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Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Editor's Page, Paul Turman

Basic Communication Course Annual

Now in its nineteenth year, the Basic Communication Course Annual continues to serve as an important outlet within the discipline for scholarship related to the way we teach, manage, and evaluate the basic course. Each year the Annual offers some of the best research on basic course pedagogy helping to position it as the primary source for teachers and scholars working to improve the quality of the basic course at their respective institutions. The Annual's success has always been attributed to the community of scholars who continue to support the journal as contributors, editorial board members, and its readership. I …

Contents And Abstracts

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Designing Classroom Management Training For Basic Course Instructors, Kevin R. Meyer, Cheri J. Simonds, Brent K. Simonds, John R. Baldwin, Stephen K. Hunt, Mark E. Comadena

Basic Communication Course Annual

Since many basic course training programs fail to adequately address classroom management issues, most graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) enter the classroom unprepared to confront student misbehaviors. However, literature suggests that by incorporating classroom management issues into training pro­grams, GTAs will be better armed to establish the instructional climate of the classroom and confront stu­dent misbehaviors. In this study, GTAs who had not received classroom management training (CMT) were given a survey containing closed and open-ended questions regarding typical student misbehaviors, possible classroom responses to those behaviors, and preferences for classroom management information during training. The results of this study identify …

Creating Sites For Connection In The Classroom: Dialogism As A Pedagogy For Active Learning, Melissa A. Broeckelman

Basic Communication Course Annual

Public speaking pedagogy should be based in communication theory, but as a whole, our discipline has failed to integrate theory and praxis in the classroom. Dialogism is a good starting point for developing the­ory-based pedagogical strategies and is further supported by Vygotsky’s zones of proximal development, Dewey and Bruner’s call for experience-based learning, and research on collaborative learning. Here, I propose four specific strategies for incorporating dialogism into the pedagogy of public speaking courses: (a) use detailed grading rubrics to create a shared meaning of expectations before, during, and after the speech-building process, (b) give instructor feedback on outlines prior …

Learning Communities In The Basic Communication Course: Exploring Students’ Perception Of Power And Use Of Compliance-Gaining Strategies, Natalie J. Kussart, Stephen K. Hunt, Cheri J. Simonds

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study compared students’ use of behavior alteration techniques (BATs) and power based upon whether they were enrolled in learning community or traditional sections of the basic communication course being taught by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). The results of the present study reveal no differences between learning community and regularly enrolled students’ perceptions of power. However, learning community students reported using more prosocial, antisocial, and neutral compliance-gaining strategies compared to traditionally enrolled students. Overall, this study addresses the utility of incorporating learning communities into the pedagogy of the basic communication course and devotes special attention to the training needs of …

The Influence Of Diaphragmatic Breathing To Reduce Situational Anxiety For Basic Course Students, Marlina Marie Howe, Karen Kangas Dwyer

Basic Communication Course Annual

Researchers in physiology and health fields have reported a significant impact from using diaphragmatic breathing (DB) to help individuals reduce anxiety. However, few communication researchers have explored the use of this simple DB technique to help basic course students reduce communication apprehension (CA). Thus, this investigation explored the use of diaphragmatic breathing (DB) in helping students moderate CA. Respondents completed McCroskey’s (1982) Personal Reports of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) after each of four formal classroom speeches. Results indicated the experimental group using DB reported a significant decrease in state anxiety from speech the first two …

Presentation Skills: An Assessment Of University And Career-Related Presentations, Lesa A. Stern, Melissa Hailer

Basic Communication Course Annual

Two studies were conducted to assess the frequency and types of presentations students encounter across the curriculum and whether these presentations parallel those they will encounter in their chosen career. The first study was a content analysis of sixty portfolios (containing a total number of 1360 courses) to find evidence of presentation assignments across the curriculum. Results indicate students encounter one or two classroom-presentation learning experiences per year during their time at the university, and most of these presentations were group and informative oriented. The second study was a survey of faculty to assess the types of presentations required in …

Book Review: 'The Basic Communication Course Online: Scholarship And Application', Paul J. Siddens Iii

Basic Communication Course Annual

Citation information for the book reviewed:

• Goodnight, L. J., & Wallace, S. P. (2005). The Basic Communication Course Online: Scholarship and Application. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt, 96 pp.

