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Full-Text Articles in Education

Experiential Learning And The Basic Communication Course: A New Path To Assessing Forensic Learning Outcomes, Ben Walker Dec 2015

Experiential Learning And The Basic Communication Course: A New Path To Assessing Forensic Learning Outcomes, Ben Walker

Speaker & Gavel

Scholars have often touted the educational benefits of forensics (e.g.: Bartanen, 1998; Beasley, 1979; Brownlee, 1979; Ehninger, 1952; Gartell, 1973; Jensen, 2008; McBath, 1975; Millsap, 1998; Schroeder & Schroeder, 1995; Stenger, 1999; Yaremchuk, 1979). Critics, most notably Burnett, Brand, and Meister (2003), have argued forensics is only a competitive game with the idea of education used as a crutch to uphold the activity in the eyes of schools. While attempting to counter critics, many forensic educators have scrambled to find proof of student learning. Besides theoretical approaches to potential learning methods (e.g., Dreibelbis & Gullifor, 1992; Friedley, 1992; Sellnow, Littlefield, …


Identifying Teaching Effectiveness: Using Student Skill Surveys, Speech Evaluations, And Quiz Scores To Inform Instruction, Sally A. Blomstrom Nov 2015

Identifying Teaching Effectiveness: Using Student Skill Surveys, Speech Evaluations, And Quiz Scores To Inform Instruction, Sally A. Blomstrom

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This paper suggests an instrument for measuring students’ self perceptions of improvement in public speaking skills, i.e., a skill survey, and a method to inform and improve instruction by looking at results from that survey in combination with instructor evaluation forms for persuasive speeches, quiz scores, and an information literacy measure. Data were collected from students enrolled in a public speaking course at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Background on the survey development and the method is provided along with results and discussion.


Assessing The Public Speaking Course, Roberta Freeman Nov 2015

Assessing The Public Speaking Course, Roberta Freeman

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

College and high school speech communication instructors know full well how tedious and timeconsuming assessment can be; however, this instructor has found a way to make assessment a more efficient and meaningful tool identifying strengths and weaknesses within the public speaking curriculum. After five years of extensive research, several drafts of rubrics and artifacts, the process has been streamlined and successful in that the data compiled reflects the strengths and challenges of this instructor’s students. This article is intended to provide public speaking instructors the opportunity to replicate part of the Minnesota State Community & Technical College (M State) speech …


The Role Of Collaboration And Feedback In Advancing Student Learning In Media Literacy And Video Production, Carl M. Casinghino Aug 2015

The Role Of Collaboration And Feedback In Advancing Student Learning In Media Literacy And Video Production, Carl M. Casinghino

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Educators can learn many lessons as they implement collaborative project strategies, manage appropriate feedback, and measure communicative skill development in the media literacy classroom. This article examines case studies and learning outcomes in a high school digital production classroom taught by a veteran media literacy educator.


Best Practices For Student Learning Assessment In Smaller-Sized Undergraduate Mass Communication Programs, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr Aug 2015

Best Practices For Student Learning Assessment In Smaller-Sized Undergraduate Mass Communication Programs, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR

Assessment of student learning in higher education is no longer optional, because the public increasingly expects universities to spend less and produce more. Generating detailed, meaningful assessment is challenging, particularly for smaller-sized mass communication programs with limited resources. Mass communication-focused assessment literature is scarce. This best practices essay reviews other research to illustrate proven examples of ways to assess simply and effectively in undergraduate mass communication programs to achieve maximum faculty support and curriculum improvement.


Building Support For The Introductory Oral Communication Course: Strategies For Widespread And Enduring Support On Campus, Jon A. Hess May 2015

Building Support For The Introductory Oral Communication Course: Strategies For Widespread And Enduring Support On Campus, Jon A. Hess

Jonathan A. Hess

A strong introductory course is important for many communication departments, for the discipline, and for meeting our obligation to society. This paper utilizes the example of a recent curricular reform that threatened to eliminate a required oral communication course to reflect on strategies departments can use to build widespread and lasting support for the course. The paper reviews the events that led to the challenge and details the department’s response, which offers lessons that may be useful for other institutions. Four lessons include: * Tailoring the introductory course to the institution’s needs and mission * Involvement in university work * …


Student Learning In High-Impact Practice Mass Communication Courses, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr Apr 2015

Student Learning In High-Impact Practice Mass Communication Courses, Douglas J. Swanson Ed.D Apr

Douglas J. Swanson, Ed.D APR

College and university high-impact practice (HIP) courses involve students in intensive values-focused learning inside and/ or outside of the traditional classroom environment. Much research has documented that participation in HIPs increases student retention and graduation rates. At the same time, the nontraditional learning structure of an HIP course can complicate a thorough assessment of student learning. Anecdotal evidence reflects strong involvement in HIPs by mass communication programs, although communication efforts in this regard are not as well documented in the literature as efforts in other fields. This essay briefly defines HIPs and presents an appropriate theory that would guide HIPs …


Raising The Standard: An Assessment Of Peer Collaboration As An Enhancer Of Speech Evaluation Fidelity, Terrell Kody Frey Feb 2015

Raising The Standard: An Assessment Of Peer Collaboration As An Enhancer Of Speech Evaluation Fidelity, Terrell Kody Frey

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the state of speech evaluation training in the basic communication course at Illinois State University. Specifically, a new type of pedagogy known as the "peer workshop" is integrated into the course as a potential supplement to the speech evaluation training procedures. Quantitative and qualitative methods reveal how the course has become engrained into the academic expectations of the student body and identify written peer feedback as a necessary focus of future training in the classroom. Specific theoretical and pedagogical implications, as well as limitations and future directions, are discussed in detail.


Classroom Projects As Embodied And Embedded Outcomes Assessment, Garnet C. Butchart, Margaret Mullan Jan 2015

Classroom Projects As Embodied And Embedded Outcomes Assessment, Garnet C. Butchart, Margaret Mullan

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Although educators already recognize the value in engaging student learning through classroom projects and service-learning, assessment of student learning through classroom projects may be accompanied by a shift of attention from mastery of ideas to embodied knowledge. We argue that embodiment is the basic semiotic condition of being human—of being both an expressive and perceptive (communicative) being among others. Linking this philosophy of communication principle to the topic of assessment, the article offers assessment research a focus of attention on learning settings: from embodiment as learning context, to the built environment of classrooms, as well as to group interaction. We …