Unifying and Measuring General Education, Business Program, and Course Outcomes in Principles of Economics

Ileana Brooks

Associate Professor, DunhamSchool of Business

AuroraUniversity

Executive Summary

With a new General Education Program at AuroraUniversity stating specific outcomes and explicitly linking them to the university mission and values, Principles of Economics courses are not only now serving business students but university-wide students that are supposed to achieve these new General Educations outcomes and values. Since Business Program abilities/outcomes are also connected to the University Mission, the restructuring of the course outcomes, indicators and evaluations tools became more of a merging task and a learning experience. In this paper, I present how General Education outcomes, program outcomes and course outcomes can be unified and achieved in principles of economics. In addition, the challenges of finding effective evaluation tools of such outcomes are explored.

The New General Education Program at AU

In 2002, AU adopted a new General Education Model that essentially reflected the new university’s mission -an inclusive university dedicated to the transformative power of learning- and core values of integrity, continuous learning, excellence, and citizenship. Within the General Education model, these core values are developed through outcomes and activities suchas critical thinking skills (excellence and continuous learning), communication skills (excellence and continuous learning), and ethical development (integrity and citizenship).

The General Education Program organizes courses and activities in two primary categories, “Ways of Knowing” and “Ways of Living”. The label “Ways of Knowing” describes courses designed to immerse students in the academic traditions of intellectual inquiry. The label “Ways of Living” describes courses that develop in students the ability to make ethical choices. Although there seems to be a compartmentalization of outcomes/abilities, all of the core values are expected to be reflected in those courses’ outcomes and activities deemed General Education courses. The Principles of Micro and Macro Economics are General Education courses designated under the label “Ways of Knowing”. As such, Principles of Economics needed to revise its outcomes and link them to the General Education outcomes.

Assessing Outcomes/Abilities in Principles of Economics courses

With a new university mission, core values and General Education program, colleges and schools also revised and aligned their mission, values and outcomes/abilities accordingly. Consequently, the business undergraduate program also developed a new assessment plan containing six abilities: Body of Knowledge, Tools and Techniques Applications, Critical Thinking, Communication, Leadership, and Ethics. Levels of coverage for each of these abilities are determined as primary, secondary, and tertiary for each course. In addition, standard rubrics are in place to be used in measuring assessment activities (see attached example of critical thinking rubric). The School of Business is currently in the process of completing its entire assessment plan.

Reconciling General Education Outcomes with Program and Course Outcomes

The Principles of Macro and Micro Economics, as stated before, were among those courses designated under the label of “Ways of Knowing”. Under this primary category, several subcategories are defined. The common outcomes/abilities such as critical thinking, communication and ethics awareness can be found under this category. It became clear that outcomes/abilities were overlapping at the university level and program level. Course outcomes were more specific but they could easily be achieved under the umbrella of General Education and Program Outcomes. The table below depicts these common themes at the three different levels for Principles of Microeconomics.

General Education Outcomes / Program Outcomes/Abilities / Course Outcomes
Demonstrate critical thinking skills as evidenced by reading, speaking, and writing about human behavior and social interaction / Develop a body of knowledge of the issues and opportunities in the contemporary global business environment.
Utilize a powerful, diverse, and integrated set of knowledge tools and techniques.
Develop critical thinking skills necessary to understand and interpret issues in business and society.
Demonstrate that they can effectively and comfortable communicate by their written reports and oral presentations throughout the program. / Understand and apply the dilemma of scarcity and choice.
Understand and apply Benefit/Cost Analysis.
Understand and have a working knowledge of demand and supply interactions.
Understand the theory of consumer behavior as it applies to the law of demand.
Understand and apply the duality between Cost and Production.
Understand the different market structures and its ramifications to pricing and production: perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly and imperfect competition.
Understand the basics of international trade and its effects on the global economy.
Understand microeconomic issues as policies such as Income Inequality, Government and Market Failures, and Labor Institutions.
Be able to identify, understand, and apply microeconomics issues from news sources Be able to communicate orally or in writing applications of economic concepts, techniques and models as they apply to human behavior, social interaction and public policy.
Gather and organize empirical information to propose realistic solutions to problems related to human interaction
To take into considerations ethical issues as they relate to the human behavior and social interaction. / Be able to identify and appropriately react to issues of ethics. / Have an appreciation of the ethical dimensions of economic decisions made at the personal, business, and government level.

