MHR 6500 Managing Individuals and Groups

MHR 6500: Course Embedded Assessment

Learning Objectives

The tables below organizes the assessment by learning objectives and outcomes for the alliance and on campus sections of this class.

Alliance MBA Program
MBA Program Learning Goals: "Students develop the capacity to . . ." Related MHR 6500 Learning Goals MHR 6500 Assessment
Manage, lead and change organizations The primary learning goal in this course is to enable students to become more effective in working with others as individuals and in teams. To do so, students require enhanced self-awareness, knowledge of what approaches are most likely to work in managing individuals and teams, and the behavioral skill necessary to implement a variety of approaches. a) Students complete a "Teamwork Knowledge Exam" and scores are benchmarked against national norms.

b) Students, in randomly assigned groups, are assigned a decision task and performance is judged on the basis of whether the team can improve upon decisions made by the individuals on their own.

c) Student learning papers¹ are graded, in part, on the ability of the student to identify useful applications of materials learned in the course.

d) Student learning papers are graded, in part, on the ability of the student to demonstrate significant personal insights gained in the course.
Solve complex problems that are cross-functional in nature; deal effectively with strategic challenges that are interdisciplinary; and think systemically, critically, credibly, and creatively about business issues A secondary learning goal of this course is for students to learn to think of human resource (HR) problems in organizations in systems terms, be able to solve complex HR problems that are strategic and cross-functional in scope, and be able to present the results of analyses professionally in both oral and written forms. a) Students, in randomly assigned groups, present in-class analyses of complex strategic HR cases using a specific framework that encourages cross-functional thinking.

b) Students, as individuals, write up an analysis of a complex strategic HR case, with recommendations for change using a specific model of the change process.
  A secondary learning goal of this course is for students to become more "sophisticated consumers of knowledge"-that is, to think critically about the information they are presented. The field of organization behavior is based on research in the behavioral and social sciences, some of which is conflicting and inconclusive. Student learning papers are graded, in part, on the ability of the student to evaluate the quality of evidence (theory and research) available to support specific managerial practices.
Present analyses of business problems in both written and oral forms in a manner that is understandable, credible and persuasive A secondary learning goal of this course is for students to improve their written communication skills. Student learning papers and the quiz are graded, in part, on the ability of the student to organize his or her thoughts well and write in clear, compelling, competent prose.²

¹Depending on the course, either two or three learning papers are submitted. Students submit their first paper, get detailed feedback on breadth, depth, and writing, and then use that feedback to improve the second and third papers.
²Detailed writing guidelines are provided on Electronic Library Reserve for students needing assistance.

On-Campus MBA Program
MBA Program Learning Goals: "Students develop the capacity to . . ." Related MHR 6500 Learning Goals MHR 6500 Assessment
Manage, lead and change organizations The primary learning goal in this course is to enable students to become more effective in working with others as individuals and in teams. To do so, students require enhanced self-awareness, knowledge of what approaches are most likely to work in managing individuals and teams, and the behavioral skill necessary to implement a variety of approaches. a) Students, in randomly assigned groups, are assigned a decision task and performance is judged on the basis of whether the team can improve upon decisions made by the individuals on their own.

b) Students, as individuals, submit case analyses that are graded, in part, on the ability of the student to identify useful applications of materials learned in the course.

c) Students, as individuals, submit case analyses that are graded, in part, on the ability of the student to demonstrate significant personal insights gained in the course.
Solve complex problems that are cross-functional in nature; deal effectively with strategic challenges that are interdisciplinary; and think systemically, critically, credibly, and creatively about business issues A secondary learning goal of this course is for students to learn to think of human resource (HR) problems in organizations in systems terms, be able to solve complex HR problems that are strategic and cross-functional in scope, and be able to present the results of analyses professionally in both oral and written forms. a) Students, in randomly assigned groups, present an in-class analysis of a complex organizational behavior or strategic HR case using a specific framework that encourages cross-functional thinking.

b) Students, in groups, write up an analysis of a complex organizational behavior or strategic HR case, with recommendations for change using a specific model of the change process.
  A secondary learning goal of this course is for students to become more "sophisticated consumers of knowledge"-that is, to think critically about the information they are presented. The field of organization behavior is based on research in the behavioral and social sciences, some of which is conflicting and inconclusive. Students, as individuals, submit case analyses that are graded, in part, on the ability of the student to evaluate the quality of evidence (theory and research) available to support specific managerial practices.
Present analyses of business problems in both written and oral forms in a manner that is understandable, credible and persuasive A secondary learning goal of this course is for students to improve their written communication skills. Students, as individuals, submit case analyses that are graded, in part, on the ability of the student to organize his or her thoughts well and write in clear, compelling, and competent prose.

Pre-Post Course Embedded Results

The table below contains the results of our pre-post assessment for this course for a number of semesters.

Semester Location TKSA Score (post) Percentile (post) Decision task pre Decision task post
Summer/Fall 2004 UACPA 31.68 99% 0.71 1.29
Summer/Fall 2004 UVSC 31.62 99% 0.67 2.00
Fall 2005 UACPA VI 29.03 92% 1.28 1.40
Fall 2005 UVSC XII 29.08 92% 1.50 1.17
Spring 2006 Campus Part-time 28.82 90% 1.00 1.71
Spring 2006 UVSC XII 28.52 88% 1.17 1.33