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An Assessment Study of the Communication “A” Requirement at UW-Madison 2006-07

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Communication “A” Requirement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in enhancing students' communication skills. It compares students who have and have not satisfied the requirement in terms of their self-reported gains in key areas of communication. The findings suggest that students who have satisfied the requirement are more likely to report significant improvements in their communication skills.

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An Assessment Study of the Communication “A” Requirement at UW-Madison 2006-07

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  1. An Assessment Study of the Communication “A” Requirement at UW-Madison 2006-07 University General Education Research Group Chuck Halaby, L&S Nancy Westphal-Johnson, L&S Jim Wollock, T&E/SOE Elaine Klein, L&S

  2. The Communication “A” Requirement • Objective: Enhance communication proficiency by exposing students to courses that: • “develop student abilities in writing and public speaking, for both exposition and argumentation.” • “advance key skills” in writing, communication, and information literacy.

  3. Skill Objectives for Comm-A Courses • PlanningSelecting topics, analyzing audience info needs; generating/organizing ideas; comprehending and analyzing texts. • DraftingLearning exposition/argument structures; developing/organizing paragraphs, papers, speeches; adapting writing/speeches for intended audience. Mastering grammar, usage, style; prepare speeches; citing sources, avoiding plagiarism • RevisingCritical skills for revising and editing essays/speeches for spelling, punctuation, grammar, style, organization, logic. • Information-SeekingTechnical skills/strategies for identifying/retrieving materials from print/electronic sources.

  4. Key Features of Comm-A Study • Research QuestionDoes Comm-A provide students with opportunity and experience needed to enhance their communication skills? • MethodCompare students who had and had not satisfied Comm-A with respect to self-reported gains in communication skills in key areas • Target populationFreshmen who had not satisfied Comm-A at start of fall 2006-07 semester • Sampling designStratified random sampling • Comm-A sample: 374/480 (78% response rate) • Control sample: 141/160 (88% response rate)

  5. Communication Scale Preamble “Please think about the courses you took at UW during fall semester. This includes lectures, readings, discussion sections, and assignments, as well as any other experiences you had as part of these courses.” Question “How much did any of these courses teach you to do each of the following?

  6. Communication Skill Scale Items • Deliver speech or oral presentation? • Retrieveand analyze information from library databases? • Select and focus topics for paper or speech/presentation? • Recognize logically sound arguments? • Use language clearly and appropriately?

  7. Comm-A Scale Items (continued) • Support ideas in a paper or speech? • Produce papers or speeches/presentation for a specific audience? • Judge the credibility and soundness of evidence? • Organize ideas for a paper or speech/presentation? • Improve your grammar, punctuation, and style?

  8. Comm-A Scale Items (continued) • Cite sources and avoid plagiarism • Use library databases to locate research materials ? • Write/revise drafts of paper or speech/presentation? • Critique speeches/presentations or papers? Cronbach’s alpha-reliability = .91

  9. Findings

  10. Mean Gain in Communication Proficiency, by Comm-A Status, Freshmen, 2006-07 t-ratio= 14.2; p-value=.000

  11. Mean Gain in Communication Proficiency, by Comm-A Status and Sex, Freshmen 2006-07

  12. Comm-AStudents Almost Three Times More Likely to Report Communication Skills Grew by “fair amount/a lot” Chi-square=66; p-value=.000

  13. Odds of Communication Skills Increasing by “fair amount/a lot” More than Five Times Greater for Comm-A Students t-ratio= 7.69; p-value=.000

  14. Item-Specific Analysis

  15. Item-Specific Scale Means, by Comm-A Status All differences significant at < .000

  16. Item-Specific Scale Means, by Comm-A Status All differences significant at < .000

  17. Item-Specific Scale Means, by Comm-A Status **Significant at <.000 * Significant at <.001

  18. Percent Responding Skills Grew by “fair amount/a lot”, by Comm-A Status

  19. Percent Responding Skills Grew by “fair amount/a lot”, by Comm-A Status

  20. Percent Students Responding “fair amount/a lot”, by Comm-A Status

  21. Comm-A Students More Likely to Report Skills Grew by “fair amount/a lot”.

  22. Comm-A Students Many Times More Likely to Report Skills Grew by “fair amount/a lot”.

  23. Comm-A Students More Likely to Report Skills Grew by “fair amount/a lot”.

  24. The ESL Comm-A Experience

  25. ESL Comm-A Compared to Regular Comm-A and Control

  26. ESL v Regular Comm-A: Item-Specific Comparisons All differences significant at < .000.

  27. ESL v Regular Comm-A: Item-Specific Comparisons All differences statisticallyinsignificant.

  28. ESL v Regular Comm-A: Item-Specific Comparisons All differences statistically insignificant.

  29. The End

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