ISUComm is committed to multiple forms of program assessment. When the ISUComm program was piloted in 2004, its pedagogy was carefully researched to ensure its effectiveness. As part of that pilot study, we compared student performance in the ISUComm pilot courses with students performance in other sections of English 250 at the time. After analyzing scores from a pretest and posttest essay given to students in all sections being researched, we found that students enrolled in the ISUComm pilot sections increased mean posttest scores in all five areas of evaluation (purpose, context, and audience; orderly line of thought; materials; visual communication; and mechanics and grammar), whereas students enrolled in a standard course increased mean posttest scores in only one area of evaluation (mechanics and grammar). Also, students in the ISUComm sections actually wrote more than the students in the other sections—despite ISUComm’s focus on multiple modes of communication in addition to the written mode.
In addition to the quantitative findings noted above, we also collected qualitative data through surveying students in both groups. In these surveys, many ISUComm students indicated that their attitudes toward communication had improved as a result of the course, while few comparison group students registered a similar change of attitude. And in a follow-up survey conducted in 2007, seniors who had participated in the 2004 pilot study indicated that they were still significantly affected by ISUComm and WOVE. They talked particularly about specific assignments (thinking professionally about email, giving oral presentations), remarking on the confidence-building and awareness-raising nature of WOVE activities. They also confirmed the limited opportunities for communication practice in the sophomore year, an observation elaborated in an ISUComm 2005 survey.