Archived Assessment Report
| Program | COMM Communications Gen Ed |
| Assessment Reporter | [email protected] |
| Theme | Practicing Community |
| Review Year | 2024-2025 - Final Report |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Focus Area |
|---|---|
| 1a. Communication: Genre and Medium Awareness, Application, and Versatility | What percentage of students are demonstrating the ability to tailor communication based on various contexts at the excellent, competent, and needs improvement levels? |
| 1b. Communication: Strategies for Understanding and Evaluating Messages | What percentage of students are demonstrating effective communication strategies, such as coherence and quality of ideas, at the excellent, competent, and needs improvement levels? |
| 1c. Communication: Evaluation and Production of Arguments | What percentage of students are able to evaluate and produce arguments at the excellent, competent, and needs improvement levels? |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population or Courses Assessed | Hypothetical Analysis/Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1a. Communication: Genre and Medium Awareness, Application, and Versatility | A rubric will be used to ascertain the percentage of students that demonstrate the ability to tailor communication based on various contexts at the excellent, competent, and needs improvement levels. | COMM 2120 | At least 70% or more of the students will demonstrate the ability to tailor communication based on various contexts at the competent or higher level. |
| 1b. Communication: Strategies for Understanding and Evaluating Messages | A rubric will be used to ascertain the percentage of students that demonstrate effective communication strategies at the excellent, competent, and needs improvement levels. | COMM 2120 | At least 70% or more of the students will demonstrate effective communication strategies at the competent or higher level. |
| 1c. Communication: Evaluation and Production of Arguments | A rubric will be used to ascertain the percentage of students can evaluate and produce arguments at the excellent, competent, and needs improvement levels. | COMM 2120 | At least 70% or more of the students will be able to evaluate and produce arguments at the competent or higher level. |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Results | Reflection on Focus Area | Intepretation of Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1a. Communication: Genre and Medium Awareness, Application, and Versatility | 83.92% met the threshold of competent (70% or higher) and demonstrated genre and medium awareness, application, and versatility. | These results exceed expectations as the original hypothesis predicted at least 70% would meet the set threshold. | This shows us that students in these courses have the necessary skills to communicate effectively. |
| 1b. Communication: Strategies for Understanding and Evaluating Messages | 84.39% met the threshold of competent (70% or higher) and demonstrated strategies for understanding and evaluating messages. | These results exceed expectations as the original hypothesis predicted at least 70% would meet the set threshold. | This shows us that students in these courses have the necessary skills to communicate effectively. |
| 1c. Communication: Evaluation and Production of Arguments | 81.57% met the threshold of competent (70% or higher) and effectively evaluated and produced arguments. | These results exceed expectations as the original hypothesis predicted at least 70% would meet the set threshold. | This shows us that students in these courses have the necessary skills to communicate effectively. |
| 1a. Communication: Genre and Medium Awareness, Application, and Versatility | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | The department will focus on improving the data collection process. Instructors will collect data during a similar timeframe, towards the end of the course being assessed, to enhance accuracy and reliability of the data. |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | The changes will require a change in the assessment approach. |
| What data motivated the change? | The department would like to refine its assessment collecting processes and improve data accuracy to make better informed decisions moving forward. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | By collecting data during a similar timeframe, the department will gain a more accurate understanding of what percentage of students are meeting the outcomes. |
| 1b. Communication: Strategies for Understanding and Evaluating Messages | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | The department will focus on improving the data collection process. Instructors will collect data during a similar timeframe, towards the end of the course being assessed, to enhance accuracy and reliability of the data. |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | The changes will require a change in the assessment approach. |
| What data motivated the change? | The department would like to refine its assessment collecting processes and improve data accuracy to make better informed decisions moving forward. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | By collecting data during a similar timeframe, the department will gain a more accurate understanding of what percentage of students are meeting the outcomes. |
| 1c. Communication: Evaluation and Production of Arguments | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | The department will focus on improving the data collection process. Instructors will collect data during a similar timeframe, towards the end of the course being assessed, to enhance accuracy and reliability of the data. |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | The changes will require a change in the assessment approach. |
| What data motivated the change? | The department would like to refine its assessment collecting processes and improve data accuracy to make better informed decisions moving forward. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | By collecting data during a similar timeframe, the department will gain a more accurate understanding of what percentage of students are meeting the outcomes. |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population of Courses Assessed |
|---|---|---|
| 1a. Communication: Genre and Medium Awareness, Application, and Versatility | A rubric will be used to collected data for a written assignment. | COMM 2120: Interpersonal Communication |
| 1b. Communication: Strategies for Understanding and Evaluating Messages | A rubric will be used to collected data for a written assignment. | COMM 2120: Interpersonal Communication |
| 1c. Communication: Evaluation and Production of Arguments | A rubric will be used to collected data for a written assignment. | COMM 2120: Interpersonal Communication |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Second Round Results | Intepretation of Results, Pre- and Post-Change | Follow up questions, possible next steps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1a. Communication: Genre and Medium Awareness, Application, and Versatility | There was a 2% decrease in students who demonstrated competency in area during the second round of assessment. | Possible next steps could include refining the assessment rubric or requiring all instructors to use the same assignment to collect the data. | |
| 1b. Communication: Strategies for Understanding and Evaluating Messages | 81.91% met the threshold of competent (70% or higher) and demonstrated strategies for understanding and evaluating messages. There was a 2% decrease in the percent of student who demonstrated competency in area during the second round of assessment. | Possible next steps could include refining the assessment rubric or requiring all instructors to use the same assignment to collect the data. | |
| 1c. Communication: Evaluation and Production of Arguments | 77.66% met the threshold of competent (70% or higher) and effectively evaluated and produced arguments. There was a 3.91% decrease in students who demonstrated competency in area during the second round of assessment. | Possible next steps could include refining the assessment rubric or requiring all instructors to use the same assignment to collect the data. |
Describe any change in student achievement observed as part of this assessment process, and what led to those changes.
There was a slight decrease the percentage of students demonstrating competency in all outcomes assessed. One potential reason is that the rubric used to collect the 2nd round of assessment data was attached the final assignment in the course. Given that this was the final assignment, instructors may have been more stringent with grading and may have held higher expectations for the content student’s submitted. Since the decrease was not significant, another reason could be attributed natural variations between student cohorts.
Describe long-term changes in the program(s) that the assessment process led to, and what motivated those changes?
During this initial 2-year cycle and theme, the aim was to improve data collection processes. Lessons learned in collecting assessment data will be applied to improve future collection processes.
What did you learn about the teaching and learning of "Practicing Community" in your programs?
It was learned that 77.66% - 84.39% of students are demonstrating competency of the skillsets mapped to this theme. These skillsets include:
- genre and medium awareness, application, and versatility
- strategies for understanding and evaluating messages
- effectively evaluating and producing arguments
These skillsets align with interpersonal communication competence which supports the theme of Practicing Community by equipping students with the abilities needed to participate effectively and appropriately in the diverse roles essential to their success and well-being within relationships, groups, and communities.
Describe any external factors affecting the program or affecting assessment of the program.
External factors such as attendance, engagement, or support availability could have influenced the data collected.