SLO Assessment Planning Dialogue Agenda and Summary - Instructional
Programs
Semester: Fall 2009
Program: Forensics – Speech and Debate
Participating Members: Suzanne, Anh Dung, Malik, Marcella, James
1. What are the most critical student learning issues impacting the success of students in your program
(such as: student understanding of key program concepts, skills that are essential to success following
program completion, abilities that students struggle to master, skills needed for subsequent courses in a
pre-requisite sequence).

Students are lacking the ability to construct logical reasoning in their arguments for debate cases,
particularly in setting forth a criteria or key premises to uphold and support their case.
Students are lacking in the ability to document substantial evidence in their debate cases that has a
breadth or depth of research and/or support for arguments that are constructed and presented during a
debate.
Students new to the “Forensics” speech and debate team seem to need more time or exposure to
coaching to receive more training for the details and complexity of debate case construction.


2. Which of these would you like to focus on at a program level this semester? What program and/or course
Student Learning Outcomes are related to the selected issue(s)?

Students should be able to design and relate messages clearly for effective and appropriate oral
communication (Program SLO #1).
Students should be able to analyze and formulate critical thinking within the evidence and reasoning of
spoken and written messages (Program SLO #4).

3. What might be, or is being, done to facilitate student learning and success in this area?
Currently students are required to meet with an instructor, forensics team coach or experienced team
captain for a certain number of hours as part of the course assignments to earn credit for their courses.
Per our discussion today, in our class sessions of Communication 373 and in our team meetings
(workshop sessions), it will be useful to have more experienced debaters and presenters “pair off” with the
newer or more novice debaters and team members for more practice debates and as they work on
researching for evidence to build their debate cases. In classes, there needs to be more elaboration on
how to develop a criteria (weighing mechanism or set of standards) when presenting and arguing a case in
a debate.
4. How will you assess the effectiveness of these strategies this semester? Mark all that apply by indicating
the number of faculty who will be utilizing that assessment strategy.
2
Direct observation of student actions or performance (e.g. during theatre performances or athletic
events, structured practice or drills, or in laboratory or studio classes)
______ Assessment of student products (e.g. review of semester projects, grades on inquiry projects)
______ Analysis of student creative work (e.g. art portfolios, creative projects in classes, student projects
as part of a campus cultural event)
4
Exams, quizzes, and/or problem sets in courses (items linked to specific outcomes)
3
Grading of assignments based on rubrics (essays, reports, case studies, etc.)
______ Student self-assessments (reflective journals, surveys, etc.)
______ Capstone projects or final summative assessment (e.g. final exams, capstone projects)
1
Guided discussion (group or individual)
Note: At the next convocation, you will dialogue with colleagues about your assessments. You will be asked to briefly list
the outcomes that were assessed in your program, the assessment strategies utilized, the context in which assessments
were conducted (i.e. the courses, activities, etc.), what was learned, and what changes are planned as a result.