Title: An examination of assessment practices in colleges of business at various Middle East countries compared to the USA

Authors: Nitham M. Hindi, Mohammad K. Najdawi, Hend Abdalrahman Al Muftah

Addresses: Department of Accounting and Information Systems, College of Business and Economics, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. ' College of Business and Economics, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. ' College of Business and Economics, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar

Abstract: This study reports the results of a survey conducted during 2007 which was mailed to deans of schools of business at institutions of higher education located within the USA and the Middle East. Schools of business are now more engaged in assessment activities than a few years ago. Assessment activities are more costly and more emphasis seems to be placed on assessing communication skills, critical thinking, and professional knowledge. Colleges of business are relaying heavily on course-embedded measures, followed by indirect measures of assessment. Curriculum and instructional changes were the top-ranked uses of assessment results. Although almost the same percentage of colleges of business in 2007 has specific curriculum/programme objectives as they did in 1999 (92% in 2007 and 88% in 1999), significantly more US colleges actually assess their objectives. While 65% of the US institutions reported assessment activities annually, only 25% of Middle Eastern universities assessed their curriculum annually.

Keywords: assessment measures; learning assurance; higher education; USA; United States; Middle East; business colleges; business education; business schools; communication skills; critical thinking; professional knowledge; objectives; curriculum assessment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMD.2011.039953

International Journal of Management Development, 2011 Vol.1 No.1, pp.40 - 59

Published online: 28 Nov 2014 *