Using Educational Outcomes and Student Portfolios to Steer Management Education

Abstract

In response to numerous external pressures, business schools today are struggling to enact and evaluate educational outcomes to help establish both validity and accountability. This article describes the process used by a management department to create an outcomes document that serves as a student guide for skills development. Student portfolios are now a required part of the curriculum to measure the attainment of knowledge, skills, and abilities. The article concludes by discussing the ramifications of these processes (for curriculum, students, and faculty) as well as articulating the lessons learned from this process, which may serve to guide other institutions.

Using Electronic Student Portfolios in Management Education: A Stakeholder Perspective

“…The use of career portfolios in enhanced electronic forms fits well with the recognized need to mainstream technology into the teaching of management in higher education (Alavi, Yoo, & Vogel, 1997;Bilmoria, 1997;Cytron, 1998;Frand & Broesamle, 1996;Gandz, 1997;Magill & Herden, 1998). It fulfills our desire to foster a strong career orientation and emphasis on learning outcomes within our programs (Magill & Herden, 1998). This article describes the evolution of an ESP at our university.…”

“…It fulfills our desire to foster a strong career orientation and emphasis on learning outcomes within our programs (Magill & Herden, 1998). This article describes the evolution of an ESP at our university.…”

Developing supply chain management program: a competency model

“…For example, a law faculty member was invited to develop competencies in reference to legal topics and an IT faculty was assigned to develop competencies concerning information systems. Magill and Herden (1998) explain this approach as “the next step [to] move from rather vague generalities about abilities, skills and knowledge to more specific, measurable outcomes” (p. 572) in developing an educational program.…”

How Course Portfolios Can Advance the Scholarship and Practice of Management Teaching

“…Within management education, tenure and promotion portfolios have long been used as a means of summarizing an individual's professional activity. In the past decade there has been some use of teaching portfolios (e.g., Bailey, Saparito, Kressel, Christensen, & Hooijberg, 1997;Bilimoria, 1999) and student portfolios (e.g., Chappell & Schermerhorn, 1999;Magill & Herden, 1998), and we believe most management educators have some awareness of these tools.…”