Kamryn Flake
College Student
Associates in Art Program Outcomes
Artifacts can be accessed by clicking on the image for each Program Outcome.
This page demonstrates the six Associate in Arts Program Outcomes which include the following: Communication Competence, Cultural Competence, Creative Problem Solving, Information and Media Literacy, Understanding the Arts and the Human Experience, and Social Scientific Literacy. To demonstrate each one of these things, I have provided work which has been completed through courses at South Piedmont Community College (SPCC). My strongest program outcomes are Creative Problem Solving and Information and Media Literacy. Creative Problem Solving is one of my strongest program outcomes since I find it interesting to solve challenging problems. I am able to think through the multiple steps often required to get a final answer. An additional program outcome I am strong in is Information and Media Literacy. I feel that throughout middle school and my freshman year of high school, I would not have been so good at this. As my teachers from both SPCC and Anson High School has helped me improve in this area, I would say it is my strongest. My weakest program outcomes is Social Scientific Literacy. The reason Social Scientific Literacy is my weakest is because I realized by taking Sociology, understanding can be difficult. Although I understand the overall concepts, I still question this particular topic.
Communication Competence: Learners will become
effective communicators in their discipline.
I took Public Speaking (COM-231) in the fall of 2017, where we
had to write different types of speeches. We used a template
that would guide what I was suppose to discuss called a
full-sentence outline with either an informative or persuasive speech. Using this outline, I was attempting to inform the audience about DiGeorge Syndrome and how that topic was personal to me. By doing this speech, I learned how to communicate medical terminology into simpler language and explain it for the audience to understand. This speech had a very interesting attention-getter, or introduction. With the attention getter, I wanted to get the audience interested in this topic, by telling my sister’s personal story about her condition. This artifact is beneficial to this particular standard as it relates to my future career, shares a topic that many are not educated on.
To begin my program outcomes, I will become an expert in the subject matter that I am communicating and use interesting research to support my point is my first Smart Goal. People that are not in the medical field generally are not very interested in healthcare conditions so I included facts which would engage the audience. I started with my sister’s story, which explain her medical journey. My researched revealed that a deletion in chromosome 22 can have a major impact on various body systems. The Powerpoint contained an illustration and demonstration of of how it affected the different systems.
My next smart goal is I will have a well-organized speech. By having an organized paper, it allows for the audience to engage in the presentation. First, I start with my attention getter, which is very important when doing a speech. With my attention getter, I talked about my sister’s personal story. I thought it was interesting to the audience and even though most of them know my sister personally, they were not aware of her medical journey. For the ones that do not know her, it allowed them to get to know her, personally and medically.
Next I stated my thesis. I presented the three main points I will be discussing throughout my speech. My thesis statement was, “The main points are the causes, effects, and treatment for the side effects associated with DiGeorge Syndrome.” Both of these are essential for beginning an effective speech.
After stating my thesis statement, I transitioned to the three main points and the factual information for each one. When moving from one point to another, it is very important to transition so the reader is aware of what I’ve already talked about and what will be talked about next. At the end of my speech, I gave an overview of what I discussed. Along with an overview, I added a clincher. For my clincher, I wanted to leave the audience with a thought. I stated the following, “The next time you are judging someone because of their ability to do something or the way they look, remember that they may have obstacles or complications you are unaware about.”
By doing each of these things, it demonstrated to the audience my speech is organized. I started with something interesting, provided factual information, and ended with an interesting fact. Having an organized speech allows the audience to understand the information being presented. An organized speech also helped me present the information in a clear manner.
Cultural Competence: Learners will recognize and adapt to various cultures, ideas, and practices within their discipline.
During the fall of 2017, I took American History II (HIS 132). In this particular class, we explored different historical events that have an impact on today’s society. The paper I decided to present was my book review on Flags of Our Fathers. This essay was an overview of the book, along with my personal opinions. This book focused on the six United States Marines that raised the flag at Iwo Jima during World War II. This artifact is related to this standard because it shows how American culture has developed.
My first smart goal is that I will be able to learn more about different cultures throughout the remainder of my college career. I feel that it is very important to know the different cultures as it will be vital to know in today’s society. With this particular artifact the audience can see that I learn about the marines. The marines went from the age of 20s-30s, for the most part anyways. They volunteered to be marines so that they wouldn’t have to go to the army, which seemed to be the worst out of all of them. They showed how they felt by writing letters in their free time, which is important to how they coped
with certain things. But the most important was their religion was a contributing factor in helping them through one of the most difficult times in their lives. They all had different beliefs with religion but they all believed that this was something that helped them get through the hard times. By the end of the paper, I realized that they went through many obstacles, some they conquered and some they did not.
