliminary basis during AY12. During AY 13, faculty will refine the rubrics to reflect these goals based upon the finalized activities to be included in the relevant courses.

For external validation, several entry level professional certification examinations were offered, utilizing grant funds to pay testing fees for students. While we cannot, at this time, break the results down in such a way as to connect them with specific learning objectives, due to the proprietary and pass/fail nature of the exams, they do constitute a general indicator of technical skills. This initiative will continue in AY13, as we were able to purchase some examination vouchers for use during the fall of 2012.

PART THREE

Summarize changes and improvements in curriculum, instruction, and learning that have resulted from the implementation of your assessment program. How have you used the data? What have you learned? In light of what you have learned through your assessment efforts this year and in past years, what are your plans for the future?

Due to the continually changing nature of MIS, our course content is continually evolving. Our assessment data continues to remain strong . During this academic year we examined both the major and the minor against industry trends to make sure that pertinent topics for MIS majors were addressed in the current curriculum and whether or not we were addressing all salient topics somewhere in the curriculum. We looked at possible areas that we might consider that are currently not taught, as well as the job market for our students, which has been difficult over the past few years. We also evaluated assessment data with regard to the concentrations and undertook a curriculum modification wherein we eliminated the concentrations in our major. While all goals and assessments were left in place for the time being, the elimination of concentrations will require a revision of our assessment strategy, as the paths to different courses will vary more greatly among our majors.

In addition, many of our students passed professional certification examinations, something that we introduced last year to further assess the relevancy and efficacy of our curriculum. Unfortunately, since these are proprietary exams, we have no way to precisely correlate the content of the exams with our curriculum. In most cases, the exams have significant overlap with our curriculum, but not 100%. As near as we can tell from our evaluations, approximately 20-25% of exam content is beyond the scope of our curriculum, with several exams even approaching 50%. Since the passing score requirement is 70%, that leaves little margin for error for our students.