Education Commons^™

Scholarship Reconsidered, Scholarship Assessed: What Boyer's Report Means For Communication, Rebecca B. Rubin

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Introduction to the Special Topic.

Overcoming Resistance To Instructional Technology, William G. Powers, Susan Anderson, Don Love

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article discusses the significance of instructional technology to communication departments and presents actions which can take to overcome faculty resistance to instructional technology. One of the major values of instructional technology is that rather than minimizing the role of the human instructor, that instructor actually uncovers a means for greater learning impact upon individuals in the class. The massive utilization of communication technology in distance learning efforts across the nation clearly demonstrates the effective utilization of instructional strategies in one context from which we can make appropriate adjustments to another context, the on-site classroom.

Why Communication Is Important: A Rationale For The Centrality Of The Study Of Communication, Sherwyn P. Morreale, Michael M. Osborn, Judy C. Pearson

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article defends the importance of studying communication. Academic disciplines in higher education are routinely called upon to explain and justify their role in the educational enterprise. Some academic fields such as history and philosophy are more central in the pursuits of liberal arts, while others such as business administration and engineering are more related to career development. The discipline of communication is fairly unique as it crosses these boundaries. As a result, a need exists to provide a rationale for the study of communication. The National Communication Association, in response to requests from communication departments and administrators for evidence …

Communication Laboratories: Genesis, Assessment, Challenges, Kathleen Ellis, Pamela S. Shockley-Zalabak, Michael Z. Hackman

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

The purpose of this article is to briefly describe (a) a rationale for creating communication laboratories; (b) communication laboratory curricula and approaches; (c) development strategies for communication laboratories; (d) communication laboratory assessment, accountability, and research opportunities; and (e) communication laboratory issues and challenges. The article concludes with a list of guiding principles that lead to the successful implementation of communication laboratories. The communication laboratory is one educational strategy for addressing the issue of communication competency in the 21st century. Communication laboratories across the United States exist at schools such as Columbus State University, East Tennessee State University, Golden West College, …

The Future Of Communication Education In The Community College, Lori E. Zakel, Dianna R. Wynn

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article discusses the future of communication education in community colleges in the U.S. Recently, business and political leaders have begun to take note of the important role of community colleges within higher education. Bill Gates, chairman of the Microsoft Corp., firmly stated that community colleges are becoming "absolutely critical" in the information age. He continued by adding, "The more I've learned about the community-college system throughout the United States, the more I've been impressed." President Bill Clinton's vision of expanding education for all Americans to include grades 13 and 14 moves the community college to a more visible location …

Employment Trends In Communication Arts And Sciences, Michael E. Smilowitz, Philip Emmert

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article looks at the career opportunities for communication arts and sciences graduates in the U.S. As graduate students planning academic careers seek counsel for their programs of study, there is a need for good answers regarding career opportunities. Departments planning curricula and seeking to fill position vacancies likewise require reliable information regarding the directions in which their disciplines are moving. The analysis for curricula development, program growth, and career choices requires more than anecdotal evidence. Incidental conversations at conventions and the occasional reviews of the "state of the art" are helpful, but not adequate for considering concerns as important …

Relationships Among Central Administrators, Chairs, And Faculty: Academic Change Agents In Theory And Practice, Mark Hickson Iii

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article explores the impact of the academic changes in the higher education in the U.S. on the relationship among administrators, chairs and faculty. Times have changed in higher education in the U.S. In the 1960s and 1970s higher education grew rapidly. State and local governments, as well as private donors, willingly and enthusiastically supported higher education. But the Vietnam conflict brought changes in that colleges were often considered the training grounds for protesters as well as escape routes from military conscription. Today it appears that most of heard are requests for raising money not at the president's level nor …

Scholarship Of Integration: Pushing, Blurring, And Connecting Theoretical Perspectives, Carole A. Barbato

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This articles explores the function of the scholarship of integration to the field of communication studies. The scholarship of integration is defined as disciplined work that seeks to interpret, draw together, and bring new insight to bear on original research and interpretation, fitting one's own research or the research of others into larger intellectual patterns. Thus, the scholarship of integration attempts to synthesize what is known and interpret it in new ways by redefining it. It pushes the boundaries of the discipline by analyzing the effects of cutting edge research and its value to the discipline. It sometimes means blurring …

What College Students Should Know And Be Able To Do, Rebecca B. Rubin, Sherwyn P. Morreale

