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Communication
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COMMUNICATION
All UCORE-designated courses are required to advance Written Communication, a sub-goal of the Communication Learning Goal, totaling 34 credit hours in UCORE-designated courses that include instruction and/or engagement with Written Communication. As such, the required first-year experience course [ROOT], other first-year foundational requirements, and the senior capstone experience course [CAPS] are required to advance Written Communication; English 101 (College Composition), specifically, is a key written communication foundational competency [WRTG] course in the UCORE curriculum for many first-year students.
Additionally, UCORE-designated courses advance oral, multi-modal, or other mediums as appropriate to the designator, with a minimum of three credit hours in UCORE-designated courses that include instruction and/or engagement with Oral Communication, a sub-goal of the Communication Learning Goal (see UCORE’s Curriculum webpages for more information). Students develop Oral Communication skills through small-group discussion and debate in the required first-year experience course [ROOT] and students may complete a first-year foundational Communication [COMM] course, which focus on non-written mediums (note: students can take a second [WRTG] course instead of a [COMM] course). Oral Communication may be included in the senior capstone experience course [CAPS] as appropriate to the course and discipline.
WSU Learning Goal: Graduates will communicate successfully with audiences through written, oral, and other media as appropriate for the audience and purpose. Graduates may demonstrate communication skills by:
- Analyzing how circumstances, background, values, interests and needs shape communication sent and received.
- Tailoring messages to audiences according to purpose, occasion, and technology used.
- Expressing concepts, propositions, and beliefs in coherent, concise, and technically correct form.
- Choosing appropriate communication media and technology.
- Speaking confidently and effectively in front of groups.
- Following social and disciplinary norms for individual and small group interactions, which includes active listening.
Current Evidence of Student Learning Related to Communication
Click on the links for more information about current evidence of student learning from assessments aligned with Communication:
UCORE Capstone [CAPS] Course Assessment
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Assessing Student Learning at the Senior Level: AY 2019-20 [CAPS] Course Assessment Results
As reported in the AY 2019-20 [CAPS] Course Assessment Reporting Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE, assessment results indicated that 83% of students met or exceeded expectations at the graduating undergraduate level for Critical & Creative Thinking. Additionally, 81% of students met or exceeded expectations for Written Communication. In courses where faculty members found enough elements to evaluate student learning on additional learning goals, instructors indicated that 88% of the students met or exceeded expectations for Oral Communication, and 88% for Diversity.
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Roots of Contemporary Issues [ROOT] Assessment
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Diversity and Written Communication Achievement at the First-Year Level: AY 2019-20 Roots of Contemporary Issues [ROOT] Diversity & Inequality Papers Assessment Results
As reported in the AY 2019-20 [ROOT] Diversity & Inequality Papers Assessment Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE, assessment results indicated that, on average, 75% of first-year students met or exceeded expectations at the first-year undergraduate level at the end of their UCORE first-year experience [ROOT] course on rubric outcomes related to Diversity. Additionally, on average, 84% met or exceeded expectations for outcomes related to Written Communication.
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Assessing Diversity Achievement at the First-Year Level: AY 2017-18 Roots of Contemporary Issues [ROOT] Diversity & Inequality Papers Assessment Results
As reported in the AY 2017-18 [ROOT] Diversity & Inequality Papers Assessment Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE, assessment results indicated that, on average, 70% of first-year students met or exceeded expectations at the first-year undergraduate level at the end of their UCORE first-year experience [ROOT] course on rubric outcomes related to Diversity. Additionally, 77% met or exceeded expectations for outcomes related to written communication.
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English 101 [WRTG] Assessment
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Assessing Student Learning at the Foundational Level: AY 2018-19 English 101 [WRTG] Holistic Skills Assessment
As reported in the AY 2018-19 English 101 Holistic Skills Assessment Project Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE, assessment results indicated that 81% of students exceeded or met expectations for written communication at a first-year undergraduate level at the end of their English 101 [WRTG] course.
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National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
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Student Learning at the First-Year and Senior Level: 2019 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Results
As reported in the 2019 National Survey of Student Engagement – Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE, results from the 2019 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) indicate that nearly all WSU seniors responding to NSSE have considerable confidence in their ability to complete tasks requiring critical thinking (94%) and creative thinking (93%).
In addition to Critical and Creative Thinking, results from the 2019 NSSE also provide indirect evidence of student learning on Information Literacy, Communication, Quantitative Reasoning, Diversity, and Depth, Breadth & Integration of Learning at the first-year and senior levels for UCORE assessment—see the 2019 NSSE Summary of Key Evidence for UCORE for more information.
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