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Towards a Methodology of Assessing Student Learning of Topics Requiring Judgment: An Example of Business Ethics

Guy H. Gessner, Raymond W. Vegso and Linda Volonino

The BRC Journal of Advances in Education

Volume 1

Number 1

Print ISSN: 2152-8810 Online ISSN: 2152-8829

Date: March 15, 2010

First Page 35

Last Page 55

Abstract

Assessing student learning of business ethics (as described by AACSB International, 2004) is difficult. One of the challenges is how to measure judgment quality as well as the degree of uncertainty about the judgments that are being made. Assessment of student learning for topics that require students to exercise judgment provides different challenges than assessment of student learning of topics that require fact recall. This paper reviews the results from administration of an assessment instrument to measure student learning of business ethics among MBA students early in their MBA program and among students late in the MBA program to determine if changes in learning occur. Measures of judgment quality, judgment uncertainty, and the knowledge added from program participation are explored. As an assessment exercise there is a need to identify the reliability of the test and to determine if there are instrument questions that need to be revised because they are too easy or too challenging. Classic Test Theory and Item Response Theory analyses are used to determine if the results from the test are reliable enough to use for curriculum review decisions and which questions are in most need of revision.

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