PERALTACOMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Instructional Program Review
College: College of Alameda
Discipline/Department: Communication
Date: March 15, 2010
Members of the Instructional Program Review Team:
Carlotta Campbell, Department/Committee ChairMaurice Jones, Dean
Dr. Jimmy Cato, Faculty
Jennifer Murphy, Faculty
Description of the Discipline/Department: The Communication Department at College of Alameda focuses on the development and empowerment of students with the tools to be effective communicators in a diverse, twenty-first century world, within a democratic and global society exposed to increasing technological advances and having the ability to apply the knowledge, tools, and resources learned to practical application in a safe, supportive, inclusive, and creative environment.
Vision of the Communication Department: As a breakthrough skill for the 21st Century, College of Alameda’s Communication students will be able to act purposefully, competently, and ethically on what they know, display a sense of empowerment, demonstrate effective organizational skills, the fundamentals of interpersonal skills, utilize verbal (face to face spoken interactions), non-verbal communication, critical thinking, the ability to retrieve and assess information, and to apply the knowledge obtained to personal and professional goals.
Mission of the Communication Department at College of Alameda makes a firm commitment to the students to provide comprehensive and flexible courses to engage, challenge, and empower students from diverse backgrounds, cultures and communities, toincorporate/adaptto the diverse/distinct learning styles, to provide first rate, relevant instruction to embrace technological advances along with traditional /non-traditional teaching methods, to deliver the essential tools and resources to promote our students to become effective speakers, disseminators of accurate/factual information, discriminating critical thinkers, perceptive listeners, and proficient/master users of verbal and non-verbal skills, and to apply these skills in personal, interpersonal, and worldwide relationships, local, national and international professional/non-professional occupations/work environments, emergency situations, and for special occasions within the 21st Century.
Curriculum within the Communication Department: In 2009, updates occurred for the following courses: Communication 1A and 1B – Introduction to Speech, Communication 2A and 2B – The Fundamentals of Oral Interpretation of Literature, Communication 4 – The Dynamics of Group Discussion, Communication 5 – Persuasion and Critical Thinking, Communication 20 – Interpersonal Communication and Communication 45 – Public Speaking which include an addendum with Student Learning Outcomes.
Also, in 2009 three new courses were added to the Department: Communication 6 – Intercultural Communication, Communication 19 – Survey of Mass Media, and Communication 44 – Argumentation with each an attached Student Learning Outcomes Addendum. The Department has begun to map the Course Student Learning Outcomes to the Institutional Outcomes since there are no specific Program Outcomes. Two tools being used in data collection/storage are “TaskStream” and “CurriCuNet.” The Communication courses are validated to articulate under General Breadth requirements, and have been articulated by COA’s Articulation Officer with the CSUs Breadth requirements and UC’s IGETC. At this time, there are no plans to either deactivate any courses in Communication or add additional prerequisites or co-requisites. Also, the Communication department does not have an advisory group.
As of 2009, College of Alameda acquired the funds to have Department/Department Clusters. The cluster for the Communication Department includes Humanities, Philosophy and have co-chair with the Music and Art departments. The Communication Department have had and will continue to have Departments meeting to review our current/updated Course Outlines of Record and moving forward toward meeting the ACCJC Rubric deadlines for Student Learning Outcomes along with utilizing both TaskStream and CurriCuNet as applicable.
At this time, the Communication Department does not have Program Outcomes but plans to have them for the future, and they will be included once the establishment of an “AA” degree in Communication occurs.
In 2010/2011, the Communication Department’s plan is to add additional course offerings including Organization Communication, Communication in a Diverse, Multi-cultural World, Oral Interpretation of Literature -Children/Young Adult, Communication in a Diverse World with Multi-media,
Introduction to Communication and the Information Age, a Speech Communication Laboratory, and an Introductory course on Reclaiming Your Power to Speak which could be added to the Communication Laboratory. There are no deactivations nor prerequisites, co-requisites nor advisories established.
Finally, in 2010, the Department plans to submit the paperwork for an AA degree in Communication which will deem it a Program and Program Outcomes will be created.
As of 2009/10, the Communication Department has encouraged the posting of Student Learning Outcomes into the faculty Course Requirements/Syllabus for each course.
