Outcomes Data - Agricultural Communication

ASTE 1710: Introduction to Agricultural Communication | Instructor, Kelsey Hall

Course Objectives from the Syllabus that meet the Program Objective

Course Assignments that meet the Course Objectives

Course Assignment: Photo and caption

Course outcomes are based on the student’s proper use of the principles of design in agricultural photography and the students’ ability to write a caption for that photo. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the photo and caption assignment.

Average score was 22/25 points with 5 As and 5 Bs

Course Assignment: Blog Post

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to write one blog post about a current topic that has an impact on or connection to agriculture, veterinary science, nutrition, or the environment. They demonstrate the mastery of writing a headline, lead, following the inverted pyramid style of writing, and citing two or more sources of information. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the blog post assignment.

Average score was 55/60 with 7 As and 3 Bs

Course Assignment: News Release

Course outcomes are based on the students’ mastery to write a news release that focuses on a current issue, event, activity, or topic related to an agricultural organization, company, or government agency. The news release must have a release date, headline, dateline, lead, the 5 Ws and H (who, what, where, when, where, why, and how), two or more quotes from an interviewed source, boilerplate paragraph, and contact information for the writer and source. The news release is to be written following the inverted pyramid and in Associated Press Style. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the news release assignment.

Average score was 42/50 with 4 As, 4 Bs, 1 D, and 1 F

 

Course Assignment: Radio PSA Script and Recording

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to create a 60-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) and audio recording suitable for radio broadcast. The PSA must be written to promote a topic or event related to food, nutrition, agriculture, or the environment. Students demonstrate mastery by using the appropriate writing structure, writing technique, and document format for PSAs. The audio recording will demonstrate students’ ability to enunciate words, use smooth transitions between words and voice recordings, and speak naturally at an appropriate volume and pitch. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the radio PSA script and recording assignment.

Average score was 22/25 with 6 As, 3 Bs, and 1 D

Course Assignment: Social Media Campaign

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to select an agricultural organization or business and develop a social media campaign to promote its purpose, events, activities, or related information. The social media campaign must have a purpose statement, social media audit, two target audiences, description of social media platforms that will be used, and 8 specific posts with text and graphics. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the social media campaign assignment.

Average score was 50/60 with 6 As, 2 Cs, and 2 Ds

Course Assignment: Career Infographic

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to communicate about agricultural communication careers in general or a specific one in a graphically styled infographic. They demonstrate mastery by answering 7 specific questions by presenting the information and statistics using charts, icons, and color. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the career infographic assignment.

Average score was 46/50 with 5 As and 4 Bs

Course Assignment: Expert Interview and Small Group Discussion

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to interview someone within an industry that uses agricultural communication skills and participate in a small-group discussion that helps find similarities and differences in job tasks, work environments, technical skills, and employability skills. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for participating in the small group discussion.



ASTE 4900: Introduction to Agricultural Communication | Instructor, Kelsey Hall

Course Objectives from the Syllabus that meet the Program Objective

Course Assignments that meet the Course Objectives

Course Assignment: Reflection Paper & Style Tiles

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to identify 3 websites and critique them, answer questions about their website, and create 2 style tiles. The reflection paper must have a critique of the websites’ audience, organization, identity, design principles, and layout that have helped the students design their website as well as use Adobe Photoshop to create 2 style tiles that show the types of graphics, colors, textures/photos, and typography for their website. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the reflection paper & style tiles assignment.

Average score was 95/100 with 4 As and 1 B

Course Assignment: Website Copy

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to write the headlines, subheads, body copy, bullet points, and footer copy for their websites. This assignment demonstrates how students select their target audience(s), determine what information and tasks are most important for their target audience(s), and write user-friendly content. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the website copy assignment.

Average score was 50/50 with 5 As

Course Assignment: Website Design Comp

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to use Adobe InDesign software to design a responsive website design comp that shows the design elements and text as they would appear on one page of the actual website for a desktop computer, tablet, and mobile device. The assignment must have a color scheme from the reflection paper & style tiles assignment, navigation links, hero image, headings, real content, images/videos/documents, buttons, contact information, and footer information. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive for the website design comp assignment.

Average score was 94/100 with 4 As

Course Assignment: Website

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to use either WordPress or Dreamweaver to create either a one-page or multiple-page responsive website. Students demonstrate mastery by using design principles, color, typography, HTML, CSS, images, usability principles, accessibility principles, and SEO. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive on the website assignment and for the entire course.

Average score was 92/100 with 3 As and 2 Bs



ASTE 4250: Occupational Experiences in Agriculture (Internship in Agricultural Communication) : Instructor, Kelsey Hall

Course Objectives from the Syllabus that meet the Program Objective

The instructor has mentored 52 internship experiences through the Agricultural Communication program since 2012. The 2021 academic year had 6 students earn internship credit in the Agricultural Communication program.

