USF School of Management Assurance of Learning Report
AoL Report LO6 Fall 2016 Page 1 of 6
BSBA AY 2016-2017 Assessment
Phase 1: Assessment Plan Outlned
Program Goal 3 – Demonstrate Knowledge of Fundamental Business Domain Concepts
Learning Outcome assessed:
Learning Outcome 06: Accounting
Students will use accounting concepts and principles in creating and analyzing financial
statements of organizations.
Assessment Method:
Multiple choice questions
Targeted performance, based on rubrics:
80% of students demonstrate Excellent or Good level of achievement for every topic;
Evaluation Process:
LO6 was assessed in all ten sections of BUS 201 proposed in the Fall of 2016. Professors Comiran, Fedyk,
Ha, Khan, Roehl, and Wells performed the assessment.
• Assessment included three groups of questions in order to evaluate three topics outlined in the rubric
below. Each of three groups contained four multiple choice questions. Therefore, every student was
given total of 12 multiple choice questions.
• Out of 12 questions, 4 questions were quantitative, and 8 questions were qualitative (theoretical and
conceptual).
• The same questions were used for all ten sections; all questions were part of a graded exam.
• In total, 341 students answered twelve multiple-choice questions – four related to the main
accounting equation, four related to the principles of double-entry accounting, and four related to the
main financial statements.
• Two types of analyses were performed:
1) A simple frequency analysis of the number of correct answers (by questions and by trait) was
performed. Such analysis enables us to see an aggregated level of knowledge for each trait outlined in
the rubric, and to identify the most problematic areas related to LO 6. Basic descriptive statistics were
run on the scores for each of the questions and for each of the traits representing the learning outcome
6;
2) In order to assess the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations, additional analysis
was done on by-student level. Basic descriptive statistics were run on the scores for each of the
students. Such analysis enables us to estimate the overall students’ performance related to the
learnings outcome 6.
USF School of Management Assurance of Learning Report
AoL Report LO6 Fall 2016 Page 2 of 6
Rubric for LO6:
Level of Achievement
Topics
Excellent
Good
Poor
Identify the main accounting
equation –
Tested with 4 multiple choice
questions
All questions are answered
correctly (correct answers
are 100%)
All but one question are
answered correctly (correct
answers are 75%)
Two or more answers are
wrong (correct answers
are ≤50%)
Apply principles of the double-
entry accounting system –
Tested with 4 multipole choice
questions
All questions are answered
correctly (correct answers
are 100%)
All but one question are
answered correctly (correct
answers are75%)
Two or more answers are
wrong (correct answers
are ≤50%)
Recognize two main financial
statements: Income Statement
and Balance Sheet –
Tested with 4 multipole choice
questions
All questions are answered
correctly (correct answers
are 100%)
All but one question are
answered correctly (correct
answers are 75%)
Two or more answers are
wrong (correct answers
are ≤50%)
Course where learning outcome was assessed:
BSBA, BUS 201 Principles of Financial Accounting, sections 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 &10
Evaluator(s):
Dr. Tatiana Fedyk (note, no special evaluation was required, as assessment is based on a set of
multiple choice questions)
Phase 2: Results Assessment and Planned Action
BUS 201 Exam Results
Part 1. By question analysis: 12 multiple choice questions, 341 students
participated; * denotes quantitative questions
Questions
Q1
Q2*
Q3
Q4
Q5
Q6
Q7
Q8
Q9
Q10*
Q11*
Q12*
N correct
333
309
335
317
278
318
301
259
319
330
324
311
% correct
98%
91%
98%
93%
82%
93%
88%
76%
94%
97%
95%
91%
USF School of Management Assurance of Learning Report
AoL Report LO6 Fall 2016 Page 3 of 6
Part 2: By-Topic analysis (3 topics from the rubric)
Topics
Main accounting
equation
Double-entry
accounting system
Main financial
statements
Questions
Q1, Q2, Q3, & Q4
Q5, Q6, Q7, & Q8
Q9, Q10, Q11, & Q12
% correct
95%
85%
94%
Part 3: By-Student analysis: number of students achieving targets
% of student
with “excellent”
level of
performance
(100%)
% of student
with “good”
level of
performance
(75%)
% of student
with “poor”
level of
performance
(≤50%)
% Students
with Excellent
or Good
performance
Topic 1: “The main
accounting equation”
86%
10%
4%
96%
Topic 2: “Double-entry
accounting system”
57%
29%
14%
86%
Topic 3: “Main financial
statements”
84%
10%
6%
94%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12
0.00%
20.00%
40.00%
60.00%
80.00%
100.00%
Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3
USF School of Management Assurance of Learning Report
AoL Report LO6 Fall 2016 Page 4 of 6
What did we learn?
• Students had very strong knowledge about the main accounting equation and main financial
statements, but their knowledge about double-entry accounting system is slightly weaker. This
is not a surprise as “debit-credit” material is always among the most challenging topics.