Recommendations and Priorities:
Staffing
One of the Communication Department’s highest priorities is to return the department back to having at a minimum, the two-person, full-time tenured faculty positions. By having at least two full-time faculty members, the Department can effectively have sufficient staff to establish and sustain an Associate Arts Degree program in Communication or a Liberal Arts Degree with an emphasis in Communication and a Certificate of Completion in the Area of Communication. A number of students over the years have expressed an interest in pursuing a major in Communication/Communication Studies at the 4-year colleges and/or pursuing a profession career that requires the skill stated in the survey by the National Association of College Employment’s “Job Outlook 2008.”
Based on the history of College of Alameda’s Communication (formerly Speech) Department, there were two full-time faculty members within the Communication Department (formerly known as the Speech Department). The rationale to being even more effective means that the Department request a Dedicated Teaching Assistant assigned to the Department. This student could be a Work Study student but should be knowledgeable in the area of Communication to assist inclerical duties, the collection of data, scheduling and application process, peer tutoring along with assisting with the Honors program.
Honors Curricula
Investigation has begun to create an honors program affiliated with a University of California College, a California State College, and possibly two Private Colleges for the Departments of Communication, Humanities, Philosophy and possibly Art and Music. The Department’s Chair, along with key faculty have begun to identify the colleges, secured information from the College representatives participating in “Transfer Days” including recommended contacts who can work closely with COA’s Articulation Officer who is supportive of the idea. The model we have chosen to follows that of Mount San Antonio Community College who currently has an established, success program.
The intent of the “Honors” courses within our departments would be to provide an opportunity for students who would appreciate more rigors within designated courses along with a challenging assignment closely aligned and accepted as meeting an honors curriculum by the participating colleges.
Scheduling
The strongest recommendation is for a more flexible schedule which would allow for expanding our course offerings and providing a schedule so that students can take during the morning as well as the afternoon and evening as transferable Liberal Arts classes. The classes would be for an hour and half both Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes as well as those that exist for Tuesday/Thursday classes. The scheduling change would override the approximately fifty minutes time schedule for the Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes/sections. Many of our students have to work especially in this economy and need the flexibility beyond the offering of classes in the late afternoon.
Another recommendation is to support the faculty who are creating new courses, many of which are transferable,would be togivemore time for new courses to be marketed in order to eventually become sustainable instead of being quick to cancel them. Not all students are on a FastTrack to only take core courses and transfer or secure employment. Many students if provided the information and an opportunity would take courses that can be used as electives when they transfer along with enriching their college instructional experience.
The new courses could be put into a cluster with related disciplines to support their viability and provide a unique choice for students who are re-entry and wanting to explore non-traditional/new courses.
A final recommendation of importance would be to continue to work with the Dean(s), the Vice Presidents of Instruction, and faculty (locally and at our sister colleges) to expand the emphasis on collaborative communication in scheduling course offerings to lessen a culture of competition.
Classroom Environment/Instructional Resources
Another priority of the Communication Department would be to have a 21st Century classroom with the appropriate equipment and “Learning” tools, technology, and environment conducive and necessary to teach and prepare the 21st Century students with the abilities to meet the challenges and be successful in today and tomorrow’s 21st Century workplace and professions.
Suggested technology/equipment to enhance classroom instruction and effectiveness, for classrooms and an on-site teaching in a “Communication/Speech” laboratory for training and student improvement would include but not limited to: flat screen monitor with access to an outside broadcast feed , a new compact LCD/DLP Projector (XGA or what is small/portable that is “State of the Art”), laptop computers able to access both the PC and MAC platforms, a podium with microphone, a separate hands-free cordless microphone, speakers and hook-up for recording presentations (recording equipment), data projector instead of an overhead projector, a “Document Reader,” cordless lavalier microphones, a Digital Recording device compatible for uploading onto a computer for editing and making CD/DVDs of presentations, Interactive whiteboard with Clickers for usage in lecture discussions, portable “interactive” white boards for small group activities, speech recognition software.
Instructional and Contemporary multi-media (film/DVDs, etc.)used as a complimentary methodology/pedagogy of instruction as part of teaching with film.
Finally, furniture designed for adult learners which include chairs and table that are light enough to configure into a number of classroom arrangements and can accommodate the various size of students.
Also, for the new classrooms (“C” and “D”) being constructed that the lighting allow for dimming the classrooms for both the Day and Evening classes so that students can see the monitor or projections and still take notes. Create rooms to have good acoustic and sound proofing so that instruction going on in another class does not bleed into other classes.
