The long-established notion that language is not the only available means of communication has led to a growing interest in diverse communication modalities, which can be extended to higher education assessment. Traditionally, language courses in higher education rely on written essays and presentations for assessment. However, the emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence has introduced challenges to these conventional assessment methods, because students can complete these tasks with some simple prompts for ChatGPT. To enhance higher education assessments, incorporating multimodal components that merge various semiotic modes has been proposed. While scholars have addressed the integration of multimodality into course design, few studies have explored its practical implementation in assessment and course design. This article examines the effects of multimodal assessments on 86 students enrolled in an English communication course and the transferability of assessment skills to other courses and domains. As an initial exploration of a two-year large-scale project, by utilizing data from content analysis of qualitative student interviews along with quantitative survey results, the study assesses the implications for English communication assessment and skill transferability based on students’ self-perception. Initial 4ndings reveal that students who engaged in the course and multimodal assessment effectively translated a variety of so skills into other university courses and other domains. is study also showcased that collaborative multimodal projects are conducive to so skills development and transfer.

Authors: Maisie Glofcheski and Rosita Cheng

Presentation Context:

Now that our pilot project is complete, we are currently testing some materials and ideas in the LANG4030 course, which will no longer be offered after this year. Moving forward, our current plan is to create short 1-2 credit courses with an innovative structure. Our plan is to start with in-class lessons during the add/drop period to help students understand how the course works, followed by out-of-class learning through microlearning modules, scaffolded by student peer-review activities, and face-to face consultations with the instructor. Students will then be invited back to the classroom at the end of the course. The timing will be strategically aligned with their needs during major final year project deadlines.

Based on the feedback and recommendations from the discussion and survey conducted during our Wednesday session, here is a summary of the comments:

Short Report Writing Courses:

• Course Structure: The majority of colleagues (83%) believe that writing courses should be 1 credit, discipline-specific (for Engineering only), and graded on a pass/fail basis.
• Consultations: Many colleagues suggested integrating one-on-one consultations midway through the course as a scaffolding measure, inspired by the LANG4030 design.
• Workshop Offerings: Some colleagues recommended that the CLE also offer some general writing workshops for students looking to build foundational skills, as indicated by CSE faculty in the student needs analysis survey.
• Microlearning Modules: There was unanimous support for combining discipline-specific microlearning modules with face-to-face elements.

Short Oral Presentation Courses:

• Discipline Specificity: Colleagues were divided on whether these courses should be discipline-specific (40% in favour, 60% against). Many noted that essential presentation skills and techniques are common across disciplines.
• Course Offerings: Some colleagues suggested that both discipline-specific and general courses should be available in the future, although FYP presentation skills should be prioritized in the short term.
• Instructional Methods: There was a consensus that microlearning modules are more suitable for written reports, while a heavier emphasis on face-to-face instruction is necessary for oral presentation courses to facilitate instant feedback. Suggestions included using pre-recorded videos and authentic student video examples, as mentioned by CSE faculty in the student needs analysis survey.

Additional Suggestions

• Multimodal Video Courses: Several colleagues highlighted the need for 1 credit short courses on designing multimodal videos, as video creation has become a replacement for poster presentations in CSE/CPEG and potentially other sub-departments in Engineering and related disciplines. This course may not need to be discipline-specific, so we will investigate which departments require videos for their final year projects.
• Resource Reutilization: It was proposed that many resources from the retired LANG1403 course could be repurposed for this initiative, maximizing the value of existing materials.