“The debate over whether the basic communication course should be taught online is over. Despite our reservations, we have … successfully created and taught the basic course as distance learning.”

This first sentence in co-editor Lisa Goodnight’s preface to this source book succinctly summarizes its theme: We are past the point of debating the issue of teaching the basic course online. It is now time to ensure that we engage in this process …

Author Biographies

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Index Of Titles And Authors, Volumes 1-18

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Submission Guidelines

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Back Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

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Suppressing Cultural Sensitivity: The Role Of Whiteness In Instructors' Course Content And Pedagogical Practices, Laura C. Prividera

Basic Communication Course Annual

Research indicates that students of color often experience marginalization in their academic pursuits at predominantly white institutions. This study utilized critical whiteness studies to examine how communication teachers who instructed basic courses enacted cultural sensitivity in their course content and pedagogical practices. Fifteen faculty at seven academic institutions were interviewed about their teaching practices. Three recurring themes emerged in the data analysis: (a) culture and absence, (b) culture and the marginal, and (c) culture and conflict. These themes revealed how whiteness functioned implicitly to place cultural and diversity issues outside of my participants’ knowing and thus outside of their basic …

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.

Editor's Page, Scott Titsworth

Basic Communication Course Annual

As my tenure as editor of the Basic Communication Course Annual comes to an end, I have a great deal of excitement about the future of communication education and basic course scholarship. Looking back on the three most recent volumes, the diversity of scholars and ideas is remarkable. Moreover, careful readings of articles found in these volumes will show that these scholars are using rigorous methods to ask and answer theoretically provocative and practically potent questions. Indeed, these volumes will add to the rich history of this journal and will also serve as a foundation from which to build as …

Contents And Abstracts

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Connected Classroom Climate And Communication Apprehension: Correlations And Implications Of The Basic Course, Robert E. Carlson, Karen Kangas Dwyer, Shereen G. Bingham, Ana M. Cruz, Marshall Prisbell, Dennis A. Fuss

Basic Communication Course Annual

Although scholars have recommended increasing relational variables in the classroom such as familiarity, acquaintance level, and collaboration to help students moderate communication apprehension (CA), few, if any, academic studies have investigated the relationship between CA and a supportive climate among students in the college classroom. Self-report data were collected from 523 undergraduate students from a Midwestern university who participated in a large curriculum assessment program using the Connected Classroom Climate Inventory (CCCI) and the PRCA-24. Results showed significant relationships between student perceptions of connected-classroom climate and CA levels throughout the course.

The First Year Experience (Fye) And The Basic Communication Course: Insights From Theory And Practice, David W. Worley, Debra A. Worley

Basic Communication Course Annual

Institutions of higher learning increasingly focus on the first year experience (FYE), given the twin needs of persistence and retention. In view of this renewed emphasis, this essay provides insights from theory and practice exploring how the basic oral communication course (BOCC) can adapt existing basic course content and pedagogy, as informed by the standards established by the National Communication Association, to more effectively address the FYE. Specifically, this essay summarizes FYE scholarly literature, reviews representative FYE textbooks, and discusses apparent connections between FYE, basic communication content, and the ways in which the BOCC can practically and naturally link to …

Speaking Assignment Options: Enhancing Student Involvement In The Learning Process, David E. Williams, Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article reports on the use of speaking assignment options implemented at Texas Tech University. Students in the public speaking classes were given the option of delivering a manuscript speech or a reasoned response. The rationale for the assignment options is that students will be more motivated to perform an assignment that they have a choice in and seen more personal benefit in. The paper will address each assignment, how the speaking assignment options were implemented and some results from a survey administered to the students who completed the speaking assignment options exercise.