Instruction:
Methods and Instructional Tools
Besides face to face instruction/lecture, the Communication Department provides hybrid instruction, on-line instruction, group process/small group interaction, dyads, rhetoric, advocacy, argumentation/debate, intercultural and interpersonal communication, oral traditions, humor, multi-media (PowerPoint, overhead projection, film and audio clips), guest lecturers, performance, games, teaching outside the classroom using our environment as a teaching tool, taking real world situations from the Internet - online clips such as “This I Believe,” “Bill Moyer’s Journal,” excerpts from periodicals, comic strips, notable quotes, scenarios, impromptu presentations, “Information Competency” – library workshops, the Style Manual for Communication Studies,Support/source materials and resources from the Library (traditional and their databases) along with Internet sources, textbooks, supplemental resources are a sampling of the innovative strategies used in the Communication Department to reach our diverse student population.
An integral part of reaching our 21st Century students means usage of a number of modalities particular real-time media capturing events as they happen with film/DVD, news clips, broadcast, Facebook, Twitter, etc. The internet as a teaching tool allows one to review and reflect on historical, political and social events throughout the years with small group discussion and one-on-one inter-change. Also, one must not forget the low technical tools which can also be productive, generate effective dialogue and discourse as a key to breakdown interpretations, mis-information, bias, assumptions, fallacies, etc.
There is a plethora of new technologies available to us for example: social/news media, journalist sites, ethnic media sites, global sites to illustrate various concepts and to present numerous points of view to reflect on and to create group discussions throughout the course. Key to effective instruction is to not be overwhelmed with all that we can access as part of our instruction, but to also remember not to become stagnant in ones approach to a lesson.
As Instructors, we are to stimulate student’s mine and help them to understand there are vast ways to approach a subject, present them with the true gift of learning. One must also keep in mind the end result; what are the outcomes one wants the student to grasp and to demonstrate how to apply the information and skills in the present as well as in the future.
Finally, essential for the Communication Department is providing students with specific evaluations to reflect and assess the student’s strengths, weaknesses, progress and their potential to grow. This can occur orally, written, one-on-one, and during an instructor’s office hours and other modalities .
Integrity and Consistency of Academic Standards
Each semester the students have the opportunity to receive the “COA Student Hand Book” theStudent Code of Conduct information can be found within the “Academic Planner and Student Hand book.” Also, the same information can be found in our College catalogue.
Also, for many students in the department, information about Ethics, Academic Standards, and the Code of Conduct can be found on the individual instructors’ syllabus, resources from the Internet as instructed by the Instructor, our library, and the State Academic site/publications.
Students received exposure to this information when they participating in the College’s Orientation Process and those fortunate to have instructors who participate in the Library Orientation where the students learn the skills of researching but also about the integrity of using sources and how not to plagiarize along with the consequences for the infraction.
There exist District-wide Board of Trustees’ policies which spell out specifically what is acceptable and the consequences of ones actions as it relates to Academic Freedom and the Codes of Conduct.
Enrollment Trends
Overall the enrollment trends appear to be growing. Note there was greater growth with more sections in than less with the margin of FTES/FTEF being larger in 2004-05 and less in 2006-07. In 2009 based on Debra Bank’s statistics with less sections two brand new course – Communication 4 Group Dynamics and relatively new course Communication 5 – Critical Thinking were low enrolled but in our current year Communication 5 has finally secured equivalent numbers as its counterpart English 5.
Overall the introductory core course will always grow being transfer courses to both the CSU and UC. The other relatively new courses as they become more established will like Communication 5 will probably also grow as long as scheduling conflicts are at a minimum.
Based on verbal feedback at the end of each semester, students are interested in the new courses but often face scheduling conflict with other courses. The evening courses are growing because of the days the classes are scheduled and they only need to come one day. A number of the morning/day students would prefer class be an hour and half and come two days rather than three days for 50 minutes, particularly the Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes. They choose some of the classes at the other PCCD colleges because they have that option. The anecdotal information is based on my professional relationship where the students feel comfortable sharing their opinions. Several have expressed interest in being able to receive an AA degree in Communication and/or Certificate but need to have other than the core courses to select.
Recommendations and Priorities
The strongest recommendation continues to be a more flexible schedule which would allow for expanding our course offerings and provide a schedule students can take during the morning as well as the evening, and that they are transferable Liberal Arts classes for an hour and half instead of approximately fifty minutes on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Many of our students have to work especially in this economy and cannot take classes in the late afternoon. Another recommendation is to support the faculty who are creating new courses many of which are transferable and that they be given the time to become sustainable by not being so quick to cancel them. Not all students are on a FastTrack to only take core courses and leave the community college.
For a college to grow and thrive, the institution has to believe in the faculty and support the new courses be designed by old and new faculty alike.