Degree Program Assessment Reports : View Reports

Unit: Communications
Program: Communication (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Mon Oct 01, 2018 - 11:17:03 am

1) Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs)

1. Design communication and media projects to make meaningful contributions to diverse social, professional or academic communities, communicating effectively orally, in writing, and through digital media.

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report)

2. Reflect critically on communication products such as media productions, research and policy reports and everyday texts.

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively)

3. Demonstrate preparedness for academic and professional careers in communication.

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth)

4. Demonstrate global awareness, including an awareness of cultures in the Hawaii-Pacific region and issues related to cross-cultural communication.

(1a. General education, 1c. Understand Hawaiian culture and history, 3b. Respect for people and cultures, in particular Hawaiian culture)

5. Engage in collaborative problem solving, both face-to-face and in online environments.

(1a. General education)

6. Analyze the ethical dimensions of communication.

(1a. General education, 2a. Think critically and creatively)

7. Critically evaluate the use of technology in communication.

(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively)

2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update asneeded.

Department Website URL: http://communications.manoa.hawaii.edu/

Student Handbook. URL, if available online:

Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure URL, if available online:

UHM Catalog. Page Number:

Course Syllabi. URL, if available online:

Other:

3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2018:

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.

1-50%

51-80%

81-99%

100%

5) Does the program have learning achievement results for its program SLOs? (Example of achievement results: "80% of students met expectations on SLO 1.")(check one):

Yes, on some(1-50%) of the program SLOs

Yes, on most(51-99%) of the program SLOs

Yes, on all(100%) of the program SLOs

6) Did your program engage in any program learning assessment activities between June 1, 2015 and October 31, 2018?

Yes

No (skip to question 17)

7) What best describes the program-level learning assessment activities that took place for the period June 1, 2015 to October 31, 2018? (Check all that apply.)

Create/modify/discuss program learning assessment procedures (e.g., SLOs, curriculum map, mechanism to collect student work, rubric, survey)

Collect/evaluate student work/performance to determine SLO achievement

Collect/analyze student self-reports of SLO achievement via surveys, interviews, or focus groups

Use assessment results to make programmatic decisions (e.g., change course content or pedagogy, design new course, hiring)

No (skip to question 17)

Investigate other pressing issue related to student learning achievement for the program (explain in question 7)

Other:

8) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place.

Senior capstone e-Portfolio (2016-2017) assessments.

9) What types of evidence did the program use as part of the assessment activities checked in question 7? (Check all that apply.)

Artistic exhibition/performance

Assignment/exam/paper completed as part of regular coursework and used for program-level assessment

Capstone work product (e.g., written project or non-thesis paper)

Exam created by an external organization (e.g., professional association for licensure)

Exit exam created by the program

IRB approval of research

Oral performance (oral defense, oral presentation, conference presentation)

Portfolio of student work

Publication or grant proposal

Qualifying exam or comprehensive exam for program-level assessment in addition to individual student evaluation (graduate level only)

Supervisor or employer evaluation of student performance outside the classroom (internship, clinical, practicum)

Thesis or dissertation used for program-level assessment in addition to individual student evaluation

Alumni survey that contains self-reports of SLO achievement

Employer meetings/discussions/survey/interview of student SLO achievement

Interviews or focus groups that contain self-reports of SLO achievement

Student reflective writing assignment (essay, journal entry, self-assessment) on their SLO achievement.

Student surveys that contain self-reports of SLO achievement

Assessment-related such as assessment plan, SLOs, curriculum map, etc.

Program or course materials (syllabi, assignments, requirements, etc.)

Other 1:

Other 2:

10) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

Populations of this study are senior e-Portfolios from all four communication capstone courses—Communication in Communities, Digital Cinema, ICT & Policy, and Multimedia Design and Development—between 2016 and 2017. Among 236 students who took senior capstone courses during the two years, 80 students were randomly sampled (2016: 40 and 2017:40) and their e-Portfolio submissions were retrieved. Total 71 available e-Portfolios were collected for assessment.

11) 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:

12) 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:

13) Summarize the results of the assessment activities checked in question 7. For example, report the percentage of students who achieved each SLO.