Measuring Outcomes/Abilities

The next step in the assessment process proved to be more challenging: finding appropriate tools of assessment along with their respective rubrics. I have currently adopted the following assessment measurements:

Outcomes/Abilities / Assessment Tools / Skills
Body of Knowledge
Tools and Techniques
Critical Thinking / Articles Analysis
Mini-Case Analysis: Group Discussion
Web Problems
Exams / Writing
Critical Thinking
Oral
Ethical Issues / Articles Analysis
Mini-Case Analysis: Group Discussion
Exams / Critical Thinking
Oral

*See attached matrix for complete course assessment plan.

Mini-Cases: Students form teams of three to discuss and analyze short cases and/or news articles. Team members:(i) identify main issues/problems and its implied assumptions, (ii) clarify the issues encompassing the problem and take a position based on valid evidence and reasoning; (iii) consider relevant alternatives, and (iv) state a valid conclusion. They present their analysis and arguments orally. Cases and news articles are heavily used when presenting diversity and ethical issues.

Article Analysis: This assessment activity is also performed in teams. The team is expected to submit summary and analyses of two or three news articles that relate to economics. These news articles are usually from news magazines and newspapers (WSJ, Chicago Tribune, TIME, The Economist, Fortune, etc.) The main objective of this exercise is for students to be able to identify, understand, reflect upon, and apply economic concepts and models that apply from news articles. Each member is expected to submit her/his own personal analysis based on other sources of reading related to the main article and on her/his own experience, knowledge, and belief. Students submit a written report on their team along with personal analysis. Students also are expected to submit a draft of their analysis prior to their final report for prompt feeback..

Web-problems: These problems are custom-made or taken from the textbook author. Students are expected to answer specific questions related to economic issues (see attached example). The main objective of this exercise is for students to gather information and economic data in order to answer the questions.

In addition to the above tools, short videos on current economics issues are usually presented and discussed in class. Videos are for the most part done informally in the classroom.

Conclusion

As stated earlier, the linking and implementation of these different levels of outcome proved to be a challenging and a learning experience. As an instructor I have welcomed and embraced the stipulation of these new outcomes/abilities, especially the outcomes of diversity and ethics appreciation in the principles of economics. With the introduction of evaluations tools that measures communication and critical thinking skills, as well as ethics awareness, student assessment relies more on a variety of tools that demonstrates student’s ability to think and communicate critically and less on examinations. Writing critically is currently at least twenty five percent of students’ final grade in Principles of Economics. Lastly but equally important, I have also become aware and appreciative of the different ways that we can assess our students.

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Principles of Microeconomics Outcome Assessment

General Education Outcomes / Program Outcomes/Abilities / Course Outcomes / Evaluation Tools
Demonstrate critical thinking skills as evidenced by reading, speaking, and writing about human behavior and social interaction / Develop a body of knowledge of the issues and opportunities in the contemporary global business environment.
Utilize a powerful, diverse, and integrated set of knowledge tools and techniques.
Develop critical thinking skills necessary to understand and interpret issues in business and society.
Demonstrate that they can effectively and comfortable communicate by their written reports and oral presentations throughout the program. / Understand and apply the dilemma of scarcity and choice.
Understand and apply Benefit/Cost Analysis.
Understand and have a working knowledge of demand and supply interactions.
Understand the basics of international trade and its effects on the global economy.
Understand the theory of consumer behavior as it applies to the law of demand.
Understand and apply the duality between Cost and Production.
Understand the different market structures and its ramifications to pricing and production: perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly and imperfect competition.
Understand microeconomic issues as policies such as Income Inequality, Government and Market Failures, and Labor Institutions.
Be able to identify, understand, and apply microeconomics issues from news sources
Be able to communicate orally or in writing applications of economic concepts, techniques and models as they apply to human behavior, social interaction and public policy. / Article Analysis #1
Group Discussion: mini-case
Web Problem Set #1
Test #1
Gather and organize empirical information to propose realistic solutions to problems related to human interaction / Article Analysis #2
Group Discussion: mini-case
Web Problem Set #2
Test #2
Article Analysis #3
Group Discussion: mini-case
Web Problem Set #3
Test #3
To take into considerations ethical issues as they relate to the human behavior and social interaction. / Be able to identify and appropriately reach to issues of ethics. / Have an appreciation of the ethical dimensions of economic decisions made at the personal, business, and government level. / Mini-Cases Analysis
Group Discussion: mini-cases

