Program Artifacts

The materials here present my Associate in Arts program outcomes at South Piedmont Community College. These program outcomes are considered the essentials for a student to graduate with an Associate in Arts degree.

 

These artifacts are much broader than the core skills and require a much higher thought process.The program outcomes for the Associate in Arts include communication competency, cultural competency, creative problem solving, information and media literacy, having an understanding in arts and the human experience, and social scientific literacy. Each of these program outcomes contains some of my best work while working towards my AA.

 

Each of these artifacts will show how much I have grown throughout my two years at SPCC. Each program outcome will state where each artifact is coming from, an overview of the assignment, how the artifact benefitted me, and how these skills can be applied to my field of study.

 

Communication Competence

Learners will become effective communicators and critics of communication in the written, oral, and visual contexts of their discipline.

The two SMART goals I have set for this program outcome are to effectively communicate my thoughts and ideas and to be capable of applying this competence to every aspect of my major.

 

It is essential to have good communication skills, especially in today’s society. We interact with people every day of our lives. As with any career, communication competence is a very important skill. Throughout my time at SPCC, I have taken many classes that will help with effectively being a written and oral communicator of my major. 

 

The artifact that I have chosen is from my ENG 112 class. The class was instructed to write a four to five research paper relating to our field of study. This paper was formatted in APA format and required a minimum of five outside sources. Since I am planning on majoring in Special Education Teaching, I chose to write my paper about How Technology Benefits Special Needs Students. 

 

Before this paper, I wasn’t exactly sure what discipline I was planning on going into. My professor told us if we weren’t sure, to just pick something we have always been interested in. I was always interested in teaching, especially since I had been around it a lot of my high school career. I looked a little more into teaching and thought Special Education seemed interesting, so I decided to write my paper about the benefits of technology for special needs students. As I got deeper into my paper, my interest in Special Education got stronger. Then, I started to do some volunteer work and that is when my love for Special Education began. 

 

This paper not only was the beginning of my career, but it helped me advance my research and writing skills. Because of communication competence, I was able to present a well -written research paper. 

 

Cultural Competence

Learners will become effective communicators and critics of communication in the written, oral, and visual contexts of their discipline.

 

For cultural competence, I set two SMART goals. These goals include grasping an understanding of the different cultures and religions and to use this understanding in my discipline. 

 

Cultural competence is very important in our everyday lives. As someone who is planning a future in education, it is important to have a good understanding of other cultures and religions as a classroom can be diverse. 

 

The artifact I have chosen for this program outcome was taken from my REL 110 class. This class was based on learning about world religions. This class really opened my eyes to the different cultures and religions we have all over the world. This assignment was based on defining certain terms from Hinduism in a way that we understood. I had to give my personal understanding of each term, I had to redefine them, and then discuss the difference found between the popular usage and actual definition. The terms I had to discuss include karma, reincarnation, yoga, guru, and chakras. 

 

This assignment really allowed me to find insight into the Hindu religion. I was able to express my understanding of the terms and the misconceptions and the correct usage of the terms. My cultural competence really expanded when completing this assignment. 

 

Creative Problem Solving

Learners will apply appropriate techniques to solving problems within their discipline.

 

The two SMART goals I set for this program outcome was to have the ability to notice a problem and use the techniques learned to provide a plausible solution.

 

In teaching, there are plenty of problems that will be faced on a daily basis. It is important to have strong problem-solving skills in order be an effective teacher. During my time at SPCC, I was faced with plenty of educational and personal problems on a daily basis. Assignments such as group discussions, critical thinking activities, and hypothesis testing in statistics allowed me to be effective when finding a solution.

 

I chose a proposal presentation from my COM 231 class as my artifact for this program outcome. This assignment was a presentation based on a specific proposal. I chose to do my proposal on Why College Textbooks Deserve to Be Free. This assignment allowed me to use research to back up my proposal and then suggest alternatives to lowering the prices of textbooks.

 

This artifact really helped me understand the importance of strong problem-solving skills. After finding research on my topic, I was able to present a reasonable solution to the outrageous prices of textbooks.

 

Information and Media Literacy

Learners will demonstrate the use of appropriate technology to locate, interpret, and make informed judgments about information and media within their discipline.

 

For this program outcome, my first SMART goal is to use the appropriate technology to find data for research correctly. My second SMART goal is to be able to decide for myself if whether this data for my research is relevant and appropriate. 

 

It is very important to understand how to correctly research information, otherwise when conducting research for an experiment, teaching lesson plan, etc. information may be false or incorrectly stated. Not all research can be found on the Internet. Information can be found through books, articles, newspapers, etc. Developing this skill will allow people to interpret their own understanding found through their research. 

 

The artifact I chose for this program outcome was a paper written in my ENG 111 class. This assignment was a five to seven-page research paper relating to the topic of our choice. This paper was required to have a minimum of five outside sources and was to be written in APA format. The topic I chose for this research paper was How The Internet Is Affecting Our Brains.

 

This paper was actually very interesting to write. There are so many pros and cons to the Internet. I was able to see the importance of finding correct information to write an effective research paper. When researching this topic, there

was many different standpoints as to how our brains are being affected by the Internet. But, I really feel like the many different standpoints on this topic allowed me to get enough information from both sides to effectively contribute it into my research paper. 

 

Understanding the Arts and the Human Experience

Learners will demonstrate an understanding of arts and humanities in historical and cultural contexts.

 

For this program outcome, my two SMART goals are to attain a better understanding of art history and history of other cultures. 

 

It is very important to today’s society to have knowledge of history in other cultures. Without this knowledge, we may be uneducated of what is happening all over the world today. During my time at SPCC, I have learned about the arts and humanities in historical and cultural contexts through classes such as MUS 110, POL 120, ART 115, and HIS 112. 

 

For this program outcome, I took an assignment from MUS 110 to present as my artifact. For this assignment, we were given twelve questions about the music during the Middle Ages. Each question gave me more insight into the music of the Middle Ages. 

 

This assignment showed that I had gained an understanding of music from the Middle Ages. I found this class very interesting and beneficial. I able to advance my historical knowledge of music during the Middle Age era. 

 

Social Scientific Literacy
Learners will demonstrate an understanding of social science methodologies in order to explain the consequences of human actions. 

 

My two SMART goals that I set for this program outcome are to have a better understanding behind human actions and to how those actions may affect other humans. 

 

An understanding of social science of human actions is very important when going through life. Throughout our lives, we will face situations where we have to think of the way our actions may affect not only ourselves, but the people around us. 

 

For this program outcome, I used an assignment from SOC 210. This assignment was considered our final. We were required to answer five essay questions, each question required a 5-7 sentence response, about the main topics taught in SOC 210. This assignment was written in MLA format.

This final assignment really gave me a better understanding of human actions and their consequences. The questions presented in this assignment include: 

1. Discuss, using a specific example, how prejudice and stereotypes feed racism and discrimination.

2. Discuss the functions of the family unit in society. Also, discuss how the family serves as the primary group and the primary agent of socialization in society.

3. Using three sociological theories explain the sociological concept of deviant behavior.

4. Using specific examples describe how agents of socialization influence our gender role development.

5. What are some cultural factors in our society that are influencing health in America OR education in America? Be very specific and use an illustration ( a picture)  in your response.

 

I was able to grasp the concept of social science and how these situations that affect those culturally, socially, and behaviorally.