Learning Outcomes in Communication 10 Year Anniversary

2025 marks the ten year anniversary of NCA’s Learning Outcomes in Communication.

NCA’s Lumina Foundation-funded Learning Outcomes in Communication (LOC) project was a multi-year, faculty-driven initiative designed to articulate the core of the Communication discipline through a set of learning outcomes. The LOCs are meant to stimulate meaningful conversations among faculty members about enhancing curricular development in the interest of improving student learning. They are a starting point for conversations; they are not exhaustive or prescriptive. They are designed to be adapted by individual departments based on their particular imperatives and areas of focus. The LOCs are a foundation for effective assessment of student learning.

While this work is fundamentally about improving student learning, it also serves a number of other purposes, as it provides a clear articulation of the relevance of the discipline. Within the academy, for example, the LOCs are a resource for Communication departments as they advocate to administrators for their place in institutions of higher education and for the place of Communication in General Education. In the current context of assessment and accountability, there are a number of stakeholders beyond the academy who also want to know what graduating students know, understand, and are able to do with a Communication degree—from students to parents to employers.

Who Developed Learning Outcomes in Communication?

Scores of faculty members from colleges and universities all over the country applied to participate in the LOC project—in the end, 30 competitively selected, demographically diverse faculty members convened over a two-year period to formulate and articulate the LOCs. They came to the project from community colleges and small liberal arts colleges, from public state-supported teaching universities, and from doctoral-granting research universities; they were also from every stage of the academic career ladder, from newly appointed assistant professors to full professors.

What process was used to identify and articulate the learning outcomes in communication?

To identify and articulate the LOCs, project participants relied on a “Tuning” process that allowed them to determine specific, desired learning outcomes for the discipline via consultations with an array of stakeholders, including disciplinary colleagues, students, alumni, and employers.

First used by European educators in 2000, and introduced to the United States in 2009, Tuning involves a set of iterative steps that include identifying essential learning outcomes, mapping career pathways, consulting stakeholders, and honing core competencies and learning outcomes. It is a non-prescriptive, open process, driven by interaction with and among stakeholders, a process that broadens discussions while preserving faculty control over the results. Tuning in the United States thus far has been mostly state-based; only the American Historical Association and NCA have engaged in national disciplinary Tuning efforts.