Degree Program Assessment Reports : View Reports

Unit: Communicology
Program: Communicology (BA)
Degree: Bachelor's
Date: Mon Oct 31, 2011 - 10:32:58 am

1) Below are your program student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.

To demonstrate understanding of key concepts and theories in communication
1. To demonstrate understanding of key concepts and theories of message processing
2. To demonstrate understanding of key concepts and theories of social influence
3. To demonstrate understanding of key concepts and theories of relational communication
4. To demonstrate understanding of the relationship between culture and communication
To demonstrate the ability to apply the understanding of key concepts and theories in communication in a variety of contexts, including:
1. To demonstrate the ability to apply the understanding of key concepts and theories of message processing
2. To demonstrate the ability to apply the understanding of key concepts and theories of social influence
3. To demonstrate the ability to apply the understanding of key concepts and theories of relational communication
4. To demonstrate the ability to apply the understanding of the relationship between culture and communication
To demonstrate understanding of basic communication research concepts and processes, including:
1. The ethics involved in conducting human subjects research
2. Basic library and Internet research
3. Basic research design, data collection, and analysis
4. Structure of basic research reports
To demonstrate the ability to analyze demographic and situational factors and the ability to apply that information to achieve communicative goals

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

Department Website URL:

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://www.hawaii.edu/speech/c_description.php

Other:

3) Below is the link(s) to your program's curriculum map(s). If we do not have your curriculum map, please upload it as a PDF.

Curriculum Map File(s) from 2011:

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) For the period June 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.

The department wanted to demonstrate that our graduating seniors knew more about human communication than non-majors. An instrument was used that assessed students on multiple items reflecting content peculiar to each of the SLOs.

6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #5.

We assess Communicology majors' acquisition of fundamental content in human communication as presented in our required classes: SP301, Theories in Speech Communication; Sp 251, Public Speaking; SP302, Introduction to Inquiry; Sp364, Persuasion; SP370/470 (students choose between Verbal or Nonverbal Communication); and SP381, Interpersonal Communication. Specifically, an instrument was developed that uses a multiple choice format to assess students' knowledge of the content areas covered by our core courses. At the end of each semester, all graduating majors are required to complete the assessment instrument online, and the results are compared to data from a control group (students who have taken no, or very few, Communicology classes).

7) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

The most recent data set included 20 recent (2010-2011) graduating seniors. Graduating seniors are contacted directly via email during their final semester at UHM. They are directed toward the URL that holds the assessment instrument and asked to complete the assessment during their final semester.

8) 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:

9) 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:

10) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #5:
Summarize the actual results.

Results are consistent with analyses dating back to 2000 and are thus not particularly informative. A series of oneway ANOVAs were conducted, comparing Speech-naive students' mean scores to graduating seniors' mean scores on items reflecting content from each of the core classes (i.e., SP251, SP301, SP302, SP364, SP370, SP381, SP470). Graduating seniors' mean scores were significantly higher than Speech-naive students on all courses except SP251 and SP370 (due to extremely small number of respondents), with effect sizes ranging from a low of 5% to a high of 40%.

We continue to develop a comprehensive change in our assessment plan, as the current method of assessing SL is beginning to outlive its usefulness.

11) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.

Results confirm assessment from the last decade and reinforce that some content is probably being covered redundantly (which is a good thing) across classes (such as interpersonal, persuasive, and nonverbal communication material). Research methods results continue to suggest insufficient redundancy of coverage across classes.

12) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries?
This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.

We are slowly moving toward a two-tiered assessment program that will a) assess SLOs at the course level with tests tied directly to course SLOs and b) a possible entrance-exit assessment that would allow Time1 and Time2 assessments of students' understanding of communicological material.

13) Other important information.
Please note: If the program did not engage in assessment, please explain. If the program created an assessment plan for next year, please give an overview.

1) Below are your program student learning outcomes (SLOs). Please update as needed.

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

3) Below is the link(s) to your program's curriculum map(s). If we do not have your curriculum map, please upload it as a PDF.

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) For the period June 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the SLOs that were targeted, if applicable.

6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #5.

7) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

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

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

10) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #5:Summarize the actual results.

11) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.

12) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries? This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.

13) Other important information. Please note: If the program did not engage in assessment, please explain. If the program created an assessment plan for next year, please give an overview.

10) For the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goal(s) stated in Question #5:
Summarize the actual results.

12) Beyond the results, were there additional conclusions or discoveries?
This can include insights about assessment procedures, teaching and learning, program aspects and so on.

13) Other important information.
Please note: If the program did not engage in assessment, please explain. If the program created an assessment plan for next year, please give an overview.