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article discusses the issue of college students' communications skill and knowledge. The end of the 20th century provides educators and administrators with an opportunity to reflect on how well they have accomplished their goals. The communication discipline, since its beginning, has been concerned with skill achievement and knowledge generation. But not until the latter part of the century have scholars and national associations attempted to identify and agree upon what it is that students should know and be able to do. These efforts reflect maturity of the discipline and generation of a body of knowledge that allows such conclusions …

What Is Good Communication?, Brian H. Spitzberg

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This articles examines the question: What is good communication? The nature of good communication is both ambiguous and ambivalent. This claim can be taken as a reference to the characteristics that defame good communication, or as a reference to the state of scholarly knowledge about the concept of good communication. On its face, the statement seems clear, and yet, in claiming ambiguity and ambivalence, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Such are some of the subtleties of communication itself, and it is such subtleties that require a re-examination of the composition of good communication. The qualifier "good" suggests a nexus of …

Towards Establishing A Yardstick For Measuring Student Research Article Productivity In Communication Studies, George W. Musambira

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article aims to develop a yardstick for evaluating student research productivity based on the number of articles the students published in 24 journals in communication studies. While previous research has emphasized the importance of beginning to publish early in one's career, there is little empirical guidance regarding the standards of a good take off speed while one is still a student. Based on the averages provided in this study, students, their advisors, mentors and administrators who evaluate and hire students in academia can set and implement particular goals. Moreover, the article provides averages in both fractional points and frequency …

The Scholarship Of Application: The Interaction Of Theory And Practice, Rozell R. Duncan, Mary Anne Higgins

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article explores the implication of integrating theory and practice to application of scholarship among educators. The application of knowledge, commonly termed service, is the third chord of the scholarly triad. Service is transforming what we know as a discipline into functionally tools that can affect and resolve societal problems. Application stretches beyond committee work and community projects, it integrates theory and practice. The practical application of theory enables scholars to respond positively to the needs of the community in which they live.

What Is New Or Different About The Scholarship Of Teaching?, Feezel Jerry, S.-A. Welch

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

SCHOLARSHIP Reconsidered (Boyer, 1990) summarized a new way of approaching higher education. This report presented higher education as a set of four scholarships, four means of accomplishing the goals of academe. The purpose of our report is to address the scholarship of teaching, both as an activity and as an assessment of such activity. This report will focus on the scholarship of teaching by addressing: What is the scholarship of teaching? What qualities exist in this form of scholarship? What are the requirements of this scholarship? How does one accomplish this scholarship? And finally, how can the scholarship of teaching …

Is Boyer Misguided Or Misused? The Scholarship Of Confusion, Rubin M. Alan

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article analyzes the views of several authors concerning the concept of scholarship. In the book Scholarship Reconsidered, Ernest Boyer argued that scholarship requires a broad intellectual foundation and that faculty talent should be celebrated rather than restrict. While Carole Barbato argued that the scholarship of integration can be equally innovative, as it suggests new ways to approach, interpret, integrate and challenge older findings and assumptions. And Rozell Duncan and Mary Anne Higgins summarized two case studies whereby communication faculty engaged in the scholarship of application with a government agency and area farmers.

Defining The Field: Revisiting The Aca 1995 Definition Of Communication Studies, Charles J. Korn, Sherwyn P. Morreale, Don M. Boileau

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article deals with the problem of defining communication studies in higher education. In 1995, the Association for Communication Administration (ACA) convened a summer conference that produced a two-sentence definition of the field of communication. More than 100 conferees voted their unanimous approval of the definition, which was then disseminated nationally and used by communication scholar/teachers for a multiplicity of purposes. Given the potential utility of that definition and the expansion of communication studies since 1995, the present study surveyed ACA's current members to determine whether they are aware the definition exists, how they have used it, and the extent …

Oral Communication Across The Curriculum: The State Of The Art After Twenty-Five Years Of Experience, Michael W. Cronin, George L. Grice, Patricia R. Palmerton

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article aims is to guide administrators and faculty in developing oral-communication-across-the-curriculum (OCXC) programs. It examines the rationale for and the most common arguments against OCXC; presents recommendations for designing, implementing, and assessing such programs; reviews published assessments of learning outcomes relevant to OCXC; and offers suggestions for the continued development of OCXC. OCXC was first began in 1975 at Central College in Pella, Iowa. A dissertation and a master's project have examined OCXC. The National Communication Association has promulgated resolutions to guide the development of OCXC and has offered a three-hour short course on OCXC at the past ten …

The Communication Department In A State Of Perpetual Crisis: Discount Store University?, David Ritchie

