Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

The Impact Of Class Size On The Speech/Time Ratio In The Public Speaking Course, Brent Kice

Basic Communication Course Annual

Authors were asked to prepare an essay as if they were writing a letter to their dean (whose academic training was in another discipline) who (1) asked that enrollment in each basic course section be increased to a level that compromises the pedagogy of the basic course or (2) proposed that the required basic communication course be eliminated from the university’s general education program.

Here, the author discusses the pressures of increased class sizes. The nature of public speaking requires that class time be divided between instruction and graded student speeches. An increase in allotted time in one area results …