Newsletter August / September 2018

ILOs vs. GELOs: What’s the difference?

In fall 2015, Clovis Community College’s former Program Review/SLO Committee constructed and vetted the first official college-wide learning outcomes for the institution. At the time, the committee deemed them General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs).

Last year, after discussions and analysis of other two-year college’s institutional and general education outcomes in the new Outcomes & Assessment Committee, however, members began to realize that CCC’s 12 GELOs were not technically “general education” as the term is usually applied. Rather, the outcomes were more a reflection of what every student who completes an experience at Clovis Community College should attain: Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs). The committee has begun operating/analyzing all things related to these outcomes as ILOs this semester. The outcomes themselves have not changed, only their official title.

What are the implications of the change?

The switch in terms from GELOs to ILOs will not affect business or the work faculty, staff, and administration do around campus at all. Instead, these 12 statements will now simply communicate more strongly to those who read them that:

• CCC wants all students to achieve these outcomes, regardless of major or goal, and
• all programs and departments on campus are working to help students achieve these goals, both instructional and non-instructional.

Need help on outcomes?

Contact Anna Martinez (SLOs) or Erica Johnson (SUOs)

What are the college’s ILOs??

1. Communication & Literacy
   1. Interpret various types of written, visual, and verbal information.
   2. Organize ideas and communicate precisely and clearly to express complex thoughts both orally and in writing.
   3. Synthesize researched information obtained from accurate, credible, and relevant sources to support, advance, or rebut an opinion. 
2. Critical Thinking
   1. Analyze quantitative and qualitative information and apply scientific methodologies.
   2. Use critical and creative modes of inquiry to solve problems, explore alternatives, and make decisions.
   3. Integrate and apply knowledge, skills, and abilities gained in a variety of courses to new situations.
3. Global Awareness
   1. Use cultural, historic, or aesthetic perspectives to analyze the fine arts, humanities, and social sciences.
   2. Recognize and practice civic, environmental, and social responsibility.
   3. Demonstrate understanding and respectful treatment of diverse cultures of the world. 
4. Personal Responsibility and Professional Development
   1. Use physical and psychological principles to make healthy lifestyle choices.
   2. Use theoretical and practical knowledge to make ethical personal and professional decisions.
   3. Use effective collaboration tactics when working with others.

Communication Program – From SLO data to Comm Lab

Three years ago, students in basic oral communication classes at CCC were struggling a little with research and organization. While grades, completion, and retention numbers did not necessarily reveal a problem, routine SLO data analysis told a different story.

After Communication instructors examined the SLO results and discussed possible reasons for the disparity, they brainstormed solutions to help students who were having trouble with these concepts. After realizing the difficulties with ideas such as spending more time in class on the concepts and/or adding a prerequisite of English 1A to the courses, instructors decided it was finally time to “build” a Communication Lab.

Building the Lab

After one year of running a makeshift lab in a classroom one day a week with one tutor at the helm (recruited by Communication instructors), instructors began working with the Tutorial Center to bring the “Comm Lab” into the Tutorial Center.

Now, Communication instructors recruit tutors who have done well in Comm classes to work in the lab (sometimes taken from the Tutorial Center’s existing pool of excellent tutors). The tutors set a schedule of a couple of days a week for a couple of hours at a time, and they take over the eastern-most section of the Tutorial Center (room 141) to help students on concepts and skills such as:

• brainstorming speech ideas
• generating and organizing main points
• researching for speeches
• outlining
• practicing speeches

Communication instructors refer students to the lab when they need extra help (some even offer extra credit), and the lab tracks the students who attend and their reasons for requesting assistance.

^{Fall 2018 Comm Lab tutors: Chloe Crull, Breeze Leal, and Matt Weymouth}

Hard work, but worth it

Communication Instructor, Tiffany Sarkisian, says that the chance to practice speeches is the greatest benefit the Lab brings to students. Students who practice their speeches have a greater chance of giving a successful speech. Additionally, students with adjunct instructors who do not keep office hours have a chance to get help from knowledgeable peers. Recent SLO results have shown an improvement in research and organization.

Finding knowledgeable, capable, and available Communication tutors, Sarkisian notes, is possibly the biggest challenge of maintaining the Lab. However, for the past several semesters, veteran tutor, Breeze Leal, has helped the Lab tremendously. She coordinates schedules, works with students, and serves an important role as liaison between the Comm faculty and the tutors.

Expanding the lab

Last semester, the Comm Lab expanded to ALL disciplines. Students working on speeches in other content area classes (e.g. Psychology, Biology) are welcome to come in for help and faculty members are welcome to refer them.

The Communication Program’s use of SLO data is an excellent example of how one small assessment can make an impact campus wide!

For questions on the Comm Lab, contact Tiffany Sarkisian at x. 5322 or tiffany.sarkisian@cloviscollege.edu.