Columbus State Community College Program Learning Outcomes

 Columbus State Community College Program Learning Outcomes Validation Report Program Digital Design & Graphics Department Integrated Media & Technology Division Career & Technical Programs Program Learning Outcomes Validation Committee Members Mary Vaughn Chair Integrated Media & Technology Gene Burleson Associate Professor Coordinator of Digital Design & Graphics Norman Clevenger Assistant Professor Digital Design & Graphics Leslie Najjar Adjunct Faculty Digital Design & Graphics July 15, 2009 Executive Summary: There were many changes made to the Graphic Communications program since the last validation report. Since Autumn Quarter 2007, Graphic Communications has evolved into the Digital Design and Graphics program. During that interval, both the industry and profession have made major changes and the program was updated to ensure that the curriculum and student learning outcomes incorporate these changing needs. VALIDATION METHODS External Work began on creating the new outcomes in July of 2006. External validation methods include graduate surveys, industry interviews, and Advisory Committee meetings. The Advisory Committee reviewed and gave their final approval in Spring 2007. Internal The internal validation methods include student exit interviews and informal meetings with adjunct faculty who work within this field; all of their comments were incorporated into developing the new learning outcomes as well. SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS During the review of the materials necessary to prepare this report, it was discovered that many of the course outlines were not up to date, missing, or were still listed under the old program name. A meeting of full‐time and adjunct faculty was held in January 2009. Work began on the course outlines to ensure currency and accuracy of learning outcomes in the course outlines. During this review, it was discovered that new/updated outcomes were needed to reflect new media, cross‐cultural skills, working with global customers, and advanced technical skills, among others. Page | 2
Section 1: Introduction Digital Design and Graphics is the interaction of advertising, graphic design, publishing, package design, digital painting, marketing, interactive media and photography. Digital Design & Graphics (formerly Graphic Communications Technology) was renamed effective Autumn quarter 2007 to reflect the new needs of the design and graphics profession. The program’s primary emphasis is on developing technical and aesthetic skills within its students to enable them to be successful in dealing with real world situations. The program offers one degree and three certificates: Desktop Publishing, Digital Design, and Digital Media. [NOTE: Since the last validation report, photography has been eliminated as part of Digital Design and Graphics and established as its own program.] Both the degree and certificates reflect the industry’s shift toward an integrated of all of the processes used to create, develop, produce or disseminate ideas, concepts, and information utilizing words or images. Enrollment Data As of Spring 2009, the program served 851 students with 722 listed as active Digital Design & Graphics majors. Eighteen students were pursuing the Desktop Publishing Certificate, 90 were pursuing the Digital Design Certificate, and 21 the Digital Media Certificate. Total FTE’s were 138.2 FTE’s in Winter 08. The demographic profile of the program includes: • 42.8% male and 57.2% female • 21.7% Black • 0.5% American Indian • 3% Asian • 2.1% Hispanic • 67.9% White Caucasian • 0.4% Non‐resident alien • 4.3% unknown students (Appendix A) The program currently offers 78% of its courses as hybrid or web based classes. The committee is currently working with Shawnee State University, Ohio Dominican University, and Savannah College of Art and Design to establish an articulation agreement between related design programs. At a macro level, the industry and profession indicated they need employees with a broader understanding of the digital design process and the ability to work with a comprehensive communications team. To accommodate these skill sets the program now includes learning outcomes in marketing and interactive media. The program has two full time faculty: Gene Burleson, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator; and, Norman Clevenger, Assistant Professor. The full time faculty works closely with nine adjunct faculty. Page | 3
The goal of the Digital Design and Graphics program is to prepare students to work in advertising, graphic design, design production, and/or to transfer to a four year institution to complete a Bachelor’s degree in digital design. The Integrated Media and Technology Department mission statement follows: The mission of the IM&T Department is to prepare students for successful career development and academic advancement in a diverse, global environment through an innovative, technologically‐rich curriculum that combines theory with practice while integrating various academic disciplines. These goals are guided by a student‐focused faculty and staff dedicated to quality instruction and media rich course content delivered through the most current learning technologies. The current goals of the Integrated Media and Technology Department are: • Maintain quarter‐to‐quarter enrollment growth of current program of at least 3% • Identify high‐demand tracks/majors in CIT and Supply Chain Management and schedule as part of Delaware campus opening • Determine status of current articulation agreements and develop new ones for emerging program areas • Working with Shawnee University, develop a 3+1 articulation agreement for video game design and video programming students • Identify areas of interest among professional community in various program areas and develop appropriate certificate offerings • Identify certificate opportunities for delivery to high school students • Develop