Assessing and Improving Learning in Business Schools: Direct and Indirect Measures of Learning

Institutions of higher education are scrambling to make program changes to improve the quality of learning and assessment of learning in the face of pressure from multiple constituencies. Business educators are incorporating various active learning techniques to enhance learning and application of skills and knowledge to real-world situations. Educators are also experimenting with new assessment techniques to meet assurance of learning standards. The authors compared perceptions of learning (indirect) to actual learning (direct) after completion of a management project with a real-world organization. The results support the use of management projects as a pedagogical tool for enhancing learning in business curricula and suggest actual learning may exceed perceptions of learning.