Economics Department Fall 2013 Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) Assessment Economics 4 (Principles of Microeconomics)

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1 Jnury 2014 Economics Deprtment Fll 2013 Stuent Lerning Outcomes (SLOs) Assessment Economics 4 (Principles of Microeconomics) Lerning Outcome Sttement: In the Fll 2013 semester the Economics Deprtment engge in n in-epth explortion of the following course-level stuent lerning outcome in Economics 4 (Principles of Microeconomics): Stuents will nlyze the mrginl enefits n mrginl opportunity costs of economic ecisions me y iniviuls, househols, usinesses, n/or governments. This course-level lerning outcome supports the following Economics Deprtment progrmlevel outcome: Stuents will pply mrginl enefits mrginl opportunity costs nlysis to economic ecisions me y iniviuls, househols, usinesses, n/or governments. Mens of Assessment n Criteri: In support of the ientifie stuent lerning outcome, Economics Deprtment fculty evelope the following mens of ssessment n criteri: An ssessment instrument will e ministere to stuents enrolle in Principles of Microeconomics (ECON-4) sections tught y full-time n prt-time fculty. Assessment will occur t the en of the semester (pprox. 16 th 18 th week of the semester). At the en of ECON-4, 60% of ssesse stuents will generte score of 60% or higher on the ssessment instrument. Erly in the Fll 2013 semester, Economics Deprtment fculty ientifie five questions tht emonstrte cquisition of the stte stuent lerning outcome. Supporte y the Office of Institutionl Reserch, the Economics Deprtment evelope scnnle ssessment form tht ientifie stuent responses to the five ssessment items. A compnion online form ws lso evelope n me ccessile to stuents in ECON-2 istnce lerning sections. Consistent with the stte mens of ssessment, ssessment forms were isseminte in six ECON-2 sections in the 16 th through 18 th weeks of the Fll 2013 semester (Novemer 27 th through Decemer 18 th ), reching potentil uience of 189 stuents. In totl, 151 vli ssessment forms were returne ( 79.9% response rte), llowing reserchers the ility to generlize finings with 95% confience level (confience intervl ± 3.59). 1

2 Summry of Evience: Tles 1 provies frequencies istriution of the numer of items nswere correctly. The men numer of items nswere correctly y stuents ws 3.17, the mein 3.00, n the moe In exmining the rnge of correct responses, 15.9% of stuents were le to ientify ll (100%) of the questions correctly; 45.7% were le to ientify four or more of the questions correctly (80.0%); n 72.2% were le to correctly ientify three or more questions (60.0%). Tle 1 Numer of Questions Answere Correctly By Responents Post Assessment Numer Percent Cum. % All Five Questions Answere Correctly (100.0%) Four Questions Answere Correctly (80.0%) Three Questions Answere Correctly (60.0%) Two Questions Answere Correctly (40.0%) One Question Answere Correctly (20.0%) No Questions Answere Correctly (0.0%) Men Numer of Items Answere Correctly 3.17 As Tle 1 inictes, evience collecte in ECON-4 sections in the Fll 2013 semester inictes tht stuents exceee the threshols estlishe for the stte course-level lerning outcome (i.e., 72.2% of ssesse stuents were le to correctly ientify t lest 60% of ssessment instrument items). Aitionl nlyses were conucte for ech ssessment item. For ech of the five ssessment questions tht emonstrte cquisition of the stte stuent lerning outcomes, Tle 2 ientifies the numer n percentge of stuents who ientifie the correct response. Tle 2 # Assessment Question Househol income levels fll cross the U.S. ue to the recession. Wht is the expecte impct on the mrket for 1 new crs (using the emn n supply moel n ssuming new crs re norml goos)? (correct response: The price n quntity of new crs sol woul ecrese) The price of Coc-Col oules. Wht woul most likely 2 hppen to the mrket for Pepsi? (correct response: emn for Pepsi will likely increse, leing to higher Pepsi ) Assume the mrket price for milk is currently $4 per gllon. If the government sets price floor of $6 per gllon, which of 3 the following woul e most likely to occur? (correct response: mrket surplus will result) Which of the following chnges in the electricity mrket cn est explin n increse in the equilirium price of electricity? 4 (correct response: n increse in emn n ecrese in supply) Correct

