Other Communication Commons^™

Directing The Winds Of Change: The Basic Course And General Education, Joseph M. Valenzano Iii

Basic Communication Course Annual

Communication departments remain heavily reliant on the inclusion of an introductory communication course in their institution’s general education program. For this reason it is essential for Basic Course Directors (BCDs) to educate themselves on general education. In doing so they will find a new iteration of change to general education where the required course and distribution model are disappearing in favor of an interdisciplinary outcomes-driven approach. Such a shift can have dramatic repercussions on the basic course and communication programs if the course is not further connected with other areas of general education. In this essay, I argue for Basic …

Embracing And Rejecting Student Agency: Documenting Critical Reflection Practices In The Basic Communication Course Classroom, Blair C. Thompson, Renee Robinson

Basic Communication Course Annual

This interpretive study explored classroom power through the implementation of critical reflection exercises aimed at promoting student agency and learning in the basic course classroom. Data included over 400 critical reflection responses from 81 undergraduate students from four different basic course sections.

Three emergent patterns revealed students’ positive re-action to the critical reflection process, how students both embrace and reject power in the classroom, and connections between the critical reflection process and student learning. The findings offer teachers support for implementing critical reflection practices in the communication classroom.

Static And Dynamic Interplay Among Communication Apprehension, Communicative Self-Efficacy, And Willingness To Communicate In The Communication Course, Georgeta M. Hodis, Flaviu A. Hodis

Basic Communication Course Annual

This research offers an in-depth analysis of both static (cross-sectional) and dynamic (longitudinal) relations among communication apprehension, communicative self-efficacy, and willingness to communicate pertaining to the public speaking context. Using longitudinal data from undergraduate students enrolled in a semester-long basic communication course (BCC) focusing on public speaking, the study sheds light on the complex patterns of interrelationships among the three constructs and on the differences arising when regarding them from a static versus dynamic standpoint. The research reveals important findings that have salient implications for instruction in the BCC and are informative for theory-development and general pedagogical practice in the …

Assessment Of E-Textbook Usage In A Large Public Speaking Program, Marlina M. Davidson, Karen Kangas Dwyer

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study examined student usage of an e-textbook in a large multi-section basic pubic speaking course that fulfills the oral communication general education requirement at a large state university in the Midwest. The results collected from students surveys (n=598) indicated that they are not yet using e-textbooks across other university classes, they prefer printed textbooks to e-textbooks, they perceive advantages of e-textbooks to be cost, weight, ability to quickly find topics and conveniences, while they perceive advantages of printed textbooks to be the ability to highlight and take notes, ease of reading, and keeping the printed text-book for future reference. …

Assessing Student Public Speaking Competence In The Hybrid Basic Communication Course, Kristen Leblanc Farris, Marian L. Houser, Crystal D. Wotipka

Basic Communication Course Annual

Public speaking remains one of the most sought-after skill sets by employers. However, a method to accurately assess these public speaking skills has long been debated by educators and scholars alike (Morreale, Hugenberg, & Worley, 2006). This study sought to ex-amine the assessment tools used to demonstrate student learning of public speaking skills in the hybrid orientation of the basic communication course. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine the validity of two assessment instruments (Informative Presentation Assessment Form and Persuasive Presentation Assessment Form) measuring student public speaking competency. Results established concurrent validity of the two assessment instruments used to measure …

A New Hybrid: Students’ Extensions Of Integrated Communication Content, Amy L. Housley Gaffney, Brandi N. Frisby

Basic Communication Course Annual

Using Bandura’s (1977) self-efficacy theory, this study examined student perceptions of changes in efficacy and affect toward a variety of communication skills (e.g., interpersonal, writing, visual, public speaking, group collaboration) over a sequence of two hybrid basic course classes. As part of a larger assessment initiative, both quantitative and qualitative data from the first course (n = 793) and the second course (n = 273) were analyzed. Students reported greater affect and efficacy during the second course when compared to the first course. Specifically, students reported six affective changes including expanded knowledge, enhanced collaborative skills, increased openness and acceptance, heightened …

Facing With Non-Nativeness While Teaching: Enacting Voices Of International Teaching Assistants Of Basic Communication Courses, Arata Miyazaki, Kaori Yamada

Basic Communication Course Annual

This paper presents our voices as international teaching assistants (ITAs) of public speaking courses at American universities and discusses how non-native English speaker identity, or non-nativeness is displayed, developed, and negotiated through our inter-actions with both native and other non-native speakers. Regarding our companionship as ITAs of public speaking as a subject of study, we engage in narrative co-construction about our survival in graduate programs. We argue that non-nativeness is not monolithic but is more relational and multilayered than it tends to be assumed. Obtaining a teaching position was an epiphany for our relationship, changing the perceptions about and attitude …

Effect Of Goal-Setting And Self-Generated Feedback On Student Speechmaking, Luke Lefebvre

Basic Communication Course Annual

This investigation examined how goal setting strategies and self-generated feedback from video affects student grade improvement on subsequent speaking occasions. Students (n =140) across ten course sections were conveniently assigned to experimental conditions manipulating video use and goal setting strategies. Significant and meaningful main effects of anticipatory goal setting combined with self-generated feedback from video were obtained when compared to unstructured video replay, only goal setting, and self-reactive goal setting with self-generated feedback from video. Implications for these findings are examined along with the potential of video as an instructional technological tool for student learning in the introductory course.