Undergraduate Teaching Assistants And Their Use Of Nonverbal Immediacy Behaviors In The Basic Communication Course, Wesley T. Durham, Adam C. Jones

Basic Communication Course Annual

Over the past two decades, perhaps no instructional communication topic has been researched as thoroughly as teacher immediacy. However, one important area of the existing teacher immediacy literature that remains underdeveloped is how undergraduate teaching assistants enact immediacy behaviors, and how, if at all, students respond to these teaching assistants differently based on the enactment of these behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to gain a clearer understanding as to what, if any, immediacy behaviors are used by undergraduate teaching assistants in the basic communication course at a large Midwestern university. The researchers conducted 50 hours of observation …

Enacting A Pragmatist Educational Metaphysic Through Civic Engagement In The Basic Media Studies Course, Shawn T. Wahl, Chad Edwards

Basic Communication Course Annual

We argue that in order to help forward John Dewey’s vision of a pragmatist educational metaphysic, civic engagement through service learning in the basic media studies communication course is a possible plan of action. Specifically, we focus on basic media studies communication courses (e.g., introduction to media criticism, media and society, media and culture) and discuss ways to implement civic-oriented service learning activities for the purposes of fostering greater civic engagement. We draw on literature concerning media literacy and service learning that lead to a case study featuring application of Dewey’s philosophy to a media literacy project. This essay is …

Instructors, Students, Managers, And The Basic Organizational Communication Course: Are We All Working Together Or Working Apart?, M. Sean Limon, Philip J. Aust, Lance R. Lippert

Basic Communication Course Annual

Three studies were conducted to determine the extent of overlap between basic organizational communication textbook content (1990-2002), student perceptions of basic organizational communication knowledge and skills important for the workplace, and managerial expectations of communication knowledge and skills for graduates. Overall, findings indicate overlap on assigning importance to group/team communication, leadership, verbal communication, and conflict management; however, there were differences on a range of topics addressed in the basic organizational communication course deemed essential for job success. Implications of the studies’ findings indicate that organizational communication textbooks could emphasize more “soft skills” such as interpersonal relationships, listening, dealing with conflict, …

Re-Focusing The Basic Public Speaking Course: Changing To An Epideictic Framework To Create Community, Janis L. King

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article will first look at five speeches given by various Nobel Prize winners to determine if speakers were asked to prepare and deliver something other than the traditional speech. Secondly, a review of Megan Smith’s legislator’s speeches, which were delivered in public and received media coverage, will be conducted. Lastly, this essay will suggest the reason for the new expectations and provide a new framework for public speaking courses.

The Basic Course As Social Change, Mark Leeman, Arvind Singhal

Basic Communication Course Annual

Working as an agent of social change calls for perseverance and determination. In our work as, and with, change agents all over the world we have seen many well-meaning people working to serve populations that are often hopeless about the future, demoralized, and/or seeking quick solutions that may not address the real issues or causes of problems. At our university we often see similar characteristics in students enrolled in the basic course. That population can be similarly hopeless about the future (at least in the course), de-motivated, and dreaming of escape through the attainment of a passing grade via the …

Revising Pedagogical Strategies In Large Enrollment General Education Courses, Deborah Craig

Basic Communication Course Annual

The goal of this paper is to describe and present initial findings of a pilot research project conducted spring semester 2005 and funded through a fellowship from the Academic Development Center at the author’s university. The pilot project focuses on the pedagogical strategy of speaking themes and how the use of themes can facilitate the goals of the AACU, address student intellectual development and increase motivation through student autonomy. This paper identifies a problem, briefly reviews communication education literature, presents a theoretical perspective from which to view the problem, presents initial findings, and discusses implications of theory application and initial …

The Use Of Professional Seminars To Prepare Future Faculty For Teaching Basic Communication Courses, Lynn M. Harter, Elizabeth Graham, Stephanie Norander, Daniel E. Rossi-Keen

Basic Communication Course Annual

We focus in this essay on three substantive accomplishments of professional seminars that merit attention because of their ramifications for how we teach and learn in basic communication courses: (1) accomplishing teaching, research, and service as inter-related scholarly acts, (2) interlacing stories of our discipline with stories of learners’ lives, and (3) providing institutionalized support for teaching and learning. Additionally, we offer example reading lists and assignment sheets (see Appendices A, B, and C) in hopes that such resources might prove useful for other graduate programs committed to holistic preparation for students entering the academy.