Communication Commons^™

Rethinking Evaluation Strategies For Student Participation, Kevin R. Meyer, Stephen K. Hunt

Basic Communication Course Annual

Basic communication course instructors encourage student participation in the classroom by employing a variety of strategies, including graded participation. The present study examined the methods that basic course instructors use to facilitate and assess student participation in the classroom through focus groups interviews exploring how students perceive graded participation in the basic course. The findings suggest that while there are conditions in which the focus group students enjoy participation, there are also conditions in which they perceive such strategies as a power issue for instructors and reject the notion that participation accurately measures their level of involvement and learning in …

Tales Of Teaching: Exploring The Dialectical Tensions Of The Gta Experience, Jennifer M. Hennings

Basic Communication Course Annual

In universities across the United States, an increasing number of departments are turning to graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to teach introductory courses. As GTAs assume a larger percentage of university teaching responsibilities, it becomes even more important to understand the tensions and challenges that GTAs face. The majority of research on GTAs focuses on the perceptions of students and GTA supervisors, and few researchers have talked directly to GTAs. This research fills that gap by studying the GTA experience from the GTA perspective. Using relational dialectics theory, this study identifies three key tensions that emerge from GTAs’ stories about role …

Assessing The Impact Of Learning Communities As An Alternative Delivery Model For The Public Speaking Course, Katherine N. Kinnick, Emily Holler, Marla Bell

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study provides empirical evidence of the impact of learning communities on outcomes for public speaking students, including grades, speaking anxiety, and student and instructor perceptions. Subjects (n = 236, half of whom took the course in freshman learning communities and half in traditional sections) perceived the learning community as the preferable environment for public speaking, and students with greater speaking anxiety were more likely to self-select into learning communities. Perception, however, was not reality: Participation in a learning community made no measurable difference in terms of course outcomes of grades or decline in speaking anxiety.

The findings challenge assumptions …

The Effects Of Using Peer Workshops On Speech Quality, Public Speaking Anxiety, And Classroom Climate, Melissa A. Broeckelman-Post, B. Scott Titsworth, Leann M. Brazeal

Basic Communication Course Annual

This field experiment answered the call to explore alternative pedagogies in communication by testing the use of structured peer workshops in public speaking courses. Peer workshops use systematic and structured peer feedback to assist students in improving their speeches. While strong theoretical reasons for using workshops have been advanced, and evidence from other disciplines suggest that they are effective, no research has specifically examined their use in public speaking. Results of our study show that peer workshops are a viable pedagogical option because they improve students’ speech grades, reduce public speaking anxiety, and improve perceptions of classroom climate. When comparing …

Students’ Communication Predispositions: An Examination Of Classroom Connectedness In Public Speaking Courses, Robert J. Sidelinger, Scott A. Myers, Audra L. Mcmullen

Basic Communication Course Annual

The connected classroom climate centers on supportive student-to-student communication in the classroom, and may provide students enrolled in public speaking courses with a safe and comfortable haven to present speeches.

This study examined student connectedness in public speaking courses and it’s affect on students’ (N = 368) communication abilities. Results revealed positive perceptions of student connectedness related to decreases in public speaking anxiety and public speaking apprehension, as well as increases in perceptions of communication competence.

These outcomes suggest public speaking instructors should consider the relationships that exist among students and how they may further encourage connectedness in their classrooms.

Author Biographies

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Submission Guidelines

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Back Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 23

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (322 pages, 11.6 MB)

Editor's Page, David W. Worley

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Index Of Titles And Authors, Volumes 1-21

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Competent Public Speaking: Assessing Skill Development In The Basic Course, Judy C. Pearson, Jeffrey T. Child, Liliana L. Herakova, Julie L. Semlak, Jessica Angelos

Basic Communication Course Annual

Effective public speaking skills are essential for a successful life. The authors provide an overall assessment of the basic public speaking course by examining fifteen student attributes divided into three categories (course engagement characteristics, dispositions, and demographics) hypothesized to affect learning and public speaking skill development in the basic course. A four-step hierarchical multiple regression tested two research questions (N = 709). Course engagement characteristics improved students’ public-speaking grade averages, but dispositions did not. The effects of demographic characteristics, particularly biological sex, were not eliminated after controlling for course engagement and dispositional factors (twelve variables). Implications and limitations of the …

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Contents And Abstracts

Basic Communication Course Annual

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A Life Of Scholarship And Service To The Communication Discipline: Celebrating Lawrence W. Hugenberg, Jeffrey T. Child

Basic Communication Course Annual

A tribute to the Basic Communication Course Annual's founding editor, Lawrence W. Hugenberg, who died on August 11, 2008.

