Program: Communicology (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Wed Nov 18, 2020 - 4:13:00 pm
1) Program Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Institutional Learning Objectives (ILOs)
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the relevant concepts, theories, and principles of effective public speaking.
(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively)
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical implications of speaking and being an attentive audience member.
(2a. Think critically and creatively, 2c. Communicate and report, 3a. Continuous learning and personal growth, 3b. Respect for people and cultures, in particular Hawaiian culture)
3. Demonstrate an understanding of how to select appropriate and effective speech topics.
(2a. Think critically and creatively)
4. Demonstrate an understanding of how to research and gather supporting material for various types of public speeches.
(2b. Conduct research)
5. Demonstrate an understanding of how to effectively organize and outline the speech.
(2a. Think critically and creatively, 2c. Communicate and report)
6. Demonstrate an understanding of how to analyze and adapt to audiences.
(1a. General education, 2c. Communicate and report, 3b. Respect for people and cultures, in particular Hawaiian culture)
7. Demonstrate an understanding of how to develop and support a persuasive argument.
(1a. General education, 1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research)
8. Demonstrate an understanding of how to develop visual aids that augment rather than debilitate a presentation.
(2a. Think critically and creatively)
9. Demonstrate an understanding of how to listen critically and provide constructive feedback to other public speakers.
(2c. Communicate and report)
10. Demonstrate an understanding of how to deliver the speech with maximum impact.
(2a. Think critically and creatively, 2c. Communicate and report)
11. Demonstrate an understanding of how Communicology distinguishes itself from the rest of the field
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
12. Demonstrate familiarity with various approaches to knowledge generation in the field of communication
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
13. Demonstrate the ability to explain the components of a theory (i.e., primitive statements, axioms, propositions, and hypotheses)
(1a. General education, 2c. Communicate and report)
14. Demonstrate an understanding of the functions of theory
(1a. General education)
15. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between theory and research
(1a. General education, 2b. Conduct research)
16. Demonstrate the ability to explain and differentiate between the classic and contemporary theories of communication
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2c. Communicate and report)
17. Demonstrate understanding of approaches to ways of knowing
(1a. General education, 2a. Think critically and creatively)
18. Demonstrate familiarity with various approaches to knowledge generation in the field of communication
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
19. Demonstrate understanding of the scientific method
(1a. General education, 2b. Conduct research)
20. Demonstrate understanding of the relationship between theory and research
(1a. General education, 2b. Conduct research)
21. Demonstrate understanding of conceptualization and operationalization of variables
(1a. General education, 2b. Conduct research)
22. Demonstrate understanding of reliability and validity in measurement and design
(1a. General education, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research)
23. Demonstrate understanding of the purpose of descriptive and inferential statistics
(1a. General education, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research)
24. Be able to calculate and interpret fundamental statistics
(1a. General education, 2a. Think critically and creatively, 2b. Conduct research, 2c. Communicate and report)
25. Demonstrate understanding of the logic of hypothesis testing
(1a. General education, 2b. Conduct research)
26. Demonstrate understanding of the criteria for defining persuasion and other forms of social influence
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 3d. Civic participation)
27. Demonstrate understanding of the different ways people process persuasive messages
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
28. Demonstrate understanding of the theoretical perspectives on the relationship between attitudes and behaviors
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
29. Demonstrate understanding of source, receiver, and message factors that affect persuasion and social influence
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
30. Demonstrate understanding of classic and contemporary theories on persuasion and social influence
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
31. Demonstrate understanding of the various ethical issues in persuasion and social influence
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively)
32. Demonstrate understanding of communication as a process of creating understanding
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
33. Demonstrate understanding of communicative codes and media
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
34. Demonstrate understanding of the evolution of cooperative and collaborative behavior and its relationship to communication
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
35. Demonstrate understanding of communication as joint action
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
36. Demonstrate understanding of neurological, social, and cultural constraints on communication
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 3b. Respect for people and cultures, in particular Hawaiian culture)
37. Demonstrate understanding of various theories explaining implicit and explicit message processing
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
38. Demonstrate understanding of various theories of inference-making and implicature in communication
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
39. Be able to evaluate the importance of communication in interpersonal relationships
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field, 2a. Think critically and creatively)
40. Demonstrate understanding of the relationship development process (initiating, maintaining, deteriorating)
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
41. Be able to identify the major factors that influence perceptions
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
42. Be able to identify the major factors that influence interpersonal attraction
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
43. Demonstrate understanding of the role of self-disclosure in interpersonal relationships
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
44. Demonstrate understanding of the benefits and risks of self-disclosure in interpersonal relationships
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
45. Demonstrate understanding of the norm of reciprocity
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
46. Demonstrate understanding of the fundamental aspects of social penetration theory
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
47. Demonstrate understanding of the fundamental aspects of uncertainty reduction theory
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
48. Demonstrate understanding of the fundamental aspects of social exchange theory
(1b. Specialized study in an academic field)
2) Your program's SLOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Department Website URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/communicology/
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: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/communicology/undergrad.html#blank3 Other: 3) Please review, add, replace, or delete the existing curriculum map.