3 5 Suppose you re in the newspper (or online) tht the price of gsoline is up AND consumers ought more gsoline. How cn the lws of supply n emn explin this? (correct response: emn for gsoline increse while supply of gsoline remine constnt) Of interest to Economics Deprtment fculty ws the istriution of incorrect responses to ech ssessment question. Tles 3 through 7 provie the iniviul responses to ech ssessment question (correct responses re highlighte in yellow). Tle 3 Househol income levels fll cross the U.S. ue to the Q1 recession. Wht is the expecte impct on the mrket for new crs (using the emn n supply moel n ssuming new crs re norml goos)? The price of new crs sol woul ecrese ut the price woul increse The quntity of new crs sol woul ecrese ut the price woul increse c Both price n quntity of new crs sol woul increse The quntity of new crs sol woul increse ut the price woul ecrese e New crs woul ecome inferior goos Tle 4 Q2 The price of Coc-Col oules. Wht woul most likely hppen to the mrket for Pepsi? Demn for Pepsi will likely ecrese, leing to lower Pepsi Demn for Pepsi will likely ecrese, leing to higher Pepsi c Demn for Pepsi will likely increse, leing to lower Pepsi Demn for Pepsi will likely increse, leing to higher Pepsi e Everyone will uy Coc-Col inste of Pepsi Tle 5 Assume the mrket price for milk is currently $4 per gllon. If Q3 the government sets price floor of $6 per gllon, which of the following woul e most likely to occur? The milk mrket will ecome more efficient n e weight loss will rop to zero Consumers will increse their quntity emne t the higher price c A mrket surplus will result Quntity supply will e less thn quntity emn e Milk will ecome more populr with consumers

4 Tle 6 Q4 Which of the following chnges in the electricity mrket cn est explin n increse in the equilirium price of electricity? An increse in emn n ecrese in supply A ecrese in emn n n increse in supply c An increse in oth emn n supply A ecrese in oth emn n supply e All of the ove choices re correct Tle 7 Suppose you re in the newspper (or online) tht the price Q5 of gsoline is up AND consumers ought more gsoline. How cn the lws of supply n emn explin this? The gsoline mrket is n exception to the lws of supply n emn Demn for gsoline increse while supply of gsoline remine constnt c Supply of gsoline increse while emn for gsoline remine constnt A non-price fctor must hve chnge, violting the ceteris pris conition, n cusing supply to ecrese e All of the choices liste ove re correct Use of Results for Plnning: As Tle 2 inictes, three of the five ssessment items were correctly ientifie y t lest 70% of Economics 4 stuents. However, two items questions #4 n #5 were nswere correctly y less thn 60% of ECON-2 stuents, incluing only 48.3% of stuents who correctly respone to question #4. In exmining this lerning outcome ssessment fining, review of: ) the wy questions #4 n #5 re wore on the ssessment form n its clrity to stuents; n/or ) the extent to which concepts introuce y questions #4 n #5 re elivere n reinforce re two res tht Economics Deprtment fculty might wnt to explore. Continuous Improvement: Economics Deprtment fculty initite forml ssessment of progrm- n course-level lerning outcomes in the Fll 2010 semester. After iscussing lerning outcomes finings t their August 2011 eprtment meeting, Economics Deprtment fculty evelope new progrm- n course-level lerning outcomes to ssess strting in the Fll 2011 semester. Assessment of these lerning outcomes continue through the Spring 2013 semester. Economic Deprtment fculty re-exmine lerning outcomes n ssocite mens of ssessment t their Fll 2013 eprtmentl flex meeting n evelope new lerning outcomes n ssessment questions; the current reserch rief reports their finings. The Economics Deprtment lerning outcomes ssessment process meets the sustinle continuous qulity improvement criteri estlishe y the Accreiting Commission for Community n Junior Colleges (ACCJC), nmely: Stuent lerning outcomes n ssessment re ongoing, systemtic n use for continuous qulity improvement. 4

5 Dilogue out stuent lerning is ongoing, pervsive n roust. Evlution of stuent lerning outcomes processes occurs. Stuent lerning improvement is visile priority in ll prctices n structures. Lerning outcomes re specificlly linke to progrm review. 5