strategies for supporting learning by online students so as to increase academic progress and retention • Increase the number of program graduates in each area by 5% by 2011 • Identify courses/programs were completion is problematic • Develop intervention strategies‐both online and face‐to‐face‐ that increase student success • Identify methods to build “communities” with students in each program areas • Working with professional associations, expand the number of available internships • Maximize the impact of the OCAN grant by expanding internship requirement to al IM&T program areas • Establish baseline data for number of students participating in internships in IM&T and the value of their internship experience Section 2: Review Resources Classroom & Lab Space: The program utilizes two computer labs; one contains 24 Windows‐based computers and the other 18 I‐Mac computers. It continues to be extremely important that digital design students have exposure to both Windows and Mac operating systems since both are common in the industry. New I‐Mac computers were installed in Summer 08 with updated software primarily Page | 4
focused on Adobe Design Suite, including: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Updated software was also installed in the PC lab at the same time. Due to the significant growth in enrollment during the last few years, lab space became a problem. One approach was to increase the class size of some courses from 18 to 24 students per section. A longer‐term solution was to convert software based courses from traditional instruction to a hybrid modality. Several meetings were held among the faculty to identify the appropriate courses for conversion and to complete the hybrid‐course development process. This practice was also implemented in the lecture based courses. Other equipment was purchased and integrated into the curriculum to increase students’ familiarity with state‐of‐the‐art industry tools. For example, Wacom tables were purchased to accommodate learning outcomes for the Digital Painting course and to teach students other ways of direct digital input. Action Plan: Additional room space is a growing problem within the college. The department will continue to create solutions to accommodate lab and lecture space. Several courses are being considered by Web‐only delivered while others will migrate to a hybrid format. A production lab was created for the program, where students learn the requirements and processes involved in the post‐production of a digital design project. This lab consists of large format printers, cutting area, five computers for editing, and mounting supplies. In addition, 24 new laptop computers capable of supporting the high‐end digital design software were purchased as part of the capital equipment process. They will provide a “moveable lab” so that digital design/graphics courses can be taught outside of the assigned labs. This lab is a new area for the program and currently working well. The department will constantly evaluate this area and problem solve as soon as issues arise. Real‐World Experience: As evidenced in the literature and through anecdotal but extensive data from program graduates, having real‐world experience is a critical component of a successful digital design degree. In addition, increasing emphasis by the Ohio Department of Education on internships is growing. For these reasons, renewed emphasis was placed on providing internship opportunities for students. Action Plan: A grant application was written to OCAN for a support person to contact the industry about new internship opportunities and to provide data as to the student’s success of the internship. Tutoring Support: As the complexity of the software covered in the program increases and the breadth of skills required of students grow, it became clear that some students were struggling in their classes. They needed additional support and guidance beyond what was given during class times. Action Plan: A tutoring plan was pilot starting in Winter2009 to help improve students’ success in selected software‐based courses. The program uses an adjunct faculty member as a tutor for outside Page | 5
classroom help and instruction for software based courses for those students that need additional time to achieve the programs learning outcomes. While data is being gathered, no conclusions have as yet been reached. Nevertheless, feedback from students and faculty has been positive about the addition of this resource. Additional Resources: The Educational Resource Center is of great importance to Digital Design and Graphics. The program has added many books and CDs, but many were outdated, especially given the new direction for the department. The department has begun to work with the Educational Resource Center to remove outdated material and seek new items for replacement. In addition, it is working on updating/expanding the ERC’s holdings. Integrated Media & Technology receives a generous budget through the library each year for the purpose of updating holdings in the various program areas. The department routinely spends this entire budget to make sure that the collection is as current and broad as possible. Section 3: Validation of Program Outcomes The program outcomes for the Graphic Communications program were changed for the academic year 2008‐2009 to reflect the conversion from Graphic Communications to Digital Design & Graphics (Appendix B). Combinations of methods were used to validate the program outcomes from the perspective of faculty, program graduates, and the digital design industry. The methods included: in‐depth review of program outcomes by department faculty (both full time and adjunct); exit interviews of program graduates: input from the Digital Design & Graphics Advisory Committee; and, program graduate surveys. During the validation process the Validation Committee recognized several issues: a) The F & S chart needed to include the latest language of the General Education Outcomes and include the learning outcomes for the 2008‐2009 academic year (Appendix C). Action Plan: The F & S chart was updated to include current General Education Outcomes and will be assessed as data becomes available. b) The Advisory Committee agreed that the new or revised courses included learning outcomes that make students more valuable to the industry and profession (Appendix D). Action Plan: Continue to monitor outcomes to insure the program produces students that make the best interns and employees. c) Several of the course outlines included Graphic Communications Technology outcomes, old version of the General Education Outcomes, or were missing. Action Plan: All course outlines are currently being reviewed and updated for accuracy. Page | 6