• Students did well on all quantitative questions (Q2; Q10, Q11, and Q12).
• Students did well on main conceptual questions (Q1 and Q9).
• Most problematic were Q5 – details about debit-credit rules for specific accounts; and Q8 –
related to a specific journal entry. Q8 has a trick (additional words were used to distract
attention from the main account). Therefore, we can conclude that while students understand
well main concepts and principles, some of students are lacking ability to apply those concepts
to real problems.
Suggested Action:
Based on these findings, we recommend the following actions:
Improvements to AoL process/methods:
1. From interaction with finance faculty, we learned that one item is missing for the Topic 3
“Main Financial Statements”. The missing statement is Statement of Cash Flow, Indirect
Method. This item will be added to the improved rubric table, and will be tested during next
cycle.
2. If possible, conduct a second set of questions at the end of the semester to have two sets of
data (intermediated and end-of-semester) for more in-depth analysis.
Improvements to course/curriculum:
3. Reiterate debit-credit accounting system rules throughout the course; do not limit covering
this topic to the first three chapters.
4. During assessments, use straightforward and focused questions and avoid questions with
tricks as the main purpose is to test students’ fundamental knowledge, and not necessarily
their ability to catch small details.
Phase 3: Closing the Loop
To be filed the year after the results assessment.
USF School of Management Assurance of Learning Report
AoL Report LO6 Fall 2016 Page 5 of 6
Amendment: multiple choice questions used for LO6 assessment
QUESTIONS related to “Identify main accounting equation”:
1) The accounting equation can be stated as:
A) Stockholders' Equity = Liabilities.
B) Assets = Liabilities+ Stockholders' Equity.
C) Assets = Liabilities - Stockholders' Equity.
D) Assets = Liabilities+ Revenues-Expenses.
Correct Answer: B
2) At the end of the current accounting period, account balances were as follows: Cash, $15,000; Accounts
Receivable, $20,000; Common Stock, $8,000; Retained Earnings, $14,000. Liabilities for the period were:
A) $13,000.
B) $20,000.
C) $27,000.
D) $57,000.
Correct Answer: A
3) Examples of liabilities include:
A) accounts payable and accounts receivable.
B) accounts payable and land.
C) investments and owners' equity.
D) accounts payable and long-term debt.
Correct Answer: D
4) The assets of a company:
A) must equal the liabilities of the company.
B) include property, plant, and equipment and common stock.
C) represent economic resources that are expected to produce a future benefit.
D) include merchandise inventory and accounts payable.
Correct Answer: C
QUESTIONS related to “Apply principles of double-entry accounting system”:
5) An important rule of debits and credits is:
A) credits increase a liability account.
B) debits decrease an asset account
C) revenues and expenses are increased by a debit.
D) expenses are increased by a credit.
Correct Answer: A
6) A company received cash and issued stock to a new stockholder. In recording this transaction:
A) cash would be debited and common stock would be credited.
B) cash would be credited and common stock would be debited.
C) cash would be debited and retained earnings would be credited.
D) cash would be credited and retained earnings would be debited.
Correct Answer: A
7) An account will have a debit balance if:
A) the amount of the credits exceeds the amount of the debits.
B) the amount of the debits exceeds the amount of the credits.
C) the account has more debit entries than credit entries.
D) it is a liability account.
USF School of Management Assurance of Learning Report
AoL Report LO6 Fall 2016 Page 6 of 6
Correct Answer: B
8) ABC Company needed money to purchase a new building. They borrowed $20,000 from the Richest Bank and
signed a note promising to pay the amount back in three months. The entry to record the loan is:
A) Cash
20,000
Note Payable
20,000
B) Building
20,000
Cash
20,000
C) Note Payable
20,000
Cash
20,000
D) Building
20,000
Notes Payable
20,000
Correct Answer: A
QUESTIONS related to “prepare two main financial statements: Income Statement and Balance Sheet”:
9) Net income is computed as:
A) revenues - expenses - dividends.
B) revenues + expenses.
C) revenues - expenses.
D) revenues - expenses –accounts receivable.
Correct Answer: C
Questions 10-12 are related to Exhibit 1:
ABC Company had the following accounts and balances at the end of the year:
Accounts Payable $12,000 Equipment $50,000
Cash $74,000 Inventory $25,000
Common Stock $21,000 Long-Term Debt $33,000
Wage expenses $85,000 Revenues $200,000
Dividends $8,000 Rent Expense $24,000
10) Refer to Exhibit 1. Total assets for ABC Company at the end of the year were:
A) $74,000.
B) $99,000.
C) $141,000.
D) $149,000.
Correct Answer: D
11) Refer to Exhibit 1. Total liabilities for ABC Company at the end of the year were:
A) $12,000.
B) $17,000.
C) $33,000.
D) $45,000.
Correct Answer: D
12) Refer to Exhibit 1. Net income for ABC Company for the year was:
A) $83,000.
B) $91,000.
C) $115,000.
D) $176,000.
Correct Answer: B