Critical Thinking Rubric

Characteristics
of Critical Thinking / Exemplary / Proficient / Not Proficient
Problem/Purpose / Students are able state clearly and precisely what the question or problem or issue is.
Students are able to express the question\problem\issue in several ways to clarify and refine its meaning and scope.
Students are able to break the q\p\i into meaningful subunits. / Students are able state clearly and precisely what the question, problem or issue is.
Students are able to express the question\problem\issue in several ways to clarify and refine its meaning and scope. / Students are not able to:
state clearly and precisely what the question or problem or issue is.
express the question\problem\issue in several ways to clarify and refine its meaning and scope.
break the q\p\i into meaningful subunits.
Assumptions / Students will be able to:
Clearly define what assumptions are and differentiate them from verifiable evidence.
Evaluate and defend the assumptions that are used in their solutions, conclusions, etc.
Explain and justify how the chosen assumptions shaped the solution, conclusion, etc. / Students will be able to:
Clearly define what assumptions are and differentiate them from verifiable evidence.
Evaluate and defend the assumptions that are used. / Students will be able to:
Clearly define what assumptions are and differentiate them from verifiable evidence.
Evaluate and defend the assumptions that are used.
Explain and justify how the chosen assumptions shaped the solution, conclusion, etc.
Point of View / Students are able to:
Clearly and precisely identify the point of view taken.
Seek other points of view and articulate their strengths and weaknesses
Demonstrate fairmindedness in evaluating points of view by carefully evaluating these other perspectives. / Students are able to:
Clearly and precisely identify the point of view taken.
Seek other points of view and articulate their strengths and weaknesses / Students are not able to:
Clearly and precisely identify the point of view taken.
Seek other points of view and articulate their strengths and weaknesses
Demonstrate fair-mindedness in evaluating points of view.
Information\
Evidence / Students are able to:
Demonstrate that they have gathered sufficient evidence to support their position\conclusions\answers etc.
Search for and evaluate information that opposes their p\c\a.
Demonstrate\explain\articulate that all information used is valid, accurate, and relevant.
Demonstrate that claims are supported by the data gathered / Students are able to:
Demonstrate that they have gathered sufficient evidence to support their position\conclusions\answers etc.
Demonstrate that claims are supported by the data gathered / Students are not able to:
Demonstrate that they have gathered sufficient evidence to support their position\conclusions\answers etc.
Search for and evaluate information that opposes their p\c\a.
Demonstrate\explain\articulate that all information used is valid, accurate, and relevant.
Demonstrate that claims are supported by the data gathered
Conclusions\
Solutions / Students are able to:
Clearly demonstrate that conclusions\solutions produced are based on reason, logic and evidence.
Clearly demonstrate that conclusions\solutions produced are of appropriate depth and complexity.
Consider alternate conclusions\solutions evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. / Students are able to:
Clearly demonstrate that conclusions\ solutions produced are based on reason, logic and evidence.
Clearly demonstrate that conclusions\ solutions produced are of appropriate depth and complexity.
. / Students are not able to:
Clearly demonstrate that conclusions\ solutions produced are based on reason, logic and evidence.
Clearly demonstrate that conclusions\ solutions produced are of appropriate depth and complexity to address the problem or issue.
Consider alternate conclusions\ solutions evaluating their strengths and weaknesses.
Concepts\
Ideas / Students are able to:
Identify and explain clearly and precisely what concepts are being used to organize and represent the issue\problem.
Consider and provide evidence that other alternate concepts were considered, demonstrating why certain ones were chosen. / Students are able to:
Identify and explain clearly and precisely what concepts are being used to organize and represent the issue\problem. / Students are not able to:
Identify and explain clearly and precisely what concepts are being used to organize and represent the issue\problem.
Consider and provide evidence that other alternate concepts were considered, demonstrating why certain ones were chosen.
Inferences / Students are able to:
Demonstrate that inferences were drawn from what the evidence implies, (show a logical flow or relationship)
Identify and defend the assumptions that were used to draw the inferences made.
Demonstrate consistency and flow of the inferences drawn. / Students are able to:
Demonstrate that inferences were drawn from what the evidence implies, (show a logical flow or relationship)
Identify and defend the assumptions that were used to draw the inferences made. / Students are not able to:
Demonstrate that inferences were drawn from what the evidence implies, (show a logical flow or relationship)
Identify and defend the assumptions that were used to draw the inferences made.
Demonstrate consistency and flow of the inferences drawn.

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