d) 51 graduate surveys were sent to program graduates with 16 respondents for a 31.3% response rate (Appendix E). The mean score for all general education courses was 3.3. There was a range value of 1.3. Communication‐related courses and Humanities courses scored high while Social Sciences and Speech scored below the mean. The value place on communication skills was evident in all groups except speech. General Education Outcomes English Composition, Beginning English Composition, Essay & Research Humanities (American History or Civilization Social Sciences (Social or Behavioral) Speech English Composition, Business Communications Mean Range 3.5 3.5 3.4 2.5 3.1 3.8 3.3 1.3 The mean score for all basic‐related courses was 3.4. There was a range value of 1.0. When examining the validation survey numbers of past years, math and business management continue to score low. Marketing and the interactive media skills scored high values, showing the relevance of these courses within the Digital Design & Graphics degree. Basic Related Outcomes Beginning Algebra II Marketing (Branding) Interactive Media (Media Graphics and Optimization) Interactive Media (Web publishing site design) Business Management (Project Management) Mean Range 2.7 3.6 3.5 3.7 3.3 3.4 1.0 The mean score for all Technical Studies Learning Outcomes was 3.5. There was a range of 0.4. The validation survey numbers, indicate an overall strong support for the Digital Design and Graphics learning outcomes. Understanding the management of color and the importance of good verbal and written communications were slightly below the mean and the overall judgment was these outcomes are valid and relevant to industry needs. Technical Studies Learning Outcomes Understand the Digital Design and Graphics business and be able to interact with clients, marketing, copy writers, Web designers, photographers, and printing companies. Be able to utilize the most widely used software programs in this business: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, QuarkXpress , and be introduced to Fireworks and Dreamweaver. Understand the management of color for print 3.6 3.7 3.3 Page | 7
media, photography, and interactive media.
Understand digital photography and how it works with other creative areas. Understand how an advertising agency works on projects for clients. Work in a creative environment as an individual and as a team member. Effectively prepare and present a creative portfolio. Understand the importance of good verbal and written communications. Mean Range 3.4 3.6 3.4 3.7 3.3 3.5 0.4 The mean score for all technical studies courses was 3.2. There was a range value of 1.3. When examining the validation survey numbers, Fundamentals of Storyboarding and Illustration and the technical electives scored well below the mean while Introduction to Computer Design, Digital Painting, and Portfolio Development scores slightly below the mean. The courses that were scored high focus on software and the business of design. Technical Studies Courses Survey of Digital Design Introduction to Computer Design Fundamentals of Storyboarding Digital Photography Publishing with QuarkXpress and Adobe InDesign Photoshop and Design I Advertising and Design I Fundamentals of Illustration Package Design I Digital Painting Business of Design Ad Agency I Portfolio Development Digital Photography Technical Elective Digital Design and Graphics Technical Elective Mean Range 3.5 3.1 3.0 3.6 3.3 3.9 3.4 2.6 3.6 3.1 3.3 3.3 3.1 2.6 2.6 3.2 1.3 Action Plan: Once students graduate their addresses change and e‐mail addresses change making it hard to contact students. This creates a low response to any survey being conducted and skews the data. A system will need to be developed to better track students after graduation to maintain a strong data source. We have instituted a process whereby departmental follow‐up of graduates occurs within 3 months of graduation to capture relevant data when access to the individual is still reliable. Page | 8
e) The validation committee met with/interviewed 6 industry representatives. As a whole, the consensus of this group was that the program is going in the right direction. The software that is being taught is appropriate for the needs of industry. The addition of package design and digital painting were identified as being very important to advance students’ creativity. Fundamental illustration skills (covered in several courses) provide the basic layout and drawing skills that are required by the industry. The interviews also indicated that the ad agency course give students the real world experiences that are critically needed. . Section 4: Implications of Results and Specific Plans for Revision of Curriculum and/or Program Outcomes This validation process has been an opportunity for the Digital Design & Graphics program to study what it has been doing since the last validation. Minor changes to the Plan of Study have been recommended (Appendix F) with an additional course in Photoshop for the Illustration & Design Certificate (Appendix G). This is to reflect current industry and profession needs and evolving technology trends. This committee has been made aware of recent implications of these validation results. Current