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article explores the implications of the discount store metaphor as it is commonly used and understood, and considers its implications for how academic departments are led and administered. The metaphor of the discount store is often offered as an implicit criticism of the legislators, trustees and administrators who demand that academic departments justify their curriculum and methods in financial terms. It is also sometimes offered as an implicit criticism of the students and parents who ask about the relevance or usefulness of course content, choose courses and majors with an eye to career and earning potential, complain about the …

Multimedia As Persuasive Agent: Using Visual Metaphors To Establish The Rhetorical Agenda In A Communication Department Video, Sarah R. Stein

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article emphasizes the significance of computer-mediated communication technologies to communication studies based on a video document made by the communication department of North Carolina State University. The goals for the production of a video included promoting the Communication Department within and outside the university, educating viewers' as to the study of communication and its role in an information society, and advocating implicitly for the benefits of umbrella departments. The development of visual metaphors came as an unexpected by-product of grappling with those three challenges. Making the video highlighted the tension that exists between technological demand and communication imperatives.

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Basic Communication Course Annual

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Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Assessment Of The Repeated Speech Performance As A Pedagogical Tool: A Pilot Study, Mark A. Gring, Jera W. Littlejohn

Basic Communication Course Annual

Realizing the ongoing need to develop pedagogy in public speaking, these researchers investigated the learning achieved by asking students to repeat one of their speech assignments. They assessed the value of this practice from the students' viewpoint as well as the statistical change in performance outcomes. Across the eight competencies evaluated, students' average scores increased significantly on the repeated speech. Students who scored in the lower quartile on the first speech benefited most from the second opportunity. The researchers conclude that allowing students to repeat a speech appears to have pedagogical and practical merit.

The Relationship Between A Required Self-Disclosure Speech And Public Speaking Anxiety: Considering Gender Equity, Deanna D. Sellnow, Tamara Golish

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study examines the relationship between a required self-disclosure speech and public speaking anxiety levels expressed by student speakers. If students report higher anxiety levels when asked to self-disclose during a speech, then the potential classroom climate warming advantages of such an assignment may not outweigh the disadvantages. Results indicated: (1) that most students did not report increased anxiety when presenting the self-disclosure speech; (2) there appeared to be no significant gender differences with regard to anxiety and self-disclosure in a public speaking situation; (3) students revealed that feeling confident, in control, and respected are primary factors necessary to reduce …

Critical Thinking Assessment: The Link Between Critical Thinking And Student Application In The Basic Course, Karla J. Huffman, Christy L. Carson, Cheri J. Simonds

Basic Communication Course Annual

The intent of this study is to evaluate existing literature on the concept, teaching and assessment of critical thinking. To reach this goal, critical thinking will be examined in terms of its multiple definitions, and its relationship to higher order thinking, critical teaching, and assessment.

In response to the need for a more generative and creative way of assessing critical thinking, the authors offer an activity assigned in the basic course (artifacts) as a viable tool for allowing students to take an active role in learning to think critically. The artifacts are then analyzed to determine if they serve as …

An Acrostic Approach To Teaching Public Speaking In The Hybrid Communication Course, David W. Worley

Basic Communication Course Annual

Given the time and pedagogical demands of teaching the principles of public speaking in the hybrid course, both instructors and students are assisted by using a summative, yet sufficiently through, approach to teaching these principles. As acrostic approach described in a preparation outline format and built upon the word S-P-E-A-K provides an integrated, summative and sufficiently thorough instructional approach to meet these demands.

An Examination Of Male And Female Students' Perceptions Of Relational Closeness: Does The Basic Course Have An Influence?, Jennifer M. Heisler, Susan M. Bissett, Nancy L. Buerkel-Rothfuss

Basic Communication Course Annual

Several scholars have argued that men and women are socialized to establish interpersonal relationships, such as friendships, in different ways. Traditionally feminine individuals emphasize empathy, self-disclosure, and interdependence while masculine individuals rely on activities, helping behaviors, and advice/problem-solving. In spite of these differences, basic communication courses have provided students with only a model of traditionally feminine closeness skills in coursework and materials. This study sought to determine if, after 16 weeks of instruction in a basic communication course emphasizing feminine intimacy skills, male students would prefer masculine closeness behaviors. Three-hundred and seventy-three male and female students provided self-report data on …

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Basic Communication Course Annual

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Basic Communication Course Annual

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Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 12

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (232, 7.896 KB)

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Contents

Basic Communication Course Annual

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