Program: Communication (MA)
Degree: Master's
Date: Tue Sep 16, 2014 - 8:31:36 am
1) Below are your program's student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.
The goals of the Master's Degree Program in Communication within the School of Communications is to build and exchange knowledge in areas relevant to the broad field of Communication and our specific foci in organizational and intercultural communication, global communication, information and communication technologies, social media, and communication policy and planning. This knowledge is defined in our program as including both sociocultural and sociotechnical perspectives. These goals are supported by our curriculum, research activity, and networking with faculty, fellow students and outside resources. Our SLOs are published in varying wordings in our Program informational brochures, our Program website, our Student Handbook, and--most extensively--described and discussed in our new student orientation presented in August prior to each new academic year.
In 2012, we created a formal list of SLOs.
1. Demonstrate subject mastery in areas of communication relevant to personal research interests.
2. Identify research questions on a contemporary issue in communication, and perform a critical, written analysis of the relevant literature.
3. Develop specific research questions related to personal research interests.
4. Identify an appropriate, empirical methodology (or media approach) to address the selected research problem.
5. Demonstrate mastery of the methodology and techniques specific to the field of study. Analyze and interpret research data.
6. Present and discuss, in written form, the findings and relevance of the research project to the field of communication and to broader society.
7. Present, discuss, and defend the findings and relevance of the research project to the field of communication in an oral defense.
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: http://communications.hawaii.edu/com/graduate/index.html Student Handbook. URL, if available online: http://communications.hawaii.edu/documents/com/pdf/Student_Handbook.pdf Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online: NA UHM Catalog. Page Number: 108 Course Syllabi. URL, if available online: NA Other: new student orientation at the beginning of each academic year Other: Communicationgraduate list/forum in Laulima/Graduate program posterboard in department3) Select one option:
- File (03/16/2020)
4) For your program, the percentage of courses that have course SLOs explicitly stated on the syllabus, a website, or other publicly available document is as follows. Please update as needed.
0% 1-50% 51-80% 81-99%
100%5) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning the curriculum to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys or tests, etc.)
Yes No (skip to question 14)6) For the period between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.
All seven SLOs were targeted.
7) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #6.
We have designed a rubric that will be used by all committee members after each MA student's defense. This was not implemented in the 2013-14 cycle but will be used in 2014-15. Currently, we use the performance in topical and core courses, as well as the thesis propsosal and defense (and final document) as evidence. This is performed by the graduate chair in consultation with specific graduate faculty supervising each student.
8) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
Seven MA students completed the program during this timeframe.
9) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? (Check all that apply.)
Course instructor(s) Faculty committee Ad hoc faculty group Department chairperson Persons or organization outside the university Faculty advisor Advisors (in student support services) Students (graduate or undergraduate) Dean/Director Other: Graduate Chair10) How did they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? (Check all that apply.)
Used a rubric or scoring guide Scored exams/tests/quizzes Used professional judgment (no rubric or scoring guide used) Compiled survey results Used qualitative methods on interview, focus group, open-ended response data External organization/person analyzed data (e.g., external organization administered and scored the nursing licensing exam) Other: 11) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #6:
Summarize the actual results.
We found that all seven students assessed met our goals. We identified one are for improvement within our program, and graduate faculty revised aspects of the core curriculum to address this.
12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.
We have developed a rubric that will provide a more substantial and onjective measurement of student outcomes. We will begin using it in fall 2014.
13) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries?
This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.
Based on discussions with graduate faculty we have made the core theory anr research methods courses more flexible to address varied student neeeds (so that these can lead more directly to the formal research proposal).