Course Assignment: Reflection paper

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to synthesize and reflect on the internship experience, critiquing the strong and weak points of the internship, their level of preparation for the internship (technical skills and employability skills), what they learned about themselves through the experience, suggestions on what the employer could do to make the experience better, and their abilities and learning experiences over the course of the internship. The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive on the reflection paper assignment.

Average score was 94/100 with 6 As

Course Assignment: Internship Portfolio

Course outcomes are based on students’ ability to design a portfolio that includes examples of the materials produced during the internship, including any writing, design, photography, videography, podcasts, audio recordings, social media, web design, educational materials or other tangible demonstrations. The portfolio examples must include an artifact description (software used, contribution the intern had in developing the artifact). The course outcomes are demonstrated by the grades students receive on the internship portfolio assignment. Failure to submit the portfolio will result in failure of the class.

Average score was 45/50 with 6 As


Assignment: Internship Supervisor, Evaluation of Intern

The internship supervisor completed an online evaluation of the intern on professional and employability skills that are desired in the agricultural communication profession. The employer evaluation provides an overall rating of student performance on a 6-point scale. The professional and employability skills are the following: responsibility, effect on workers, promptness, application, knowledge of work, initiative, accuracy, and quantity of work. Three open-ended questions ask the internship supervisor to summarize (1) the intern’s strong points, (2) what areas the intern has made the greatest gains/improvements, and (3) intern's major weaknesses and suggest improvements. The employers rated all interns as excellent or very good for their overall performance during the internships. Table 1 summarizes the employer and student evaluations since from fall 2014-fall 2021. Enclosed are a few comments from the employers about their interns’ strong points.

Katie is wonderfully thoughtful and helpful. She has an in-depth understanding of our customers and their needs and is always looking for ways to improve their experience and provide helpful information so they can learn, grow, and find success in their tasks.

Sundee created excellent content for Harvest Returns. She developed all of our social media content, and wrote some blogs and press releases. She learned rather quickly how to create content for our two diverse audiences while staying on brand. Sundee was also quick to help out with tasks she wasn't as comfortable with yet. Through her efforts outside of the social media role, she learned about email marketing, public relations, sales, and administrative work. I can't say enough good things about my experience working with Sundee.

Bailee did great at grasping the feel and intent of the work we did in advocating for farmers and ranchers. Rather than just doing what I asked, she often went above and beyond...because she was personally invested in the work. Very creative in solutions to problems and didn't let her just being an intern from making meaningful contributions.

Corryn has several strong points. She is a diligent worker with a great personality. If she has complaints, she keeps them to herself - but she seems assertive (which is vital in news). I know if I give her an assignment, I can count on her to do her best with it.

Always very willing to follow through on tasks. She completed them in a timely manner and enthusiastically.

Leann was a good intern for our program. We often take students who do not know much about policy work and so, her lack of policy knowledge was expected. I think through the months she has gained skills that will help her throughout her career. Leann is a good quality person and was a reliable and respectable intern.

Utah Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) has benefitted greatly from Lindsey Snyder's internship. Lindsey made a noticeable positive change in Utah AITC's presence on social media--both statewide and nationwide. She is motivated, skilled, and personable. Lindsey's experiences and education in agricultural communication is a perfect for our needs. In fact, we are hiring her to continue her good work with our program!


Assignment: Student Evaluation of Work Performance

The students complete an online evaluation administered through Qualtrics, asking them to evaluate themselves on the professional and employability skills that are desired in the agricultural communication profession: responsibility, effect on workers, promptness, application, knowledge of work, initiative, accuracy, and quantity of work. These are the same professional and employability skills included on the internship supervisor evaluation. The student evaluation provides an overall rating of student performance on a 6-point scale. Table 1 summarizes the employer and student evaluations since from fall 2014-fall 2021.

Table 1: Employer and Student Evaluations of Student Performance during Agricultural Communication Internship Experience

 

Supervisor

Student

 

Skill

Mean

Std. Deviation

Mean

Std. Deviation

Responsibility

5.50

0.53

5.83

0.41

Effect on Workers

5.40

0.70

5.83

0.41

Promptness

5.30

0.82

5.17

1.17

Application

5.20

0.79

5.00

0.63

Knowledge of Work

5.10

0.74

4.67

1.37

Initiative

5.00

1.12

5.33

0.52

Accuracy

4.80

0.79

5.00

0.00

Quantity of Work

4.60

0.70

4.67

0.52


ASTE 3090

Assignment: CRAP design grid Average score received 98.6%

Grades: A:9, A-:1, B+:0, B:0, B-:0, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:0

Assignment: Logo design final Average score received 97.4%

Grades: A:9, A-:1, B+:0, B:0, B-:0, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:0

Assignment: Poster project final Average score received 86.6%

Grades: A:6, A-:2, B+:0, B:0, B-:0, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:2

Assignment: Brochure final Average score received 79.4%

Grades: A:3, A-:0, B+:0, B:3, B-:3, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:1

Course outcomes are based on cumulative scores and letter grade distribution from each assignment.

