Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons^™

Reducing Secondary Trauma And Compassion Fatigue In The Dark Side Of Interpersonal Communication Classrooms, Mary E. King, Albra Wheeler

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This essay describes the experiences faculty may encounter when teaching tough topics. When professionals are in the position as the individual who cares for, hears about, or witnesses the trauma and suffering of others, they might themselves be at risk for experiencing vicarious stress, or secondary trauma. If ongoing and untreated, this traumatic stress can morph into compassion fatigue, which can impede professional success and contribute to burnout. This essay reflects on the experiences of teaching the Dark Side of Interpersonal Communication where students openly shared course-related personal experiences. We reflect on how to successfully manage the delicate climate of …

Academic Librarians As Informed Learning Developers, Rachel Fundator, Clarence Maybee

IMPACT Publications

Abstract from book

Implications – Drawing upon their expertise in how learners use information, academic librarians can use the findings to concentrate their consultative efforts to effectively partner with teachers to transform student learning experiences in higher education.

• partnering with teachers to develop informed learning experiences by leveraging the expertise of the teacher and the librarian;

• applying an informed learning pedagogic approach, and drawing from and sharing information literacy scholarship illuminating how information is used in the learning process;

• creating informed learning experiences that are responsive to institutional and disciplinary perspectives; and

• encouraging teachers to reflect on their intentions for …

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Board 51: An Initial Step Towards Measuring First-Generation College Students’ Personal Agency: A Scale Validation, Dina Verdín, Allison Godwin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This research paper describes the development of a scale to measure how first-generation college students use engineering as a tool for making a difference in their community and world or personal agency. Personal agency is a capability that every individual holds; it is described by Bandura as an individual’s beliefs about their capabilities to exercise control over events that affect their lives through purposeful and reflective actions. Agentic actions allow students to explore, maneuver and impact their environment for the achievement of a goal or set of goals. This study identifies how cognitive processes of forethought, intention, reactivity, and reflection …

At The Heart Of Policies And Programs: Community College Faculty Members And Peer Mentors As Human Levers Of Retention, Kimberly Russell

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Student attrition prior to the completion of a credential is an issue that has increasingly demanded the attention of stakeholders in higher education, particularly in the community college sector, in which less than half of all students complete a credential after six years. The costs of student attrition are high and widespread, ranging from the financial costs for institutions and federal and state governments to the personal and monetary costs paid by those students whose personal and professional goals are not achieved. With the ever-increasing focus on accountability for institutions of higher education and the growing movement toward performance-based funding, …

Community Of Inquiry: Discovering Social, Cognitive, And Teaching Presence In A Hybrid Master Of Divinity Program, Vincent J. Tango

Higher Education: Doctoral Research Projects

This doctoral research project examines how students and instructors define and build community and ascertains what role community plays in student learning. This research was conducted utilizing a qualitative embedded case study at a private graduate theological school. The theoretical framework of Community of Inquiry (CoI) provided the foundation in which to discover the elements of social, cognitive, and teaching presence in student learning. This project elicited stories that reveal how community is at the center of the learning experience and that community building should be a priority in developing the curriculum. Three main themes emerged about building and sustaining …

And So It Goes: An Introduction To Volume 2 Of The Journal Of Communication Pedagogy, Scott A. Myers

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

As part of the larger instructional communication education umbrella and similar to, yet distinct enough from, its related subdisciplines such as basic course scholarship, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and critical communication pedagogy, the articles published in this volume of JCP demonstrate the three forms through which communication pedagogy can emerge. That is, whether communication pedagogy centers on the systematic study (i.e., Original Research Studies), reflection (i.e., Reflection Essays), or identification of teaching practices (i.e., Best Practices) across communication curricula, the end result is that communication pedagogy acts as a vehicle through which teaching effectiveness can be improved, strengthened, …

Engaging Persuasion: What Should Undergraduate Students Enrolled In A Persuasion Course Learn?, Stephen K. Hunt, Kevin Meyer

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

In our daily activities we are bombarded with persuasive messages. From advertising on mass and social media to interactions with friends, we are constantly exposed to attempts to change or reinforce our attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors. Conversely, we routinely attempt to influence others and gain their compliance through persuasive attempts of our own. Without question, persuasion is a central feature of virtually every aspect of human communication and is found wherever we find people communicating. Fortunately, scholars have developed a great number of empirically tested persuasive techniques, strategies, and theories that can help students become effective producers and consumers …

“Not My Issue!!!”: Teaching The Interpersonal Conflict Course, Nancy Brule, Jessica J. Eckstein

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Students who enroll in communication courses to improve their conflict management abilities should be provided with both an understanding of, and skills pertaining to, interpersonal conflict across diverse contexts. In this article, we offer pedagogical guidance for teaching the Interpersonal Conflict course. With an emphasis on building communication skills usable in a variety of real-life situations and settings, this article includes discussion of necessary foundational concepts and applied content areas, sample application assignments, and relevant considerations for those teaching the course.

Pedagogical Tools In Our Briefcases: Teaching The Business And Professional Communication Course, Suzy Prentiss, Justin Walton

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

As a practical and applied course, Business and Professional Communication is an excellent opportunity to blend theory and practice, prepare students with the knowledge and skills they will need in the “real world,” and continually innovate and experiment to meet the ever-changing communication needs of the workplace. Whether filled with students majoring in communication, business or another discipline, as a General Education or sequenced class, the Business and Professional Communication course is a worthwhile and value-added course that is both challenging and rewarding to teach.

