Communication Studies Major Learning Outcomes

Degree program outcomes since 2011 (Self-Study)

Students will:

1. Access, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information in a variety of contexts.
2. Know the historical dimensions and development of the field.
3. Demonstrate competence in constructing and analyzing arguments and discourse intended to influence beliefs, attitudes, values and practices.
4. Demonstrate competence as oral, written and visual communicators in a variety of contexts.
5. Understand diverse and global social constructions of cultural understandings, ideologies and values.
6. Demonstrate ethical standards involved in communication.

While these broad outcomes have not been revised, the department developed concentration-specific learning outcomes to address the relationship between concentration- and departmental-learning outcomes.

Strategic Communication Concentration Learning Outcomes:

1. Articulate the internal and external communication functions of corporations, non-profits and government organizations in a contemporary global society.
2. Demonstrate concise, objective-oriented written communication skills using traditional mass media, digital and social media.
3. Apply formative research and case study analysis to develop a systematic and theoretically informed strategic communication campaign.
4. Complete all work in accordance with relevant codes of professional ethics, standards and practices for strategic communication.
5. Demonstrate competence in theory and practical application of strategic communication in core assignments of required courses.

Communication & Culture Concentration Learning Outcomes:

1. Describe and explain the role of communication as interaction, representation and meaning.
2. Recognize the role of culture in the practice of everyday communication, practices, institutions and societies.
3. Identify, explain and apply theories and method of analysis in communication and culture.
4. Explain the connections between power and culture in relation to class, race, gender and sexuality.
5. Construct critical analysis of communication texts, practices, structures, messages and effects in specific contexts.
6. Conduct and produce theoretically informed research relevant to the area of communication and culture.
7. Clearly present individual work in a public forum.
8. Reflect on one’s own cultural position and its relation to communicative practices.

Film, Video & Media Studies (FVMS) Concentration Learning Outcomes:

FVMS has yet to adopt concentration-specific learning outcomes, continuing to support the department’s broader goals while focusing on course-specific outcomes and reckoning the applicable balance for all concentration students between more theoretical-oriented outcomes and more production-oriented outcomes.

In spring 2014 the department participated in a Writing Across the Curriculum workshop designed to help departments articulate program-level writing outcomes. The resulting outcomes helped to clarify the shared commitment to student writing across concentrations. Those learning outcomes were:

Upon graduating students should be able to:

1. Credit ideas and use an appropriate citation style to do so.
2. Articulate a thesis and purpose for their work.
3. Make sense of multiple sources in relation to the larger purpose of their work (synthesize sources).
4. Identify the so-what of their written work; explain to others why their work matters.
5. Identify theories appropriate to the field and apply these through a range of methods and products.
6. Find and evaluate sources of information for use in different writing contexts.