Skip to main content
Division of Academic and Student Affairs 
DASA Assessment

Written Communication at NC State

Expectation

The Pack Proficiencies (General Education Competencies), including written communication, develop through multiple and sustained experiences across the General Education Program (GEP). ENG 101 provides a foundation for written communication. It is expected that the communication-in-the-major co-requisite provides additional support to build upon that foundation.

Written Communication

Written communication is the purposeful development, expression, and revision of ideas in writing for specific audiences. Effective written communication follows appropriate genre conventions and may include a combination of text and other media.

Institiute for Advanced Analytics student takes notes during class on Centennial Campus.

Outcomes

  • Writing is purposeful and varies according to context. As such, a generally educated NC State student will produce writing in a variety of genres that follows conventions appropriate to the intended audience and purpose.
  • Writing is a complex, nonlinear process. As such, a generally educated NC State student will be able to use various strategies for planning, developing, revising, and polishing texts.
  • Writing often builds on the work of others and strategies for locating and criteria for evaluating information vary according to context. As such, a generally educated NC State student will locate, evaluate, and synthesize the work of others in ways that are appropriate to the writing context.
Written Communication Outcomes Map

Assessment of Written Communication

Current Assessment Activities

In Spring 2021, DASA Assessment and the Office of Assessment and Accreditation administered the scenario-based writing task to graduating seniors. Assessment staff emailed all graduating seniors to invite them to complete the assessment virtually. The assessment was proctored online via Zoom at a testing event February 22-March 12, 2021. Staff also partnered with faculty across campus to administer the assessment to seniors in-class. 184 seniors are included in the final sample. 10 faculty from the First Year Writing Program scored the writing samples on May 20 at an online scoring session. The session was led by Assessment staff and included norming activities. Assessment staff analyzed resulting data and is preparing to share fall 2020 and spring 2021 data with faculty and staff during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Assessment staff also launched the Pack Proficiency Champions program, a one-time funding opportunity that pairs a faculty member with a Pack Proficiency Champion for the purpose of improving teaching and learning within the competency areas. In Spring 2021 we awarded 3 faculty funding to work with a Champion in the area of Written Communication. Final project reports, including associated assessment data, are due in December 2021.

Additional Links

Findings