Reflections On A Pedagogical Shift: A Public Speaking For Social Justice Model, Angela L. Putman

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

While the basic content of the public speaking course has changed little, the method and manner in which these skills are taught can, and should, reflect the dynamic socio-political contexts in which we live and teach. This reflection essay addresses a struggle to keep the public speaking course relevant, innovative, and practical while also incorporating necessary learning outcomes. As a potential solution, I introduce a Public Speaking for Social Justice Model for the introductory course. The model requires that students thoroughly examine a timely social justice issue; situate themselves and their classmates within the issue while featuring marginalized voices and …

Hearing Is Believing: Using Audio Feedback In The Online Interpersonal Communication Course, Krista Hoffmann-Longtin

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

The introduction to interpersonal communication course (IPC) is popular for both communication majors and nonmajors alike, and as such, many departments have designed online versions of the course. Teaching IPC in this format has challenges, given its dual emphasis on theoretical understanding and skill-building. This reflection essay explores the efficacy of providing audio feedback on essays in the online IPC course, as a way to create a positive online presence, manage the grading load, and encourage students to implement the feedback. The rationale for this approach to feedback and implementation strategies are provided, as well as a discussion of outcomes …

“You Have To Cry Before You Teach This Class”: Emotion With Work And Resistance In Teaching Intercultural Communication, Brandi Lawless, Yea-Wen Chen

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

In this study, we explore the ways in which Intercultural Communication instructors uniquely experience emotion with work and how this influences their pedagogical approaches to this course. We collected and analyzed interviews with 21 intercultural communication educators across U.S. colleges and universities. We present findings related to the types of resistance present and/or emerging in the intercultural communication classroom, emotional responses to resistance, and strategies for managing and negotiating emotion with work in the Intercultural Communication classroom. We end with discussing implications for teacher training programs designed for the Intercultural Communication classroom.

Teaching Public Speaking Online–Not A Problem But An Opportunity!, Sherwyn Morreale, Janice Thorpe, Susan Ward

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This reflection essay focuses on the problems inherent in the design and development of an online public speaking course, which in part result from presuming the course must mirror its face-to-face counterpart. Based on our own experiences and background in designing an online public speaking course, we recommend that instructors and administrators of this course solve such problems by employing design strategies that effectively adapt the course content and pedagogy to a digital context. The essay begins with a description of an integrated course design model (Fink, 2005) that proved useful to us for accomplishing this task. Then we discuss …

Best Practices For Teaching Discussion As Part Of High School Common Core State Standards, Mitchel Stengel, Leah Nolan, David Donnick, Wesley Skym, Anna M. Wright

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Instructional discussion is a teaching method used in many classrooms across grade levels. In fact, the Common Core State Standards promote the use of instructional discussion in secondary classrooms (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2018a). Students, however, are not always taught best practices for engaging in a discussion and may feel unprepared to participate. As a result, discussions may not produce the dynamic learning opportunity they are intended to foster. This essay provides 10 tips for high school teachers to prepare students in the high school classroom to engage in a meaningful classroom discussion effectively in order to ensure students …

The Practice Of Nonviolence: Teaching An Undergraduate Course In Nonviolent Communication, Sharon Lauricella

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This Best Practices article outlines 10 tips relative to teaching a course in Nonviolent Communication (NVC). It outlines suggestions for readings, activities, and projects throughout a semester-long undergraduate course. The article addresses how students can learn both the theory and practice of nonviolence by means of readings and activities that address social problems such as sexism, racism, bias, and violence against oneself and the earth. Specific suggestions are provided for creative ways in which students can be engaged with readings so that they have ownership of their in-class experience. Details regarding an independent long-term project providing freedom of creativity in …

Pedagogy, Gender, And Communication: Learning And Unlearning Gender, Marian L. Houser, Robert J. Sidelinger, Angela Hosek

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Courses in gender communication are designed to enable students to examine the role of gender and gender identity in everyday communication. To aid them to understand gender communication, they should be exposed to at least three foundational areas and supporting content. Sex and gender differences, the social construction of gender, and theoretical gender lenses (biological, psychological, and critical/cultural) are critical foundations that students should grasp to recognize the complexity of gender and gender communication.

Developing A Digital Voice: Embedding Digital Communication Platforms, Networks, And Technologies In The 21st-Century Classroom, James M. Proszek

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Introductory communication courses are an invaluable resource for improving students’ abilities to speak confidently, passionately, and persuasively, while also inspiring them to become more engaged citizens. However, digital media present new opportunities and challenges for designing courses that are relevant to students’ personal and professional interests and goals. Instructors who incorporate digital communication platforms, networks, and technologies into their classrooms can better prepare students to meet the complex demands of the technologically-mediated 21st century. In this essay, I offer 10 best practices for developing students’ digital media literacies within multiple communication contexts.

Best Practices For Facilitating Difficult Dialogues In The Basic Communication Course, Kristina Ruiz-Mesa, Karla M. Hunter

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Effective facilitation of classroom dialogue can stimulate open discussion and debate, challenge students to consider diverse perspectives, and promote critical student reflection and growth. Unfortunately, some instructors may be hesitant to approach controversial topics, for fear of losing face or risking chaos in the classroom. By learning and practicing established facilitation techniques, teachers can develop confidence and competence in harnessing the pedagogical power of difficult dialogue while maintaining classroom cohesion and community. This article provides 10 best practices for facilitating difficult classroom dialogues. These practices equip instructors with resources for building community, maintaining classroom immediacy, and grappling with disagreements without …

Journal Of Communication Pedagogy, Complete Volume, 2019

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Multifaceted Contents And Techniques For Designing Health Communication Courses, Maria Brann, Laura Russell

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Health communication courses explore health phenomena from various angles. Whether focusing on interpersonal and organizational relationships or addressing community and national campaigns, instructors may choose from various contents to design these courses. This essay highlights critical questions, contents, and activities useful for instructors seeking information for designing health communication courses. Moreover, the authors reflect on sensitive issues unique to these courses that instructors should take into consideration when teaching.