Students are adequately demonstrating understanding of course objectives that align with

program objectives.

DK2

ASTE 3050

Persuasion Discussion Average score received 82.5%

Grades: A:87, A-:14, B+:3, B:6, B-:7, C+:2, C:2, C-:4, D+:0, D:5, F:22

Course outcomes are based on cumulative scores and letter grade distribution from each assignment.

Students are adequately demonstrating understanding of course objectives that align with

program objectives.

ASTE 3090

Assignment: Quiz 11 Average score received 93.3%

Grades: A:6, A-:2, B+:0, B:0, B-:2, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:0

Poster peer review Average score received 86.1%

Grades: A:7, A-:1, B+:0, B:1, B-:0, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:1


Photo restoration peer review Average score received 82.2%

Grades: A:5, A-:0, B+:0, B:0, B-:3, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:2


Logo peer review Average score received 73.3%

Grades: A:5, A-:0, B+:0, B:0, B-:2, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:1, F:2


Brochure peer review Average score received 83.6%

Grades: A:7, A-:0, B+:0, B:0, B-:0, C+:0, C:2, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:1


Course outcomes are based on cumulative scores and letter grade distribution from each assignment and quiz.

Students are adequately demonstrating understanding of course objectives that align with

program objectives.

OS1

ASTE 3050

Assignment: Cover letter and resume Average score received 82.3%

Grades: A:52, A-:17, B+:15, B:17, B-:12, C+:4, C:5, C-:5, D+:4, D:7, F:16

Assignment: Mock interview Average score received 82.9%

Grades: A:91, A-:26, B+:3, B:5, B-:5, C+:1, C:1, C-:0, D+:1, D:1, F:20

Assignment: 30-second elevator speech Average score received 91.8%

Grades: A:107, A-:16, B+:3, B:7, B-:4, C+:0, C:2, C-:3, D+:1, D:3, F:8

Course outcomes are based on cumulative scores and letter grade distribution from each assignment.

Students are adequately demonstrating understanding of course objectives that align with

program objectives.

ASTE 3090

Assignment: Showcase portfolio Average score received 85.2%

Grades: A:4, A-:3, B+:1, B:0, B-:0, C+:0, C:1, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:1

Course outcomes are based on cumulative scores and letter grade distribution from each assignment.

Students are adequately demonstrating understanding of course objectives that align with

program objectives.

OS2

ASTE 3050

Assignment: Writing for different audiences Average score received 84.6%

Grades: A:79, A-:17, B+:11, B:10, B-:4, C+:2, C:4, C-:3, D+:2, D:5, F:15

Assignment: How-to video Average score received 87.7%

Grades: A:106, A-:9, B+:9, B:5, B-:3, C+:0, C:3, C-:1, D+:0, D:2, F:15

Assignment: Cover letter and resume Average score received 82.3%

Grades: A:52, A-:17, B+:15, B:17, B-:12, C+:4, C:5, C-:5, D+:4, D:7, F:16

Assignment: Mock interview Average score received 82.9%

Grades: A:91, A-:26, B+:3, B:5, B-:5, C+:1, C:1, C-:0, D+:1, D:1, F:20

Assignment: Choosing appropriate graphics Average score received 83.2%

Grades: A:57, A-:33, B+:7, B:10, B-:15, C+:1, C:3, C-:8, D+:0, D:4, F:17

Course outcomes are based on cumulative scores and letter grade distribution from each assignment.

Students are adequately demonstrating understanding of course objectives that align with

program objectives.

ASTE 3090

Assignment: Art gallery Average score received 92.5%

Grades: A:8, A-:0, B+:1, B:0, B-:0, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:1

Assignment: Logo design final Average score received 97.4%

Grades: A:9, A-:1, B+:0, B:0, B-:0, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:0

Assignment: Poster project final Average score received 86.6%

Grades: A:6, A-:2, B+:0, B:0, B-:0, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:2

Assignment: Photo restoration project Average score received 75.2%

Grades: A:0, A-:0, B+:0, B:1, B-:3, C+:0, C:4, C-:1, D+:0, D:1, F:0

Assignment: Brochure final Average score received 79.4%

Grades: A:3, A-:0, B+:0, B:3, B-:3, C+:0, C:0, C-:0, D+:0, D:0, F:1

Course outcomes are based on cumulative scores and letter grade distribution from each assignment.

Students are adequately demonstrating understanding of course objectives that align with

program objectives.