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The Test of Oral Communication Skills (TOCS) is a computerized, multiple-choice test developed collaboratively by the JMU School of Communication Studies (SCOM) and the JMU Center for Assessment and Research Studies (CARS). It is designed to assess those communication competencies identified by the National Communication Association as standards appropriate for higher education. These standards call for a college graduate to:
Understand and apply the fundamentals of audience analysis, and the construction, development, organization, and presentation of messages;
Identify, evaluate and employ critical and sensitive listening behaviors;
Recognize and apply the influences of self-concept, perception, and culture on communication;
Identify and manage the verbal and nonverbal dimensions of communication in a variety of contexts.
TOCS provides assessment of knowledge and comprehension, as well as application and evaluation of oral communication competency. TOCS contains both text based and multimedia items which ensure an assessment that is linkable to both cognitive and behavioral competencies. TOCS may be used for program assessment of a general education oral communication competency or to test the oral communication competency of individual students.
Web-based
Adaptex software (developed by CARS with FIPSE grant)
60 operational items
Multiple-choice items (multimedia intensive)
Password protected
Reliability: 0.77
Communication Fundamentals |
25 |
10 |
15 |
Speaking |
18 |
6 |
12 |
Listening |
17 |
8 |
9 |
Internet Explorer 5.0 or later
Resolution: 1024 X 768
Windows or UNIX operating system
Test software resides on JMU servers
Secure administration
CARS provides institutions with dataset of scores and scored responses.
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