Presented By:Robert C. McNeal, D.I.B.A., Alabama State University

Olin O. Oedekoven, Ph.D., Peregrine Academic ServicesTammy Prater, Ph.D., Alabama State University

September, 2012

The purpose of this presentation is to provide information related to the Common Professional Component and a comparative analysis of the Major Field Test assessment exam from ETS and the CPC-based COMP Exam assessment exam from Peregrine Academic Services in order to determine which instrument would be more applicable for an applied business program assessment and to assess how data from both instruments can be related and used.

Overview of the Common Professional Component

for Business Education

Appling the CPCs for the Business Curriculum

Assessing the CPCs

Comparative Approaches to CPC Assessment

Conclusions

Common Professional Component (CPC): Establishes an approach to business school program evaluation based on standards that integrate academic disciplines.

Based on control processes developed by Deming, Juran, Drucker and others that focus on process continuous improvement .

Follows the Baldrige concept by establishing a set of standards that provide a means of measuring improvement through continuous self evaluation.

Cross disciplinary nature of business education: Recognizes that student

understanding of the nature of modern business requires the ability to apply

concepts from more than one business discipline (i.e., Marketing, Finance, etc.)

A CPC focus instills student recognition of the cross disciplinary nature of a

business education.

Fosters a broad academic perspective that enhances critical thinking based on (i)

identifying facts, and (ii) applying comprehensive academic concepts to known

facts, to (iii) produce a logical solution to business problems.

CPC evaluation demonstrates when a business program has achieved these goals.

1. Functional Areas

a. Marketing

b. Business Finance

c. Accounting

d. Management

2. Business Environment

a. Legal Environment

b. Economics

c. Business Ethics

d. Global Dimensions

3. Technical Skills

a. Information Systems

b. Quantitative Techniques /

Statistics

4. Integrative Areas

a. Business Policies

OR

a. A comprehensive experience

that enables synthesizing

and applying knowledge

Academic research in business focuses on past history, is

highly theoretical in nature, and does little to draw student

attention to the practical application of modern business

concepts in today’s workplace environment.

The case study approach is an improvement, but relies on a

narrative presentation of a single case limiting the case

problem to one or a few business areas and is dependent on

the instructor’s objectives.

A true capstone course (i.e., Strategic Management) is the

closest to the CPC approach when its design includes the

analysis of a company and its industry based on Accounting,

Finance, Management, and Marketing concepts, the

environment the company and industry operate in, and requires

the use of technological skills combined with practical research

to discover, and analyze, facts related to the company and its

industry.

1. Map the Course text’s chapters to a CPC template.

2. Create an abbreviated course syllabus.

3. Repeat the process for other courses

4. Consolidate the analyses.

5. Review for continuous improvement.

a) Review course material according to the course’s Learning

Outcome metrics.

b) Link the metrics to the CPC objectives

c) Generate additional course materials which integrates the course

material and the CPC in a way that improves course quality.

There are three business accrediting bodies recognized by the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

(AACSB).The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs

(ACBSP).The International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education

(IACBE).

ACBSP and IACBE added CPC to its accreditation standards in 1988 and 1997, respectively. AACSB does not currently have a CPC aspect to its accreditation standards.

ACBSP Standards and CPC. Standard 4: Measurement and Analysis of Student Learning and Performance.

“Business Schools and Programs must have an outcomes

assessment program with documentation of the results and

evidence that the results are being used for the development and

improvement of the institution’s academic programs”.

ACBSP definition of a program: “… a plan of study is considered a

program when it requires a minimum of 12 credit hours of course

work beyond the CPC and/or is recorded on a students

transcript.”

For example, A BSBA with a major in accounting, management,

marketing, etc. is a program.

ACBSP Standards and CPC. Standard 6: Educational and Business Process Management.

“All business graduates are expected to have received a general

exposure to economic institutions,… complex relationships that

exist between business, government, and consumers, and a basic

knowledge of the functional areas of business.”

“…business students share common professional requirements. For

this reason, certain common subject matter (the Common

Professional Component, or CPC) as well as areas of specialization

are expected to be covered in baccalaureate degree programs in

business”.