needs and trends include new media, social skills, cross‐cultural/global culture skills, and advanced technical skills focused on new ways of inputting and outputting digital images. Action Plan: This committee will incorporate student learning outcomes to meet the recent trends of skill sets that will be required for students to be employed. Bloom’s Taxonomy has been used to frame these new outcomes. These outcomes will include new media, social skills, cross‐culture skills, advanced technical skills, and the addition of a focus on global customers. The goal will be to review outcomes to combine and/or develop a progression of skills. The goal of this committee is to have these learning outcomes in place by the 2010 – 2011 plan of study. Continue to examine outcome assessment results based on the new technology and industry trends to ensure student learning and readiness for the workplace. Make internships a required part of the curriculum to assure that all students have the appropriate and very necessary real‐world experience before they graduate. Page | 9
Appendix A Page | 10
Appendix B 2007 ‐ 2008 Outcomes Specify type styles and sizes, coordinate colors, and employ the elements of design to communicate effectively. Be able to handle prepress jobs with bleeds, traps, overprints, reverses, and screen tints. Use a densitometer and colorimeter to monitor dot gain, solid ink density, hue error, grayness, and LAB. Utilize QuarkXPress, InDesign, and Photoshop to generate images consistent with computer‐
supplied layouts or to correct customer‐supplied files. Use Illustrator to generate art or to correct customer‐supplied files. Use communication skills (verbal, written, and grahic) to interact effectively with both internal and external customers. Understand the components of, and the interrelationship among the various segments within digital design and graphics. Understand the basic concepts of project management including scop definition, resource allocation, and scheduling. Understand selling theory and the phases of the sales process from initial contact to close. Be familiar with the basics of interactive media production as it impacts cross‐media projects. Understand the business components within the digital design and graphics industry. Understand quantitative measures used for quality control within the digital design and graphics industry. Understand digital camera composition and color correction techniques. Page | 11
2008‐2009 Learning Outcomes Understand the Digital Design and Graphics business and be able to interact with clients, marketing, copy writers, Web designers, photographers, and printing companies. Be able to utilize the most widely used software programs in the business: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, QuarkXpress and be introduced to Fireworks and Dreamweaver. Understand the management of color for print media, photography, and interactive media. Understand digital photography and how it works with other creative areas. Understand how an advertising agency works on projects for clients. Work in a creative environment as an individual and as a team member. Effectively prepare and present a creative portfolio. Understand the importance of good verbal and written communications. Recommended Learning Outcomes Recognize the Digital Design and Graphics business and be able to interact with clients, marketing, copy writers, Web designers, photographers, and printing companies. Apply and utilize the most widely used software programs in the business: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and be introduced to Fireworks and Dreamweaver. Distinguish the management of color for print media, photography, and interactive media. Recognize digital photography and how it works with other creative areas. Recognize how an advertising agency works on projects for clients. Apply a creative environment as an individual and as a team member. Effectively prepare and present a creative portfolio. Recognize the importance of good verbal and written communications. Page | 12
Appendix C Page | 13
Appendix D IMMT & GRPH Advisory Committee Meeting March 3, 2009 WD – 404 People present at meeting: Doug Curran, Kathlyn Shadle, Doug Covel, Jessica Larva, Deborah Smith, Mindy Good, Jim Higgins, Jon Lundquist, Patrick Kenney, Rick Fellers, Norm Clevenger, Gene Burleson, Debbie Pond, Mary Vaughn Mary welcomed everyone to the joint advisory committee meeting. She gave this update on the growth of our college, division, and programs: • We gave out the Career & Technical Programs Data sheet. Information on this sheet contained the breakdown of traditional courses vs. Distance Learning courses Spring 08 and Spring 09 • The Division Summary of enrollment comparison and enrollment on census date information for Winter quarter 09 vs. Winter quarter 08 • Mary shared that CSCC had a rate of growth of 6.7% and that our department (Integrated Media and Technology) had a rate of growth of 17% • Our department has the largest distance program in the state of Ohio • We plan to focus on retaining students until they complete certificates or graduate We handed out a sheet that showed the committee the number of students in each program (GRPH and IMMT) by major and by certificate/graduation rate. As a department, we have strong numbers. We gave out information that showed enrollment trends from 2007 – 2009 for both IMMT and GRPH programs. Mary pointed out that Winter Quarter 09 was the first quarter in many years where attendance topped that of Autumn Quarter. We have shown consistent growth in the last 1 ½ years. Mary also shared that our department was focusing on going after large grants in the near future. Gene Burleson, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Digital Design and Graphics, spoke to the committee next. He told them about the substantial growth in this program. He told them that about 5 years ago, his program changed direction. His students still had a major focus on