My second smart goal is that I will be able to understand an individual’s beliefs. These marines went through something that was life changing. I can’t personally speak for the soldiers due to me not being in their position and not even coming close to it. It is known that the individual comes back a different way from the war than what they went in like. I understand why they wouldn’t want to talk about the war but it was hard to comprehend when first learning about it. An example of this from my artifact is “James Bradley knew little of his father’s war background. This was due to his father not liking to speak about it because of the horrible memories it left behind.” It truly is hard to understand why the individuals believe what they do. I feel like I have achieved this goal by understanding the importance of the individual’s thoughts and actions.By having this goal with this specific artifact, it was difficult to understand their beliefs and feelings. I had to realize that every one is a different and overcome thing in a different way.
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Creative Problem Solving: Learners will apply appropriate techniques to solving problems within their discipline.
I was enrolled in Writing in Discipline (ENG 112) during the Spring of 2018. The product I presented was an informative essay that is called “Diabetic Children In the School Environment.” This essay was written using APA format since it was a scientific/medical topic. The paper focused on diabetic children and the difficulties they endure during a typical school day. When writing this paper, I specifically focused on the use of strong vocabulary. I also provided thorough descriptions and details for each specific point in my thesis. I felt that the proposal was effective as it stated the problem, and various solutions for the issue associated with the type of healthcare children need in the school system.
There are different issues within both public and private school systems, however, health problems of young people is one that is often overlooked. Students with diabetes, Type 1 or Type 2, believe the school environment could be improved by having positive and supportive people in the school environment. My first smart goal is that I will provide a simple, achievable solution for needs in both the public and private school system.
I feel I have accomplished this goal by stating all school members, including nurses, teachers, support staff, and cafeteria staff can help those needs. It is stated in my artifact that the child’s nutrition and extracurricular activities impact the overall health of the child. It is easy for school personnel to be both knowledge and supportive of those with diabetes. At first, I just thought that the nurses would be needed but after doing research it is essential for the entire school staff to be knowledgable. It is important because sometimes a school nurse isn't there due to various reasonsso there has to be a backup plan for when they aren't there.
My second smart goal for this artifact is that I will be able to deliver a resolution that is not costly, yet comprehensive for the staff. The essay gives different suggestions for the things school personnel needs to know and being able to do. The parents and school staff need to be knowledgeable and able to communicate effectively regarding diabetic children. The parents are responsible for getting all of the necessary medical supplies to the schools. Nurses are responsible for knowing what the specific needs of the individual are and what they need in order to help manage the diabetes. The principal will ensure that the teachers and other staff members are following all mandated laws regarding the students’ well being and overall health. With this plan, the only thing the school would have to pay for is backup snacks and supplies needed to additional medical care as needed. At the beginning, I thought it would be good that the entire school should go to a training session on diabetes. I then learned that it cost quite a bit of money. I figured as long as the nurse taught them and they follow the rules, they would know everything they need to. The only other thing they would have to pay for is the backup supplies and snacks, like I stated before.
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Information and Media Literacy: Learners will demonstrate the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively and responsibly use and share that information for the problem at hand.
In the fall of 2018, I took American Literature II (ENG 232). In this class, we looked at many different time periods with various genres of writing. The program artifact I chose was my final paper in this class, entitled “Feminism Psychology of Daisy Miller: A Study.” This paper was a conspiracy theory essay about a girl, Daisy, that struggled against European traditions. This artifact examined all aspects of this particular story and the relation it has to Feminist Psychology. This allowed me to demonstrate a problem to the audience and explain it so that the audience was able to interpret it.
My first smart goal is, I will be able to backup my theory, which isn’t a well-known topic, with various credible sources. At first, I struggled with writing this paper because I chose one theory and seemed to be fighting against the truth of the matter. I had difficulty finding information to back it up. The sources I did find were not trustworthy. I chose to reread this particular story and ended up changing my theory. This story had a psychological effect on the main two characters Daisy and Winterbourne. Each one’s actions reflected on the other’s.
In order to support my theory, I used the SPCC databases, a book that was written by our well educated teacher, the required class book, and additional outside, credible resources. The outside resources were credible, as each provided the author, which I researched. Locating strong, credible resources was not easy, so I had to research carefully.
