Assessment

The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism uses an assessment process to gauge how well we teach our students the skills and values they will need in their careers. Our goal is to gather information on how we are meeting our educational objectives. It does not measure the performance of any individual student or professor. 

Shortly after graduation each year, we assemble a panel to read a sample of those portfolios. All of the work is anonymous – we won’t know which student produced which piece. The panelists submit their feedback online, and that is processed by the Academic Affairs team. Results are shared with the faculty, followed by a discussion about how to address and perceived shortcomings.

To do this, we have an online system so we can assemble a portfolio of work from every student in the MA and MS programs. 

Master of Science Students

We collect: 

  • First fully reported and executed, UNEDITED, Reporting piece (not drills or beat notes)
  • Last fully reported and executed, UNEDITED, Reporting piece
  • First fully reported and executed, UNEDITED, Written Word piece
  • Last fully reported and executed, UNEDITED, Written Word piece
  • Ethics or Critical Issues class final project
  • First fully reported and executed, UNEDITED, Seminar & Discipline I piece
  • Last fully reported and executed, UNEDITED, Seminar & Discipline I piece
  • First fully reported and executed, UNEDITED, Seminar & Discipline II piece
  • Last fully reported and executed, UNEDITED, Seminar & Discipline II piece
  • Master’s Project

 

Here is the guidance we provide to the faculty, alumni and professional panelists for the MS program:

Reporting

Description: The reporting module focuses on the ways that journalists gather and assess information. While basic written structure is covered in this class, instructors do not devote significant time to the finer points of writing, which is covered in a writing module in the second half of the semester in the writing module. In the reporting module, students cover beats, and though assignments vary from one section to the next, most instructors assign a mix of deadline and enterprise stories. These stories may be executed in written or multimedia formats.

Look for: When assessing students’ progress in this module, look for growth in reporting abilities, both in terms of breadth of sources and depth of reporting; also growth in verification and contextualization of information, and in students’ understanding of what constitutes a journalistic story. Consider story structure and presentation as secondary elements.

Written Word 

Description: The goal of this module is to teach students to communicate clearly, accurately and engagingly. Though this is not a “reporting” course, students are expected to apply the reporting skills they learned in the first 7 weeks to stories they write in the second half. All students are required to take a writing module in the fall semester, but we offer a number of “flavors.” Examples include: Business Writing; Deadline Writing; Feature Writing; Narrative Writing; Writing with Data; and Writing for the Ear.

Look for: Growth in writing abilities, underpinned by solid reporting. 

Image & Sound

Description: All students take an Image & Sound module in the fall or spring semester. They have four options from which to choose: audio, data, photo or video.  (They select one.) The Image & Sound modules are introductory courses, meant to acquaint students to the techniques and technical skills necessary for journalistic storytelling in audio, data, photo or video.  Students then build on these skills in other classes. 

Look for: Because these classes are introductory, the pieces produced - particularly the initial assignments in video classes - may be exercises, as opposed to journalistic stories. Look for a growing understanding of the medium between the first piece and the second, and, where applicable, improved technical abilities. Students coming out of these classes should have a basic level of understanding of the medium, and basic technical abilities that they can build upon in later classes. 

Master’s project

Description: The master’s project is students’ most sustained effort during their time at the journalism school, encompassing both fall and spring semesters. It’s not a thesis in the traditional academic sense; rather, it’s an in-depth exploration of a topic as a journalist would pursue it. Students work under the guidance of advisors who serve as editors, helping them to refine their story idea, figure out a reporting strategy and structure the project, and edit three drafts, the third of which is represented in each portfolio. Master’s projects can take a variety of forms, some of them incorporating elements from more than one medium: words, photo, audio, video, data. 

Look for: Deep reporting and polished storytelling, while keeping in mind that, unlike most schools, the master’s project is not the culmination of a year’s worth of work or reflective of the full course of study that students take at our school. Rather, the bulk of the work on these projects was done early in the spring semester, and the final project was turned in before spring break. The master’s project was the subject of a year-long study by the Committee on Instruction this year, and will be revamped for next year to address the ongoing changes in journalism and ongoing issues we have seen with these projects. 

Spring seminar/production classes

Description: In the spring semester, students take two 15-week seminars which allow them to explore more deeply the areas of journalism that interest them. Some spring classes take a deep dive into a particular subject area (Business Reporting; Covering Religion, Environmental Reporting, Investigating Health Care); others are medium focused (Book Writing, Computational Journalism, Multimedia Design, Video Storytelling). We also offer news-production classes (Video Newsroom; City Newsroom) and project-based classes (The Investigative Project, Cross-border Investigations Using Data)

Look for: Because we offer such a wide variety of spring classes, and the files in each portfolio are anonymous, we don’t know which classes will be represented in the portfolios you read. Regardless, look for growth in storytelling, and increasing polish between the first assignment and the last. The final pieces in these classes are the last things students will do under our auspices before heading to newsroom internships and jobs. Are they ready? 

 

For Master of Arts students, panelists review the masters thesis from multiple students. This is the guidance we give to students, advisors and reviewers regarding the thesis project:

The MA thesis will be the biggest piece of journalistic work the students produce in the program. We want them to find compelling stories, learn a great deal about a complicated subject, tap a wide range of sources, develop a sophisticated and convincing analysis, and craft a gripping narrative. 

While intellectually rigorous and carefully documented, the thesis is not designed to be a scholarly article; it should read like a piece of journalism suited for a general audience. Students should set out to complete the sort of work that an educated reader (or viewer, or listener) would consume with pleasure and that an expert in the field would deem informed and thoughtful.