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Contents

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Perceived Research And Teaching Competence On The Credibility Of A Basic Course Director: A Case Study, Pamela L. Gray, Martin G. Murray, Nancy L. Buerkel-Rothfuss

Basic Communication Course Annual

1992 Award Winning Paper in Basic Course Research

This case study provides an initial inquiry into graduate teaching assistants' (GTA) perceived credibility of a basic course director (BCD), specifically isolating their perception of the teaching and research competence of the BCD. The results indicate that the perceived credibility may be tied to both teaching and research competence, appears to be extremely important to the GTAs, and implies that low credibility would have many unpleasant effects on the staff, their teaching and the graduate program as a whole. This case study points to the need for more research to identify variables …

Teaching Ethics In Introductory Public Speaking: Review And Proposal, Jon A. Hess

Basic Communication Course Annual

Ethics are not heavily emphasized in either public speaking textbooks or classroom lectures. This de-emphasis of public speaking ethics is unfortunate. Educators should take responsibility for making sure that students are familiar with ethical issues and that they know that unethical public communication is not acceptable. Since public speaking textbooks do not provide much explicit guidance for ethical decision making, supplementary material is provided in this article. Four ethical principles are provided to help students understand the nature of communication ethics, a sample class lecture is outlined, and teaching ideas are included.

The Status Of The Introductory And Advanced Interpersonal Communication Courses At U.S. Colleges And Universities: A National Survey, Rod Troester, Drew Mcgukin

Basic Communication Course Annual

Interpersonal communication has become a significant area of instruction and research. This national survey clarifies the status of the introductory and advanced courses a U.S. colleges and universities by examining materials employed, and course texts and contents. Results are presented for each course and are compared to an earlier study of interpersonal communication courses by Berryman and Weaver (1970).

Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 5

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (279 pages, 12.582 MB)

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editor's Page, Lawrence W. Hugenberg

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Contents

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Basic Public Speaking Principles: An Examination Of Twelve Popular Texts, Jon A. Hess, Judy C. Pearson

Basic Communication Course Annual

The importance of the basic course is reflected in the number of published articles focused on it. Aside from having an annually published journal (The Basic Communication Course Annual) devoted to it, articles concerning the basic course are sprinkled throughout many of the discipline's journals. However, Schneider (1991) pointed out that few studies have focused on the textbooks used. Since the textbook is generally the foundation upon which the course is built, it is an important object of study.

Although the term basic course may be used to identify a variety of courses (such as public speaking, interpersonal communication, hybrid …

Video-Modeling And Pre-Performance Apprehension: Is Ignorance Bliss?, Craig Newburger, Michael Hemphill

Basic Communication Course Annual

This research examined the impact of video-modeling on basic communication course students' public speaking apprehension. Students were confronted with successful and unsuccessful video model presentations of their first public speaking assignment. The viewing of the video models preceded in-class live performances. Results indicate that students who were confronted with both of the video models experienced increased public speaking apprehension, while students who viewed neither video model did not.

Call For Papers

Basic Communication Course Annual

Call for papers for next issue of Basic Communication Course Annual.

Evaluation Of A Basic Communication Course, Wendy S. Zabava Ford, Andrew D. Wolvin

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study addressed the effects of a basic communication course on students' perceptions of their communication skills. Students enrolled in a basic course were asked via a pre- and post- course questionnaire to assess changes in their perceptions of their communication skills. An analysis of the questionnaire results revealed that the basic course did have a positive effect on students' perceptions of their communication skills, particularly in presentation and interviewing skills, and on their comfort in communicating. The results also illustrate that the effects on communication skills were stronger in those areas (especially public speaking) where students perceived the greatest …

Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 4

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (180 pages; 7.5 MB)

Critical Thinking Is/As Communication, Warren Sandmann

Basic Communication Course Annual

This essay argues for the place of critical thinking in the basic communication course. Included in the argument is a discussion and critique of traditional modes of critical thinking, an analysis of an alternative approach to critical thinking, the grounding of this alternative approach in a classical communication model, a discussion of why the basic course in communication is the most appropriate home for the teaching of critical thinking, and a sample approach to teaching critical thinking in the basic course.

Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Academic Success In The Basic Course: The Influence Of Apprehension And Demographics, Charles A. Lubbers, Diane Atkinson Gorcyca

Basic Communication Course Annual

This investigation sought to empirically test the existence of a causal relationship between communication apprehension and academic success in the basic communication course. Will prior experience in communication courses and prior experience in extracurricular communication activities such as debate, forensics and theater, affect the level of communication apprehension as reported by students enrolled in a basic communication course? Additionally, this research sought to determine the impact of several demographic variables on both communication apprehension and final grade in the basic communication course.

Directing The Basic Communication Course: Eighteen Years Later, Richard L. Weaver Ii, Howard W. Cotrell

Basic Communication Course Annual

We focused on three problems that evolve over time for veteran basic course directors. After briefly commenting on the state of basic course literature, we discuss dealing with tradition, motivating students for the long term, and maintaining our own motivation for the course — three areas quite distinct from those addressed in an earlier article. The ideas and issues discussed here have arisen as a result of eighteen years of directing a basic communication course.