digital design but, they are also working toward a better rounded student by having them take Photography, Marketing, and Interactive Media classes. Gene passed out plans of study for Digital Design and Graphics and explained about all the different classes that his program offered. Norm Clevenger, Assistant Professor, talked about why they changed from a combined Quark/In Design class to only an In Design class. He explained steps that the students go through, and how it develops the student’s technical skills. Kathlyn Shadle talked about the GRPH 116 Introduction to Traditional Animation class and how that class has evolved from just animation and now focuses towards the new Game Art & Animation track. Gene Burleson discussed the new Digital Painting class. This class uses Corel Paint software with Wacom tablets that enables the students to draw designs on computers. This is another area of creativity that they can use‐ this is an upper level class and they must do an oral presentation (like pitching an ad campaign) at the end. They went over Norms’ Media Color Management class. This class teaches color theory and management. They also Page | 14
discuss what colors mean globally – what the color might mean to people in other countries and how that works into ads and logos. The Digital Design and Graphics program is going to start requiring internships. Gene told us that Kroger has offered many internships in the past to our students. The internships are usually for 1 to 2 students at a time and they last for 6 months. These internships are 5 days per week in the evenings and the students are paid for their work. Some of our former students have been offered jobs with Kroger after graduation. Gene also explained the various digital design and graphics certificates. These certificates are targeted toward people in the workforce who do not have time to get an associate’s degree or for people who already have a degree that just need to acquire specific knowledge. They told the committee about upcoming plans to add a Photoshop certificate. In this certificate, students will use Photoshop and Illustrator to help them better understand how to use multiple programs to work on completing projects. Jon Lundquist, Assistant Professor and Coordinator, of Interactive Media talked about his program. Jon told us that his students now cover a wide range. He has students that cover a wide demographic and skill range. Some students are at a basic level and want less technical skills, while others are more advanced and want more advanced, in depth skills. Jon handed out the plans of study for Interactive Media. He talked about the similarities to Digital Design and Graphics. He told the committee that Interactive Media uses 10 different types of software to teach the students. He also talked about the cultural phenomenon of social networks. These include ads, e‐blasts, widgets, and blogs. Our faculty are trying to balance the technology (how much is too much). Jon said that students need to understand how to design so that everyone can benefit. How they can build a site and incorporate a shopping cart and have the knowledge of how it all works together. Jim Higgins, Assistant Professor of Audio/Video, talked about how A/V has changed in many ways. He is seeing many diverse students from parents who want to learn how to take videos of their kids, to students wanting to learn how to make movies. His students now are required to produce a video and make it into a web format. Jim talked about sound effects and digital sound and how his students have to produce and make sounds and then edit them to go into post production. Patrick Kenney, instructor Game Art & Animation, gave out a handout with a course tree of his track. He told the committee that they will have a CIT programming track to run with the Game Art & Animation track. His students are learning to produce, design, and develop 2D and 3D animation. These students will need to transfer to a 4 year school to finish their degree to develop 3D skills. Patrick told us that the computer programming track will begin Autumn Quarter 2009. His students will get a strong foundation that they can use to build on when they finish here. The Game Art and Animation track relies on both Interactive Media and Digital Design and Graphics core classes to teach. Rick Fellers, Associate Professor, talked about the certificates in Interactive Media. He has been working on developing an Industry certificate from Adobe Academic and Professional. We are now an authorized testing center for this program. This certificate teaches 3 levels of communication; Dreamweaver (web), Photoshop (visual), and Flash (rich media). The students will directly follow what Adobe is sending out. We will have them create a program with software links to Adobe. After completion, Adobe issues certification to students. The created certification is on line and the first class is running now with 20 students enrolled. Jon Lundquist talked to the committee about his new class using web tools and share ware. This class is to begin Summer Quarter 2009. The committee discussed Audio/Video in the industry and what programs are now being used to edit in the industry. They discussed video vs. digital and how the industry is moving away from film Page | 15
and doing more digital and how that effects editing. Mindy Good informed the faculty and other members of the committee that the intern students that they have worked with from Columbus State’s Interactive Media program are among the best that they have worked with. She praised their skills and the quality they bring with them to the job. Jessica was very impressed with our labs and the software that we were using to teach the students. Mary Vaughn thanked the committee for all of their work with our program. Page | 16
Appendix E Page | 17
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Appendix F Page | 23
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Appendix G Page | 25