Continued assessment of students´ learning experience in an oral communication course at MIT for EECS majors

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) majors at MIT are required to take an oral communications course called “6. UAT” that teaches oral presentation skills and other professional skills that students will need to be effective in the workplace. An assessment of the oral presentation skills component of the course, consisting of a survey and an interview, was designed and conducted in Spring 2009. We performed the assessment again, with a larger cohort during the Fall 2009 semester and in this paper, describe the outcomes of (1) a class survey of 146 students (with 104 respondents or a 71% response rate) and (2) student interviews in which 7 out of 10 randomly-selected individuals participated. The findings from both instruments for both cohorts were consistent and positive; students were enthusiastic about the course, found it useful and viewed the experience positively.