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Requirements for Communication-Intensive Course Syllabi

Faculty teaching Continuing Communication Courses should consider the Student Learning Outcomes for this General Education Requirement:

 


Continuing Communication

Required Communication Outcome

  • Communicate to Learn. Students use communication as a form of inquiry, invention, and reflection.

Choice of at least one more outcome

  • Communicate Flexibly. Students communicate effectively for specified audiences in more than one genre, medium, or mode, such as written, oral, or visual modes. 
  • Communicate to Contribute. Students use formal communication to contribute to a conversation in a discipline, profession, or field of study.
  • Communicate Critically. Students demonstrate critical awareness of the ethical, rhetorical, and/or ideological dimensions of communicating within and across communities.

 

All syllabi approved for the Continuing Communication Requirement should contain

  1. Continuing Communication Student Learning Outcomes. One outcome is required on all syllabi, and the instructor has a choice for another outcome from the approved list (at minimum). These outcomes should appear on the syllabus along with the content-driven outcomes for the course.
  2. Evidence that communication is taught as a process in the course (examples below):
    • Communication assignment(s) scaffolded into course, divided into stages to allow for student development and practice.
    • Peer and/or instructor feedback on communication assignment(s).
    • Revision required on at least one major assignment.
    • Student reflection on their communication processes and products.
  3. Statements about the Writing Center and Honors code.
  4. Communication assignments that are just not tacked on but are integral to learning and practicing the content of the course. Communication learning is included in the course description. Evidence of this integration might include
    • Brief descriptions of communication-rich assignments (a few sentences to a full assignment sheet). At minimum, two different modes or genres of communication should be included in the course (see examples of communication assignments here).
    • Communication assignments should be used throughout the semester, and courses should include at minimum three communication assignments. These three assignments might be part of a larger, semester-long project that includes such items as developing an annotated bibliography, a proposal, a presentational infographic, or a website, for example. The three assignments might also be discrete communication events, such as a mini-research presentation, a group digital poster, a complete set of interview notes with a reflective memo, a scientific research article, an arts review, and/or a performance event with reflection project.
    • Assessment of communication assignments should comprise at least 40% of the final grade.