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Full-Text Articles in Education
Undergraduate Instructor Assistants (Uias): Friend Or Foe, William J. Seiler, Jenna Stephenson Abetz
Undergraduate Instructor Assistants (Uias): Friend Or Foe, William J. Seiler, Jenna Stephenson Abetz
Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications
Undergraduate students have been and continue to be employed as instructor assistants (UIAs) in a variety of courses across disciplines. However, relatively little empirical research has been published regarding the educational merits for them or their students. The present essay extends such research by focusing specifically on UIAs’ perceived value of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) on their learning and personal growth. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with six former UIAs and employed a qualitative thematic analysis of their responses. Perceived benefits that emerged from the analysis include, for example, learning how to balance many different roles and responsibilities, …
Protecting Communication Departments: Reflections On The Nebraska Experience, Ronald Lee, William J. Seiler
Protecting Communication Departments: Reflections On The Nebraska Experience, Ronald Lee, William J. Seiler
Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications
Eight years ago, in the first week of the 1991 fall semester, the Acting Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs announced a series of vertical budget cuts that included the elimination of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s department of Speech Communication (now Communication Studies). Over the next seven months the department fought against the proposed action. In March 1992, the Budget Reduction Review Committee voted against the Vice Chancellor’s recommendation. Later in the month, the Academic Planning Committee also voted to rescind the budget cutting measure.
These actions ended the battle and assured the continuation of the department. In an earlier …
Envisioning A Capstone Course In Communication: The View From A Departmental Armchair, William J. Seiler
Envisioning A Capstone Course In Communication: The View From A Departmental Armchair, William J. Seiler
Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications
For many departments, the need to develop an assessment package has been the driving force in the consideration of adding a capstone course to their communication curricula. But there are other reasons to justify the creation of such a course. In general, the capstone course has been described by some as a course in which students are required to integrate diverse bodies of knowledge to solve a problem or formulate a policy of societal importance. The dictionary describes a capstone as the “final or crowning part.” That may be a bit presumptuous, but it illustrates the notion of what most …
The Nebraska Department Of Communication Studies Story: There Are Happy Endings That Go Beyond Football And A Good Crop Year, William J. Seiler
The Nebraska Department Of Communication Studies Story: There Are Happy Endings That Go Beyond Football And A Good Crop Year, William J. Seiler
Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications
The following essay discusses the proposed targeting of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department of Communication Studies for total elimination. The essay describes the department’s demographics, the university’s budget crisis, and the department’s status at its time of peril. The essay reveals how the department learned of the proposal to eliminate it, how the department reacted to the proposed cut, how the administration established an appeals process to the proposed cuts, what explanation and criteria were used to target the department, how the department responded to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affair’s (VCAA) criteria for targeting the department, how the VCAA …
Developing The Personalized System Of Instruction For The Basic Speech Communication Course, William J. Seiler, Marilyn Fuss-Reineck
Developing The Personalized System Of Instruction For The Basic Speech Communication Course, William J. Seiler, Marilyn Fuss-Reineck
Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications
The purpose of this article is to discuss major planning and development decisions required in order to use the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) method in the basic speech communication course. In this article we examine: (1) how major PSI components are implemented and (2) how the PSI course is managed. By documenting the decisions required to use PSI in speech communication courses which include performances, we hope to provide helpful guidelines for those interested in applying the PSI method to their basic speech communication courses.
Psi: An Attractive Alternative For The Basic Speech Communication Course, William J. Seiler
Psi: An Attractive Alternative For The Basic Speech Communication Course, William J. Seiler
Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications
The Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), often referred to as the Keller Plan after its founder Fred Keller, was developed to teach introductory psychology courses. Since it was first used, however, PSI has seen widespread use in many disciplines. Sherman estimates that six thousand PSI courses have been taught at all levels of education by virtually all disciplines. Boylan reports that more than thirteen hundred individuals presently use the PSI method on the university and college level; that 80.5% of the individuals surveyed represent four-year institutions, with the remainder representing two-year institutions; that 66% of the colleges and universities are …
Communication Apprehension And Teaching Assistants, William J. Seiler, John P. Garrison, David W. Brooks, Frederick K. Sikora, Thomas J. Tipton
Communication Apprehension And Teaching Assistants, William J. Seiler, John P. Garrison, David W. Brooks, Frederick K. Sikora, Thomas J. Tipton
Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications
The authors of this note have developed a program aimed at training, providing feedback to, and evaluating the performance of graduate teaching assistants. It includes the use of a tool called the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension, which is reliable and valid.