	Score*						Count of Students
	1-1.99		2-2.99		3-4
	N	%	N	%	N	%
PLO1	12	18%	16	24%	38	58%	66
PLO2	16	25%	21	32%	28	43%	65
PLO3	17	26%	24	36%	25	38%	66
PLO4	22	32%	18	26%	28	41%	68
PLO5	18	27%	23	35%	25	38%	66
PLO6	22	34%	18	28%	25	38%	65
PLO7	14	21%	24	36%	29	43%	67
Personal Statement	9	13%	22	32%	37	54%	68
Presentation	6	9%	24	35%	39	57%	69
Writing	5	7%	21	30%	43	62%	69

More evidence needed for PLO4 (Demonstrate global awareness, including an awareness of cultures in the Hawaii–Pacific region and issues related to cross–cultural communication) and PLO6 (Analyze the ethical dimensions of communication).

14) What best describes how the program used the results? (Check all that apply.)

Assessment procedure changes (SLOs, curriculum map, rubrics, evidence collected, sampling, communications with faculty, etc.)

Course changes (course content, pedagogy, courses offered, new course, pre-requisites, requirements)

Personnel or resource allocation changes

Program policy changes (e.g., admissions requirements, student probation policies, common course evaluation form)

Students' out-of-course experience changes (advising, co-curricular experiences, program website, program handbook, brown-bag lunches, workshops)

Celebration of student success!

Results indicated no action needed because students met expectations

Use is pending (typical reasons: insufficient number of students in population, evidence not evaluated or interpreted yet, faculty discussions continue)

Other:

15) Please briefly describe how the program used the results.

A summary report will be presented to COM faculty in late October or early November: 1) to identify PLOs most/least achieved, 2) to discuss ways to develop COM curriculum further, and 3) to discuss the recommended format of capstone e-Portfolios across all three communications tracks.

We will put particular emphasis on analyzing student submissions on PLO4 and PLO6 to see how we can improve student understanding on these two particular student outcomes.

Based on the feedback from the assessment panel (seven COM faculty members and 4 recent communication graduates), assessment process can be modified for future semesters.

The results will also lead the curriculum map revisions in future semesters.

16) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries? This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, and great achievements regarding program assessment in this reporting period.

In addition to the seven Program Learning Objectives (PLOs), we added three additional items: personal statement, presentation, and writing. Personal statement is a reflective commentary by the student explaining what the piece of evidence is, why he/she chose it (what it illustrates about him/her), and how it illustrates his/her growth in one of more specified areas of learning outcomes.

Students’ reflective essays are essential to assess the holistic understanding of their academic and professional growth over times. On average, students achieved the highest on personal statement, presentation, and writing.

1) Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs)

1. Design communication and media projects to make meaningful contributions to diverse social, professional or academic communities, communicating effectively orally, in writing, and through digital media.

2. Reflect critically on communication products such as media productions, research and policy reports and everyday texts.

3. Demonstrate preparedness for academic and professional careers in communication.

4. Demonstrate global awareness, including an awareness of cultures in the Hawaii-Pacific region and issues related to cross-cultural communication.

5. Engage in collaborative problem solving, both face-to-face and in online environments.

6. Analyze the ethical dimensions of communication.

7. Critically evaluate the use of technology in communication.

2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update asneeded.

3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.

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.

5) Does the program have learning achievement results for its program SLOs? (Example of achievement results: "80% of students met expectations on SLO 1.")(check one):

6) Did your program engage in any program learning assessment activities between June 1, 2015 and October 31, 2018?

7) What best describes the program-level learning assessment activities that took place for the period June 1, 2015 to October 31, 2018? (Check all that apply.)

8) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place.

9) What types of evidence did the program use as part of the assessment activities checked in question 7? (Check all that apply.)

10) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

11) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? (Check all that apply.)

12) How did they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? (Check all that apply.)

13) Summarize the results of the assessment activities checked in question 7. For example, report the percentage of students who achieved each SLO.

14) What best describes how the program used the results? (Check all that apply.)

15) Please briefly describe how the program used the results.

16) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries? This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, and great achievements regarding program assessment in this reporting period.

17) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please justify.