Criterion 6.1.3 specifies that programs must include CPC coverage

that equates to two-thirds of a three semester credit hour course.

IACBE Standards and CPC. Principle 3.2: Common Professional Component.

The IACBE expects the curricula of accredited undergraduate

business programs to provide a broadly-based, functional

education in business. The purpose of this principle is to ensure

that the CPC topical areas are covered in undergraduate business

programs.

Excellence in business education at the undergraduate level

requires coverage of the key content areas of business. Thus, the

Common Professional Component (CPC) topical areas…should be

adequately covered within the content of undergraduate business

programs.

AACSB. No defined CPC Standards.1. Core learning goals cover two categories of learning:

a. General Knowledge and Skills (i.e. communications, problem solving, ethics, etc.)

b. Management Specific Skills (accounting, management science, marketing, human resources, etc.)

2. Standard 16: Bachelor or undergraduate degree level: “… the school specifies learning goals and demonstrates achievement of learning goals for key general, management specific, and/or discipline specific knowledge and skills…”

3. Standard 17: “The bachelor’s or undergraduate level degree programs must provide sufficient time, content coverage, student effort, and student-faculty interaction to assure that the learning goals are accomplished.”

Higher education stakeholders seek assurance that a program’s

graduates are competent and qualified.

Accreditation is seen by many stakeholders as providing that assurance.

The Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) devised a program

based on standards that assure that a program (Murray 2009):

◦ Demonstrates that graduates are qualified and competent.

◦ Provides evidence that the program has a quality control system that

works.

◦ Provides evidence that the capacity for quality as measured by an

accredited institution is committed to the program.

Internal: A continuous process in specific subject areas such as course exams, projects, etc. developed by the course facilitator.

External: Assessment at a point in a program; developed by an outside organization.

Organizations providing external assessment instruments:

1. Educational Testing Service (ETS): Major Field Test in Business

2. Peregrine Academic Services (PAS): CPC-Based COMP Assessment Exams For Bachelors and Graduate Programs.

Common Professional Components CoveredETS * PAS**

1. Accounting 1. Accounting2. Economics 2. Economics3. Finance 3. Business Finance4. Information Systems 4. Information Management Systems5. International 5. Global Dimensions of Business6. Legal & Social Environment 6. Legal Environment of Business7. Management 7. Management8. Marketing 8. Marketing9. Quantitative Business Analysis 9. Quantitative Research Techniques & Statistics

10. Business Ethics11. Business Leadership12. Business Integration & Strategic Management

* Source: http://www.ets.org/mft/about/content/bachelor_business** Source: http://www.peregrineacademics.com/

Scoring ReportsETS (*) PAS (**)

1. Individual Overall Score. ETS’s score range is scaled at 120 to 200 (i.e. 120 = 0.

1. Individual Overall Score. PAS’s score range is 0 to 100.

2. Individual CPC Scores: Available as a separate paid report

2. Individual CPC Scores: Included as part of the service

3. Assessment Indicators: Reported only for groups of students. Assessment Indicators report the average percent of correct answers, in nine CPC topics

3. CPC score is the same as average percent correct; reported for all CPC topics. Reported for both groups and by individual students for all topic areas down to the subject level of the topic.

* Source: http://www.ets.org/mft/scores/** Source: http://www.peregrineacademics.com/

The Assessment Data Were Collected from Summer

2005 – Spring 2012 with 695 Data Points.

◦ ETS Major Field Test Data Collected From Summer

2005 – Fall 2010 with 478 Data Points.

◦ PAS CPC-Based COMP Exam Data Collected From

Fall 2010 – Spring 2012 with 217 Data Points.

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

OverallOverall

OverallOverall

Ha

Ho

:

:

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The Overall Student Performance was higher on the Peregrine Assessment by at least 3 points.

P-Value = .02

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The average Accounting score was higher on the Peregrine Assessment by at least 7 points.

P-Value = .00

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

ACTACT

ACTACT

:

:

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The average Finance score was higher on the Peregrine Assessment by at least 4 points.

