Weber State University   

Communication

Results of Assessment

2000-2001 (submitted 05/15/01)

The WSU Department of Communication has tentatively planned and partially initiated a three-part assessment program. The first major area of assessment focuses on evaluation of student writing in our Communication 4990 Senior Seminar course. The second area is the inclusion in the department of a student portfolio system and the third emphasis area is the formulation and distribution of an alumni survey and an employer survey, as well as utilization of the data already collected in our internship surveys.

The department focused assessment efforts for the academic year 2000-2001 primarily on our departmental behavioral learning objective #1 which reads: "Upon graduation, majors are expected to demonstrate skill in: (1) Communication competence–the ability to read, write, speak, listen and use these processes (including visual literacy and media production ability) to acquire, develop, and convey ideas, information and feelings." The department selected "the ability to write" as its first concern, specifically our learning objective B.1.b which reads: "Ability to write, including writing and editing of newspapers, public relations materials, video and audio, and academic writing for a variety of purposes."

The department determined that the first part of its assessment of communication majors’ writing would consist of evaluating the writing found in the "Final Projects" for our Communication 4990 Senior Seminar course.

The department felt that before such an evaluation could take place, we needed to be able to define and identify "good" writing. A subcommittee of the department of Communication was formed to produce a set of writing rubrics that could be used to assess student writing across a wide variety of audiences and writing styles found in our field.

The following writing rubrics form has been approved by faculty for use in assessing student writing in our department. The numbers 1-5 correlate to this scale: 1 = Seriously Flawed, 2 = Flawed, 3 = Adequate, 4 = Strong, and 5 = Excellent

As an initial assessment pilot project, copies of Comm 4990 Final Projects had been collected before grading from three different instructors over a two-year period. The projects included in this collection vary in length, design and product. Names were removed from these copies and a number given each one. There were sixty-five pieces of writing in this pool. A random numbers chart was utilized to select fifteen of these projects for inclusion in our project assessment study.

Three faculty members volunteered to form our readers’ committee for this project. After the writing rubrics were developed and adopted, the readers’ committee met to discuss each rubric and came to an understanding of the evaluation form, which is designed to produce consistency across the three readers’ evaluations. Each reader was given five of the randomly selected pieces to carefully read, evaluate and produce extensive descriptive comments. The above form was utilized in this evaluation process.

After readers finished their evaluations, a compilation of raw data scores was provided the faculty as well as a copy of the comments made by the readers regarding each project. The department reviewed these figures and comments in a full faculty meeting and made the following recommendations regarding responses to this assessment data:

The diverse nature of the Comm 4990 projects made evaluation difficult. More data are needed before an accurate assessment can be made. A common 4990 project or paper assignment would make this evaluation easier and more meaningful. The faculty suggested that current and prospective Comm 4990 instructors develop an ongoing, common assignment involving the writing of a prospectus for the final student project in this course that would be due approximately mid-semester. The purpose of the final project in Comm 4990 is to demonstrate students’ mastery, synthesis and integration of communication theories, principles and skills. This prospectus assignment will ask students to write a 4-5 page paper with proper content, sources and bibliography to explain and justify their particular final project. These common assignments will then be collected and submitted to the assessment committee and ultimately, to the readers’ committee for evaluation. All faculty should rotate in and out of the readers’ committee on a semester by semester basis.

The writing rubrics for the department should be utilized in articulating writing expectations in lower-division courses and all students should be well aware of these rubrics. Instructors are encouraged to put these rubrics in course syllabi and use them in evaluating student writing in all their courses so that students and instructors become familiar with the standards contained therein.

Basic and creative ways to teach our students writing should be encouraged in the department. Specific ideas for this encouragement include:

1. A faculty seminar/workshop held during Fall semester to discuss writing strategies utilizing experts in the area from our campus in English and the Teaching and Learning Forum and/or experts brought in from off campus,
2. Bi-monthly "Brown Bag" lunch meetings sponsored by various faculty in our department focusing on specific areas of teaching writing,
3. The consideration of a basic writing course in the department for our students (other than what is already offered), and/or
4. The consideration of a non-credit or credit majors course in the beginning of the junior year that would emphasize writing.

In addition to the above assessment measures, a subcommittee of the department of Communication gave considerable time and effort in obtaining information about portfolio assessment and made the following preliminary report and list of recommendations. This report and recommendations were discussed in a full faculty meeting. The department will further consider the portfolio assessment project in Fall of 2001.

Portfolios will stand as a record of a student’s progress and competency. Portfolios will serve primarily to provide data (representative student work) to help assess how well the department meets it mission (program assessment).

The assessment portfolio will serve as a graduation requirement. Students are required to complete a portfolio. The portfolio must be finished and turned into the department in order to pass Comm 4990 Senior Seminar. They will be checked off by the secretary in the Communication department office and a representative number of portfolios will be evaluated by faculty every semester.

Each student must submit a portfolio to graduate but the quality of portfolios will not be used to determine whether or not students will graduate.

Faculty in each emphasis area (journalism, communication studies, public relations and electronic media) will instruct their majors on portfolios through a TBA seminar. Time constraints require that students do the portfolio with minimum instruction.

The Senior Seminar instructors should not have the full responsibility to instruct the student about portfolios. Much of it should have already been done, however, students may rework portfolios during the semester they take senior seminar (Comm 4990).

Portfolio artifacts will be targeted in junior and senior (3000/4000) course work. Targeted syllabi will announce portfolio requirements.

Portfolios will contain a minimum of three (3) artifacts.

Faculty will determine categories/types or subject areas of artifacts for inclusion.

Students will choose items to include in each category.

Students will write analyses for each artifact submitted indicating the artifact’s strengths and weaknesses and progress student has made as a scholar.

Artifacts generated from designated courses will be evaluated by faculty who teach those courses.

A random selection of portfolios will be targeted each semester for evaluation.

Artifacts should not have the name(s) of faculty evaluators placed on them.

Students who want to build a "professional" portfolio as a job-seeking tool are encouraged to do so. However, students and faculty should be aware that this is not our purpose in having students assemble their departmental portfolios.

Transfer students will also be required to produce and submit portfolios.

SURVEYS

After careful consideration a subcommittee of department of Communication faculty developed the following survey questions for assessment use. Administration, costs for mailing, how often to administer, as well as other issues, are yet to be decided. Internship surveys already are collected and compiled in the department which survey our students’ intern supervisors or employers and it was determined that some use may be made of this existing data.

Click the following hyperlinks to see sample surveys:

Alumni Sample Survey

Graduating Senior Sample Survey

Intern Survey

Mission Statement / Student Learning Outcomes / Curriculum Grid / Assessment Plan / Contact Person