Author Biographies

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Index Of Titles And Authors, Volumes 1-24

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. 25

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (377 pages, 14.2 MB)

Design And Analysis Of Scalable Video Streaming Systems, Musab S. Al-Hadrusi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Despite the advancement in multimedia streaming technology, many multimedia applications are still face major challenges, including provision of Quality-of-Service (QoS), system scalability, limited resources, and cost. In this dissertation, we develop and analyze a new set of metrics based on two particular video streaming systems, namely: (1) Video-on-Demand (VOD) with video advertisements system and (2) Automated Video Surveillance System (AVS).

We address the main issues in the design of commercial VOD systems: scalability and support of video advertisements. We develop a scalable delivery framework for streaming media content with video advertisements. The delivery framework combines the benefits of stream merging …

The Experience And Expression Of Stepchildren’S Emotions At Critical Events In Stepfamily Life, Sandra Metts, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Paul Schrodt, Tiffany R. Wang, Amanda J. Holman, Audra K. Nuru, Jenna Stephenson Abetz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study explored the experience and expression of emotions of adult stepchildren during four critical events in stepfamily life. During semistructured, in-depth interviews, 57 adult stepchildren shared stories about four critical events: the parental divorce, remarriage of one of the parents, an event in the stepfamily that generated feeling more like a family, and an event in the stepfamily that generated feeling less like a family. A total of 402 pages of single- spaced transcripts were coded for emotion, target, and expression of emotion resulting in positive and negative emotion categories and subcategories for all four critical events. Five research …

Communicative Responses To The Painful Self-Disclosures Of Familial And Non-Familial Older Adults, Craig Fowler, Jordan Soliz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Data from 365 college students were used to assess young adults’ communicative responses to older persons’ painful self-disclosures (PSDs). Coupland, Coupland, and Giles (1991) proposed that recipients of PSD may respond to such disclosures via a variety of “next moves.” These responses may broadly be considered to reflect forms of prosocial engagement, passive disengagement, and active disengagement. We investigated whether young adults’ tendency to use certain responses to PSD were influenced by their affective reactions to PSD, their communicative background and characteristics, and the socio-relational context of the encounter in which PSD occurred. Results are discussed with respect to their …

Defensive Communication Between Professors And Students And Its Effects On Student Outcomes, Alexa Pomerenk

Honors Program Theses

This study investigated the relationship between defensive communication and student outcomes in college classrooms. The researcher hypothesized that students would perceive a greater defensive climate in classes taught by their least favorite professors, and that the defensive climate would encourage the use of coping mechanisms. Defensive communication was also hypothesized to negatively affect student grades, attendance, and course satisfaction and to increase student burnout. Surveys were administered to college students, and results supported all hypotheses. Findings showed that students linked defensive attributes to their least favorite professors more frequently than they did to their favorite professors, and they reported using …

Screenplay: Joe And Ruby, Felicia Bradberry

All Student Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Dead Man's Switch: Disaster Rhetorics In A Posthuman Age, Daniel Patrick Richards

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When a disaster the magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill takes place, is it natural for the news media stories, investigative reports, and public deliberation to focus almost exclusively on finding the person or group responsible for such a horrendous scene. Rhetorically speaking, the discourse surrounding the event can be characterized as a reductive form of praise and blame rhetoric (epideixis). However, these efforts, while well-intentioned, are troublesome because searches for the one technical cause and the sole personal culpability are thwarted by the sheer complexity of the ecological, technological, scientific, institutional, and communicative network required for …

Manual Evaluation Of Synthesised Sign Language Avatars, Robert G. Smith Mr, Brian Nolan Dr.

Conference Papers

The evaluation discussed in this paper explores the role that underlying facial expressions might have regarding understandability in sign language avatars. Focusing specifically on Irish Sign Language (ISL), we examine the Deaf community’s appetite for sign language avatars. The work presented explores the following hypothesis: Augmenting an existing avatar with various combinations of the 7 widely accepted universal emotions identified by Ekman [1] to achieve underlying facial expressions, will make that avatar more human-like and consequently improve usability and understandability for the ISL user. Using human evaluation methods [2] we compare an augmented set of avatar utterances against a baseline …

Attachment And Delayed Gratification In The Technological Age, Susan G. Pomerantz

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Disciplinarity, Crisis, And Opportunity In Technical Communication, Jason Robert Carabelli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I argue that technical communication as an academic curricular entity has struggled to define itself as either a humanities or scientific discipline. I argue that this crisis of identity is due to a larger, institutional flaw first identified by the science studies scholar Bruno Latour as the problem of the "modern constitution." Latour's argument, often referred to as Actor-Network Theory (ANT), suggests that the epistemological arguments about scientific certainty are built on a contradiction. In viewing the problem of technical communication's disciplinarity through the lens of ANT, I argue that technical communication can never be productive if …