This leads to my second smart goal, which states, I will figure out when I need the research information in my paper. At first, I struggled with this since providing support for your own theory is not easy. This was one of the most challenging papers I have written. However, by by setting these goals and accomplishing each one, my paper successful. After doing research on the different theories, I decided which one best fit my theory. Once my research was completed, I had to figure out when additional information was needed and when it was not. For this specific artifact, I wrote my personal theory and backed it up with credible information. For example, I wrote about how feminist psychology is viewed differently between women and men. For my research I stated, “Torrey’s additional meaning of feminist psychology states, psychology of women as understood by the feminist psychology, her concepts of what women are and how they got that way.” After writing that, I gave an example of how that it relates to the characters of the story. I felt this was most effective as I discussed my theory, supported it with research, and showed the correlation to the book. The majority of my essay was written using this format.
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Understanding the Arts and the Human Experience: Learners will demonstrate an understanding of arts and humanities in historical and cultural contexts.
Art Appreciation (ART-111) is a class I took the spring of 2018. My product is an assignment about The Last Supper. It was a an art criticism essay, where I analyzed a piece of artwork and understood the background knowledge of its history. I think this best demonstrates arts and human experience because all aspects of art is important including the historical and cultural contexts.
The first smart goal I created for this paper was that I would be able to understand why an artist creates a certain piece of artwork, and the message they are trying to convey. I was familiar with The Last Supper and the significance associated with Biblical teachings. However, I was not aware that certain pictures or paintings are drawn a certain way for a reason. Instead of just glancing at this picture, I have to observe and ponder on it to understand its purpose. The colors and shapes seemed realistic and very common for the 1490’s time period. What stood out the most was the hidden shapes. Jesus Christ is presented as a firm triangle while the disciples are curvy lines and organic shapes. It shows that Christ is the main focus of this painting. I learned that it is very important to do research on the particular paintings that the individual is examining.
The last smart goal I have for my Program Outcomes is that I will be able to understand the cultural background of a piece of art. With this particular piece of art, it related to the Christian religion and is part of a historical event. The Renaissance was a major time period. This piece is known as one of the Renaissance classics. The Renaissance was during the period of 1300 -1600. It was a period in which artists began focusing on religion. Da Vinci was creating a visual for this Biblical narrative, which seemed very straightforward. This is the final moments before Jesus was crucified. The work highlights the culture of the Christian religion. I didn't realize at first how important it is for someone to know the background cultural on the artwork. It shows why the artist drew what they did and also what time period it was completed.
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Social Scientific Literacy: “Learners will demonstrate an understanding of social science methodologies in order to explain the consequences of human actions.”
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I completed Introduction to Psychology (PSY 150) in the spring of 2018. I chose my reflective paper from this class, which was my “Autobiographical Essay.” This psychology paper demonstrated my understanding of the concepts and how they relate to my personal life. I had little to no understanding of the background of psychology. Through the five concepts; stress, motivation, learning, state of consciousness, and personality, I learned why I react to certain situations and why I react the way I do. This is relevant to this particular program standard because it shows the way humans react to specific things, along with how they affect the individual.
My first smart goal is that I will become knowledgeable of basic psychology terms and theories. I was not aware of how complex psychology is, or how it impacts people’s decisions and actions. For example, state of consciousness is our awareness of our environment and us. Within this concept, sleep was a major topic. There are two types of sleep REM & NREM. REM is rapid eye movement, which is the dreaming stage and NREM is the non rapid eye movement, where we spend the majority of their sleep. If a person does not get a good night's’ rest, it can affect the individual’s overall health. These were just a few examples of what the basic psychology is that we learned. To be able to go throughout the class, it was essential to know the basics.
This leads to my second smart goal, which is to be able to apply the basics know how they will affect an individual and whether it can change a person’s habits. One activity I completed was a sleep study worksheet. By the end of the week, I could tell which days I had the most sleep and how the lack of sleep affected me. By doing this worksheet, it helped me improve my sleep schedule. In addition, I made a an effort to avoid situations which made me feel stressed, and would allow me to be more productive. I find myself still using these methods as I get my work done before getting home from school, stay off my phone before going to bed, and going to bed early. I didn't know psychology had to do so much with the way we do certain things. By doing this activity it showed me the relations between my sleep and the basic terms and theories of psychology.
If someone read this paper that was not familiar with psychological theories, they would be able to learn more about why they do the things they do. Writing this paper helped me understand more about myself and my peers. By learning more about my thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, I have a better understand of why I do the things I do. This artifact demonstrates I have successfully accomplish this goal.