ASSESSMENT PLAN
All majors in Journalism and Mass Communication will be required to select and compile
relevant materials (stories, photos, audio tapes, video tapes, advertisements) which
chronicle proficiency in their chosen areas of expertise. |
1997-98 ASSESSMENT
This year's graduating classes were the first to have to complete the portfolio
requirement; the students who completed the requirement prior to this year were transfer
students. This year's classes entered under the 1994 - 1996 undergraduate catalog. The
requirement was put in place in August of 1994. A total of 28 students had portfolios
reviewed this year. A summary of evaluator responses to each of the nine Likert-scale
items on the portfolio evaluation instrument follows.
| Portfolio Evaluation
Standards |
strongly
agree
or agree |
neither
agree
nor disagree |
disagree
or
strongly disagree |
| Appearance |
| The portfolio is neat in appearance. |
92% |
| Organization |
| The portfolio is well-organized. |
81% |
|
10% |
| Content |
| The materials in the portfolio indicate
that the student is able to use proper grammar, spelling, and form in written work. |
63% |
|
24% |
| The materials in the portfolio indicate
that the student can produce purposeful, well-researched and organized written
presentations. |
85% |
|
7% |
| The materials in the portfolio indicate
that the student can create mediated messages specific to his/her chosen career field. |
85% |
|
9% |
| The portfolio indicates that the student
understands the roles and functions of the mass media in society. |
84% |
13% |
| Achievement |
| This portfolio represents achievement on
the part of the student. |
80% |
11% |
9% |
| Representativeness |
| This portfolio will demonstrate to
people outside of the department that the student is competent. |
68% |
15% |
19% |
Overall Evaluation |
This portfolio is:
58% of the evaluators considered the portfolios
"acceptable as is"
28% were "acceptable with modifications"
14% considered the portfolios reviewed as
"unacceptable" |
The greatest problem
facing the students who submitted portfolios is evident in item #3 "The materials in
the portfolio indicate that the student is able to use proper grammar, spelling, and form
in written work.") on the evaluation instrument. This no doubt influenced answers to
item #8 ("This portfolio will demonstrate to people outside of the department that
the student is competent."). The use of proper grammar, spelling and punctuation in
written work are ideals for which this department strives. Continued emphasis will be
placed on helping students develop better writing skills. |
1996-97
ASSESSMENT
Three portfolio reviews were conducted during the fall and spring of the 1996 - 1997
academic year. The three students all transferred to UNK after the portfolio requirement
was instituted in fall 1994. Again as last year, the portfolios each had numerous examples
of papers and projects and were neat in appearance but, in two, there were numerous
shortcomings in the areas of spelling, grammar and composition. This was evidenced in
papers completed here, during internships and at institutions from which the students
transferred, where they were judged to be acceptable or even published. One contributing
factor is that many of the examples are from student newspapers that have only student
copy and managing editors. Work produced for class and edited by the faculty are generally
of higher quality. One of the
students, a non-traditional female, produced the best portfolio that reviewers have
evaluated since the portfolio requirement was instituted. It was literally free of
grammatical, spelling and composition problems and passed without problem.
The Department will closely follow the
students who are proceeding through our new programs to determine if this body of
portfolios of a higher quality than those who have transferred into the programs. |
1995-96
ASSESSMENT
Four portfolio reviews were conducted during the fall and spring of the 1995 - 1996
academic year. The three students all transferred to UNK after the Portfolio Requirement
was instituted in fall 1994. One student's initial portfolio was judged to be unacceptable
in the fall of 1995 thus, she resubmitted it in the spring. While the portfolios each had
numerous examples of papers and projects and were neat in appearance, there were numerous
shortcomings in the areas of spelling, grammar and composition. This was evidenced
primarily in papers completed at institutions from which the students transferred, where
they were judged to be acceptable or even published. There were problems with written
materials produced in the Department, also. Additionally, audio and video projects
produced here were, in some cases, weak. Historically, the problem that JMC faculty have
had is critiquing the numerous hours of audio and video produced each week for the campus
radio and television operations and at the same time teaching nine hours of course work.
In the future, students will be urged to request evaluation sessions with appropriate
faculty or advisors prior to including materials in portfolios. |
1994-95
ASSESSMENT
The portfolio criteria were drafted and approved by the JMC faculty on January 30, 1995.
The criteria have been made available to all students who started at or transferred to UNK
on or after August of 1994. There will be two transfer students going through the
portfolio review process in November of 1995. An initial review of these two portfolios
indicates that the requirement is serving as a powerful tool for forcing students to
document their own achievements, although no trends can yet be determined. |
1993-94
ASSESSMENT
The portfolio will be required of all undergraduates selecting a major in Journalism and
Mass Communication starting in the Fall of 1994 (see 1994 - 1996 Undergraduate Catalog, p.
139). As this is a new requirement in a new catalog, no students have been through a
portfolio review. However, it is possible that a transfer student may enter the department
this Fall and will have to complete the review prior to graduation in May of 1995. Portfolio evaluation criteria have been drafted
and will be reviewed and put in place by March 1st of 1995. The first portfolio review
will be conducted the Fall semester of !995. |
|
assessment
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