- File (11/19/2020)
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) 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):
No 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 SLOs6) Did your program engage in any program learning assessment activities between November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2020?
Yes No (skip to question 17)7) What best describes the program-level learning assessment activities that took place for the period November 1, 2018 and October 31, 2020? (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) Investigate other pressing issue related to student learning achievement for the program (explain in question 8) Other: 8) Briefly explain the assessment activities that took place since November 2018.
We assessed each Communicology major twice, once when they sign up for the major and a second time right before they graduate. This allows us to perform a "Time 2 vs. Time 1" comparison to evaluate the effect of taking Communicology classes on students' mastery of course SLOs. The assessments are performed on Qualtrics, a professional online survey platform, with 37 multiple choice questions derived from core course SLOs. Assessment results are stored in a password-protected account, which only the Department Chair and Department Assessment Committee members have access to.
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: Pre-test (i.e., Time 1 test) Other 2: 10) State the number of students (or persons) who submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
We sampled all Communicology majors. Since Fall 2018, 62 students have completed the Time-1 assessment (when they signed up for the Communicology major). In particular, 29 students took the Time-1 assessment during the academic year of Fall 2018 (n = 12) to Spring 2019 (n = 17), 16 students during an academic period of Fall 2019 (n = 10) to Spring 2020 (n = 6), and 7 students during Fall 2020 (up until October 31st). 10 students took Time-1 assessment during summers of 2019-2020 (4 students in Summer 2019, and 6 in summer 2020).
43 students have completed the Time-2 assessment (right before they graduate). In particular, 21 students completed the Time-2 survey in an academic year of Fall 2018 (n = 11) to Spring 2019 (n = 10), and 22students during an academic year of Fall 2019 (n = 7) to Spring 2020 (n = 15).
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 from the evaluation, analysis, interpretation of evidence (checked in question 12). For example, report the percentage of students who achieved each SLO.
1) There is a 5-point increase (out of 37 points) in average assessment scores from Time 1 assessment (taken when students signed up for the major; average = 22.58) to Time 2 assessment (taken when students were about to graduate; average = 27.68).
2) Of the seven students who had completed both Time 1 and Time 2 assessments, six showed increases in average assessment scores. Three students improved by three points (i.e., having three more correct answers out of 37 questions). One student improved by six points (18 to 24), another student improved by 21 points (2 to 28), and yet another student improved by 28 points (9 to 30). (There was one student whose score has decreased by one point, from 31 to 30. However, this student’s score on both Time 1 and 2 are above average.)
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 its findings/results.
Faulty discussion is still continuing. For instance, we are discussing how we could further improve the assessment items.
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.
Insight regarding assessment procedure: It seems that clearly explaining the purpose of the assessment survey (i.e., to evaluate and improve our program) while emphasizing that their performance does not affect their grade and graduation help encourage students to participate in the assessment survey.
17) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please justify.
n/a