P-Value = .09

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

FINFIN

FINFIN

:

:

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The average Economics score was higher on the Peregrine Assessment by at least 5 points.

P-Value = .01

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

ECONOMICS

ECONOMICSECONOMICS

ECONOMICS:

:

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The average Global Dimensions of Business score was higher on the Peregrine Assessment by at least 7 points.

P-Value = .00

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

GLOBALGLOBAL

GLOBALGLOBAL

:

:

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The average Information Management Systems score was higher on the Peregrine Assessment by at least 5 points.

P-Value = .00

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

MIS

MISMIS

MIS:

:

Fail to Reject Ho

Conclusion: The average Management score was equal between the ETS Major Field Test and the Peregrine Test.

P-Value = .56

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

Management

ManagementManagement

Management:

:

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The average Marketing score was higher on the ETS Major Field Test by at least 11 points.

P-Value = .00

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

MarketingMarketing

MarketingMarketing

:

:

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The average Quantitative Research Techniques and Statistics score was higher on the ETS Major Field Test by at least 6 points.

P-Value = .00

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

QuantQuant

QuantQuant

:

:

Topic Average Test Score

Higher Score Average Score

Difference

P-Value

Accounting Different Peregrine 7 .00Business Finance Different Peregrine 4 .09Economics Different Peregrine 5 .01Global Dimensions Of Business

Different Peregrine 7 .00

Information Management Systems

Different Peregrine 5 .00

Legal Environment of Business

Different Peregrine 14 .00

Management Equal 0 .56

MarketingDifferent ETS Major Field

Test11 .00

Quantitative Research Techniques and Statistics

Different ETS Major Field Test

6 00

Reject Ho

Conclusion: The Overall Student Performance was higher on the Peregrine Assessment by at least 11 points.

P-Value = .00

PEREGRINEETS

PEREGRINEETS

Ha

Ho

Overall 2010 FallOverall 2010 Fall

Overall 2010 FallOverall 2010 Fall

:

:

Alabama State University (ASU) students did better on the PAS CPC-based COMP Exam than they did on the ETS MFT.

Why?

Exam Focus: The PAS CPC-based COMP Exam was designed around the CPC requirements and therefore is in better alignment with the ASU business program curriculum and teaching methods.

The ASU College of Business Administration’s teaching

method is more of a hands-on, practical and applied

approach to business education.

Peregrine’s Assessment Exam is more application oriented in

nature compared to the ETS Major Field Test.

The differences in the nature of the exam may explain why

the student’s test scores were significantly higher in nearly

all of the assessed categories. Additional subject-level

analyses of the results confirmed this conclusion.

If you have used both PAS and ETS

assessment exams, the results can

be statistically related and

therefore combined for use with

longitudinal analyses.

PAS’s CPC-based COMP Exam can be used for both pre-and post-program student learning analysis (inbound & outbound exams).

With pairwise reporting of the data, you have both formative and summative assessments with the same instrumentation.

Dr. Bob McNeal, DrBMcNeal@gmail.com

(334) 322-0223Dr. Olin Oedekoven, Oedekoven@PeregrineAcademics.com

(307) 685-1555

Dr. Tammy Prater, tprater@alasu.edu,

334-546-7644

Cripps, J. , Clark, C., and Oedekoven, O (2011). The Undergraduate Common Professional Component (CPC): Origins and Process. International Journal of

Business & Management Tomorrow. V1, n1.

ACBSP (2010). ACBSP Standards and Criteria for Demonstrating Excellence in Baccalaureate/Graduate Degree Schools and Programs. Accreditation Council for

Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). Overland Park KS.

IACBE (2011). Self Study Manual. International Assembly for Collegiate Business

Education. Lenexa KS.

AACSB International (2012). Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation Standards for Business Accreditation. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of

Business. Tampa FL.

Murray, F. (2009). An Accreditation Dilemma: The Tension Between Program Accountability and Program Improvement in Programmatic Accreditation. New

Directions for Higher Education. V 145 Spring.