A multi-site study of assessment processes within business administration online programs and courses at two and four-year colleges in the Midwest

This dissertation examined business administration online programs and/or courses within two-year and four-year colleges located in the Midwest. All institutions were accredited through the Higher Learning Commission. The purpose of this research was to examine (a) the assessment processes utilized by business administration divisions to assess online programs and/or courses, and (b) how those assessments are being used to make improvements within the program and/or course. The data were collected from business programs through a multi-site qualitative research process that focused on four areas related to online education and assessment: expectations, evolvement, measurement, and communication. From these areas themes emerged: outcomes, evidence, attitude toward assessment, consistency, quality controls, concerns of assessment, direct and indirect assessment, and formal and informal communication. Several innovative assessment processes were presented by individual participants: core competency and skills assessment, IDEA assessment, Learning CAP-T, SAT (Summative Assessment Tool), and the SAT-O (Self Assessment Tool-Online). In addition, methods of direct and indirect assessment processes were presented. For institutions interested in enhancing their assessment process the following are recommendations: (1) Engage and encourage faculty members in both the online and on-campus programs and courses to participate in the assessment process. As assessment processes continued to expand within each institution, the communication level increased and provided for change to the online programs and courses. (2) Establish an environment for assessment; leadership at all levels of the assessment process was important to continue the progress. (3) Establish a method for evaluating the programs and individual courses. Develop guidelines for the assessment process. The institutions in this study had instituted assessment processes for the business administration program and/or courses. Data collected was specific to the six sites in the study; the data is not representative of all higher education business administration programs. An expansion of the study to include a larger group of institutions that provide online education is recommended for future studies