Assessing Preemptive Argumentation In Students’ Persuasive Speech Outlines, Kevin R. Myer, Ryan R. Kurtz, Jamie L. Hines, Cheri J. Simonds, Stephen K. Hunt

Basic Communication Course Annual

The purpose of the present study was to determine if critical thinking skills, a key component of basic communication course pedagogy, can be assessed through students’ use of preemptive argumentation. Persuasive speech outlines were coded to determine if preemptive argumentation was present in students’ speeches and to determine the quality of preemptive argumentation. The results indicated that the majority of outlines contained preemptive argumentation. However, of those speeches containing preemptive argumentation, the majority of outlines employed low-quality preemptive argumentation. Finally, the findings revealed that the quality of preemptive argumentation employed in the persuasive speech outlines did not predict the students’ …

The Influence Of Instructor Status And Sex On Student Perceptions Of Teacher Credibility And Confirmation Across Time, Roxanne Heimann, Paul Turman

Basic Communication Course Annual

Universities continue to rely heavily on graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) to teach many of their entry level courses, with limited research emphasizing student perceptions of GTAs. With this in mind, the purpose of this investigation was to assess the combined influence of instructor status (GTA vs. Professor) and sex on student perceptions of teacher credibility and confirmation behaviors across time. Results from the repeated measures analysis indicated interaction effects for instructor sex and time, whereby female instructors (regardless of their status) were perceived to have higher levels of character, trustworthiness, and perceived caring. Three-way interaction effects emerged for instructor confirmation …

(Re)Constructing Ell And International Student Identities In The Oral Communication Course, Richie Neil Hao

Basic Communication Course Annual

There have been numerous studies (e.g., Dick, 1990; Ferris, 1998; Jung & McCroskey, 2004; Yook, 1995; Yook & Seiler, 1990; Zimmerman, 1995) that discuss the obstacles that English Language Learners (ELL) and international students face in oral communication classrooms. Although these studies provide teaching strategies that can be employed to better serve ELL and international students, they also reinforce stereotypical student identities. By exploring and engaging in critical communication pedagogy (Fassett & Warren, 2007), I problematize some of the foundational studies that construct ELL and international student identities as “at-risk” in oral communication classrooms and offer possibilities by specifically advocating …

Student Evaluations For The Online Public Speaking Course, John J. Miller

Basic Communication Course Annual

Despite criticisms raised about online public speaking classes, the growth of these online courses cannot be denied. This essay attempts to develop student course evaluations aimed at reflecting the unique characteristics of online instruction to assist instructors with improving their online pedagogy. Just as instructors seek to improve classroom instruction, they should likewise seek to improve online instruction through the realization and acceptance that online instruction is not simply course development, but the ongoing interactions between the student and instructor in the context of two significant differences between a traditional classroom and online instruction: (1) student-centered-controlled learning and (2) instructor-student …

Repetition And Possibilities: Foundational Communication Course, Graduate Teaching Assistants, Etc., Chris Mcrae

Basic Communication Course Annual

This essay considers repetition as a site for change and possibility in the foundational communication course. Using performative writing, I consider repetition as simultaneously comfortable and dangerous. As repeated actions become commonplace they can easily go unnoticed, and unchallenged. However, repeated actions can also become recognizable as patterns that can be changed. Repetition is then, a useful and even necessary starting place for the recognition of possibilities and the enactment of change. As a graduate teaching assistant, I find repetition useful for my pedagogy, but I am wary of how power operates through repetition in discursive and material ways. I …

Author Biographies

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Submission Guidelines

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Back Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 22

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (241 pages, 8.6 MB)

Student Misbehaviors, Instructor Responses, And Connected Classroom Climate: Implications For The Basic Course, Shereen G. Bingham, Robert E. Carlson, Karen K. Dwyer, Marshall Prisbell

Basic Communication Course Annual

The concept of connected classroom climate focuses on student-to-student communication behaviors that are paramount in creating the climate of a class, especially in the basic course. While previous studies have focused on the positive and cooperative behaviors of students and instructors that may contribute to perceptions of classroom connectedness, the role that incivilities may play in detracting from or undermining a connected classroom climate has not been investigated.

This study examines perceptions of a connected classroom climate and its relationships to student misbehaviors and instructor responses. A total of 542 university students enrolled in 30 sections of the basic public …

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.