SACSCOC Fifth Year Interim Report
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Assessment : 2013 - 2014 : Educational Programs :
Communication Studies BA/BS
Communication Studies BA/BS
3 Goals 3 Objectives 6 Indicators 6 Criteria 6 Findings 3 Actions
| GOAL: Application Of Theory |
| Objective |
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Graduates will be able to apply communication theory to specific communication contexts. |
| Indicator |
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| We will measure attainment of Goal 1 through an annual evaluation of a sample of final student term papers in 3300 and 4300 level courses, such as Intercultural Communication, Small Group Communication, Nonverbal Communication, Communication Theory, and Family Communication. The first component of this rubric is Evidence of Understanding of the Applicable Theory or Theories including the Effective Connection of Theory or Theories to Communication Behavior (see Supporting Document attached). The scale for measuring this degree objective will be the same throughout the department's set of objectives for BA/BS students. |
| Criterion |
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An average grade of 3 is the criterion for satisfying the target outcome. |
| Finding |
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| Two different sets of student papers (N = 20) were evaluated by faculty members. The combined mean of the evaluations was 4.3. |
| Indicator |
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| The second component of this rubric is Control of the Mechanics of Written Composition (see Supporting Document attached). |
| Criterion |
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| An average grade of 3 is the criterion for satisfying the target outcome. |
| Finding |
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| Two different sets of student papers (N = 20) were evaluated by faculty members. The combined mean of the evaluations was 3.95 (tabled results shown in the attachment for Student Application of Theory). |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| Student application of theory was improved compared to last year. A new measure this year, mastery of written composition, yielded a satisfactory score. However, a review of student papers reveals several areas of writing skill (e.g., paragraphing, sentence structure, usage) which are surprisingly deficient. The faculty will develop and implement a written composition guide for use in its upper level classes. |
| GOAL: Communication Presentations |
| Objective |
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| Graduates will be able to communicate effectively in a variety of oral communication situations |
| Indicator |
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| We will measure attainment of Goal 2 first through an annual evaluation of a sample of recorded final student presentations given in such courses as Public Speaking and Speech for Business and the Professions. The components of this rubric include the following: Evidence of Content Mastery and Evidence of Mastery of Delivery including Visual Aids (see Supporting Document attached). |
| Criterion |
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An average grade of 3 is the criterion for satisfying the target outcome. |
| Finding |
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| A larger number of student presentations (N = 32) were evaluated this year than in previous years to improve validity of the measure. The mean student score for the presentations was 3.53. |
| Indicator |
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| We will measure attainment of Goal 2 secondly through an evaluation of the student speech outlines accompanying the recorded final student presentations. The components of this rubric are adherence to standard outline form and proper reference citation form (see Supporting Document attached). |
| Criterion |
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| An average grade of 3 is the criterion for satisfying the target outcome. |
| Finding |
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| The mean student score for the presentation outlines was 3.09 (tabled outline scores are included in the attachment for Student Presentations). |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| While scores on student presentations were acceptable, there is clearly room for improvement. The faculty will meet in a workshop setting to discuss ways of raising these scores. Scores on student speech outlines exceeded the criterion only minimally, and inspection of the outlines reveals several areas which need improvement (e.g., full sentence form, formatting details, source citations) and for which the faculty will develop and implement guidelines for the preparation of outlines for use in each class. |
| GOAL: Research And Computer Literacy |
| Objective |
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| Graduates will be able to assess and report the results of communication research found in refereed scholarly journals as well as in electronic and online databases. |
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| We will measure Goal 3 with an annual evaluation of a sample of student papers involving reviews of research literature assigned in such courses as Introduction to Communication Theory and Communication Theory. The first component of this rubric is Evidence of a Comprehensive Knowledge of a Confined Research Area and is the same as for Goal 1 Indicator 1. Included in this rubric is an assessment of each student's mastery of Microsoft Word and the use of Communication Abstracts and similar online databases. |
| Criterion |
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An average grade of 3 is the criterion for satisfying the target outcome. |
| Finding |
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| The mean student score for research and computer literacy was 3.7 (see Supporting Document attached). |
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| The second component of this rubric is mastery of written communication (see document attached to Goal 1 Indicator 1). |
| Criterion |
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| An average grade of 3 is the criterion for satisfying the target outcome. |
| Finding |
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| The mean student score for mastery of written communication II was 3.6 (see Supporting Document for Student Research and Computer Literacy). |
Actions for Objective:
| Action |
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| Student research and computer literacy and mastery of written composition, the latter a new measure this year, show acceptable scores, and the results for this goal are better than for either of the other two goals. However, the faculty will share the writing guidelines developed for Goal 1 with the classes measured for this goal in an effort to improve writing even more. |
| Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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The Department of Communication Studies continues to meet its goals for the most part, although student performance was down a bit this year. The department has considered new efforts to address these lower student scores and will implement them in all relevant classes in the coming year.
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| Update on Previous Cycle's "Plan for Continuous Improvement" |
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Student performance scores were improved compared to last year, and new measures of writing reveal satisfactory student performance. The department explored ways of accessing online student performances, so that they could be evaluated but continued to find hardware/software problems with doing this.
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| Plan for Continuous Improvement |
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The primary focus for improvement in the coming year will be the development of student guidelines for writing and for outlining. This will address weaknesses noted in the findings for Goals 1, 2, and 3 for this year and will prepare the department for anticipated university-wide changes in the expectations for writing-enhanced courses. To accomplish this, the faculty will: 1) discuss the components of good outlining and writing, 2) develop guidelines for outlining and writing, and 3) distribute these two sets of guidelines to undergraduate students in each of our classes.
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