To Say Or Not; To Do Or Not — Those Are The Questions: Sexual Harassment And The Basic Course Instructor, Mary M. Gill, William J. Wardrope

Basic Communication Course Annual

Although men and women may be the victims of sexual harassment, the majority of women will experience harassment in the classroom and/or on the job. Harassment in the classroom occurs often out of ignorance of knowing what constitutes harassing behaviors. Those feeling harassed often are not the only victims in these situations. Many "victims" of harassment are the inexperienced instructor or graduate assistant who realize too late that their well-intended actions have been received differently. The specific parameters of what constitutes harassing behaviors and its prevalence are examined. A training module is offered which presents guidelines for the basic course …

Teaching Public Speaking As Composition, Michael Leff

Basic Communication Course Annual

The public speaking course has changed little during the past two decades, despite the rapid and profound changes that have occurred in rhetorical scholarship. By contrast, the basic composition course in English Departments has undergone transformations that more closely reflect the development of the scholarship. One reason for this difference may rest in our failure to regard the public speaking course as a serious part of our mission as teachers and scholars. By concentrating on the rhetoric of composition. we might not only generate innovative and theoretically interesting approaches to pedagogy, but we might improve our rhetorical scholarship by connecting …

Be Relevant, Careful, And Appropriate: Scary Advice On The Use Of Humor To The Novice Public Speaker, Judythe A. Isserlis

Basic Communication Course Annual

Most contemporary public speaking texts contain some reference to the effective use of humor by public speakers. This advice tends to reflect common assumptions on the role of humor in public speaking and the ability of the novice speaker to incorporate humor in a speech. A review of 27 contemporary texts explores the trend in humor instruction and offers 11 categories which summarize the treatment of humor: (1) theories of humor, (2) rationale for the use of humor, (3) guidelines for the use of humor, (4) sources of humor, (5) humor as a factor of attention, (6) specific humorous techniques …

The Introduction Of A Speech: Do Good Introductions Predict A Good Speech?, Valerie A. Whitecap

Basic Communication Course Annual

Can the introduction predict the success or failure of the speech? Does anything predict a successful speech? First, textbooks were examined to see what is being taught about introductions. Then the results of the first speeches given by freshmen and sophomores in a hybrid communication course were studied to see if successful introductions predicted successful speeches. Finally, some other predictors to speech success are discussed, including public speaking experience and the verbality of the student's chosen major.

This comparison of the introduction of the speech and the subsequent grade on the speech was done as a preliminary "think piece," so …

The Use Of Role Models In Teaching Public Speaking, Lauren A. Vicker

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study investigated the use of role models as an instructional strategy in public speaking classes. The subjects in this study were 24 college students in two communication classes. One group viewed a videotape of seven informative speeches given by upper-division speech students and representing a range of ability. The other group did not view the video. Both groups were videotaped presenting their own speeches, and these speeches were rated by a group of senior speech majors at another college. Means of the ratings for each speaker were analyzed using a two-sample t-test. Results did not support the hypothesis that …

Author Identification

Basic Communication Course Annual

Biographical information about the authors who contributed to this issue

Contents

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

A Forum: Six Approaches To The Introductory Communication Course, Lawrence Hugenberg

Basic Communication Course Annual

During the 1990 Speech Communication Association Convention in Chicago, the Basic Course Committee sponsored a program to discuss five popular approaches to the introductory communication course. These included the public speaking course, the hybrid or blend course, the interpersonal communication course, the introductory communication theory course and the business and professional speaking course. During the exchanges between the presenters and the 80 audience members, it was noted the group communication course was conspicuously absent but was added for this volume.

Small Group Communication As An Introductory Course, John L. Brilhart

Basic Communication Course Annual

It took considerable temerity for me to write a paper about an introductory course in small group communication. Although I have taught basic small group courses throughout my career as a college teacher, I have never had the opportunity to teach where a small group course was an option among introductory communication courses from which most or all graduates were required to choose. So I projected from my experience in teaching and coordinating multiple-section hybrid, interpersonal and public-speaking courses. Mostly I have drawn on my experiences in teaching small group courses at the sophomore and upper-class levels, my experience in …

Introductory Communication Theory: Not Another Skills Course, William C. Donaghy

Basic Communication Course Annual

Speech communication departments in every institution of higher education face unique circumstances when deciding their type and number of introductory courses. Different demands are placed on communication departments operating in community colleges, four year liberal arts colleges, land-grant institutions and major research universities. Some of these situational demands are: how the department is perceived by the administration (i.e., service or major oriented); whether skills courses are accepted as part of the college- or university-wide general education curriculum; whether the college or campus has a communication skills requirement; the college division in which the department is located (i.e., humanities, fine arts …

Logic And Emotion, Persuasion And Argumentation: 'Good Reasons' As An Educational Synthesis, Warren Sandmann

Basic Communication Course Annual

The purpose of this essay is three-fold. First, I will summarize the history and development of persuasion and rhetoric in the classical and renaissance world, demonstrating the manner in which argumentation, or conviction by means of logical proof, and persuasion, or conviction by means of a unified appeal to emotions and reasons became separated. Second, I will look at the manner in which persuasion and argumentation are presented educationally today by analyzing four of the most popular public speaking texts. Finally, I will argue that there is a more effective method for teaching the combined principles of argumentation and persuasion, …

Classroom Interventions For Reducing Public Speaking Anxiety, Michael A. Neer, W. Faye Kirchner

Basic Communication Course Annual

Findings of many studies demonstrate that instructors are able to offer instructional interventions that mediate state anxiety. The present study therefore examined several additional interventions designed to moderate situational factors contributing to state anxiety. The interventions were tested by creating cover stories similar to the Booth-Butterfield (1988a) study that described various instructional formats through which the first required speech in the introductory public speaking course would be processed.

Respondents did not participate in actual in-class manipulations but were instructed to rate their perceived state anxiety if their first speech was structured in the manner described within each cover story.

The …

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.