Other Communication Commons^™

How Basic Course Directors Evaluate Teaching Assistants: Social Constructionism In Basiccourseland, Nancy L. Buerkel-Rothfuss

Basic Communication Course Annual

This essay examines the ways basic course directors assess their teaching staff. In particular, the study describes ways course directors from a variety of disciplines use language to evaluate teaching competence and to differentiate among staff members with regard to job performance. As would be expected, most course directors in this sample used evaluation terms such as good/bad or effective/ineffective. Only a few used other types of differentiation schemes, such as those based on maturity of the teaching assistant or attitudes toward teaching.

Get Your Modem Runnin', Get Out On The I-Way: Encouraging Internet Investigations In The Basic Course, Glen Williams, Joni M. Johnson-Jones

Basic Communication Course Annual

The Internet can be a valuable resource for instructors and students alike. Students need to develop Internet savvy to take advantage of its holdings and to use it responsibly. Instructors can help students develop such savvy by providing pointers for its use as well as by taking them through a few exercises. Once students have learned to proceed efficiently and judiciously, the Internet can be a powerful vehicle for assisting their investigations.

Will The Dazzling Promise Blind Us? Using Technology In The Beginning Public Speaking Course, Mary Mino

Basic Communication Course Annual

Because proponents of technology promise that by using electronic media, such as computer and video technologies, students' communication skills will improve, many public speaking instructors are using or considering using various types of technology. However, the effectiveness of various technologies as vehicles for delivering communication skill instruction have yet to be examined extensively. Therefore, communication educators need to assess the value of technology as compared to conventional delivery systems and consider the challenges before incorporating technology into the beginning public speaking course. This essay presents an overview of some of the uses of technology in the public speaking course, describes …

Communication Apprehension, Self-Efficacy, And Grades In The Basic Course: Correlations And Implications, Karen Kangas Dwyer, Dennis A. Fus

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article presents a study examining the relationship among communication apprehension (CA), self-efficacy (S-E), and grades in the basic communication course. Data were gathered from 208 undergraduate students enrolled in a public speaking course that fulfills a university-wide core curriculum requirement. Respondents completed MCroskey's (1982) Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24), the Self-Efficacy in the Class scale (SECL) adapted from Pintrich and DeGroot's (1990) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and two researcher-designed questions regarding S-E for college (SECOL). Results indicated that although trait and context CA are significantly correlated with final grades. In fact, multiple-regression showed that S-E contributed significant …

Branching Out To Meet The Needs Of Our Students: A Model For Oral Communication Assessment And Curriculum Programs, Patricia A. Cutspec, Kevin M. Mcpherson, Julie H. Spiro

Basic Communication Course Annual

Two of the multiple primary tasks facing post-secondary institutions across the country are revisiting and revitalizing general education or core programs and developing appropriate techniques for assessing the value of these programs. Following years of development and refinement, Western Carolina University has created an oral communication general education program that not only meets the needs of individual students, but also encouraged consistency across the curriculum emphasizing and assessing the skills learned in the basic course. We have answered the call for revisitation and reform regarding the best pedagogical and epistemological strategies for developing competent communicators, and our results have been …

Analyzing C-Span In The Basic Communication Course, Jim Schnell

Basic Communication Course Annual

Use of C-SPAN in the basic communication course as data for analysis is described. Specific focus is on Persian Gulf War presentations made August 2, 1990 - January 16, 1991 by President George Bush. Analysis of these presentations exemplifies how similar analysis can be done of other public speakers. An explanation of how to procure C-SPAN videotapes is provided.

Commentary: An Idea For Restructuring The Basic Communication Course: A "Time When Needed" Modular Approach, Donald D. Yoder

Basic Communication Course Annual

This commentary suggests a different way of structuring the basic communication course. Instead of trying to teach a variety of communication course, this commentary develops a modular approach to the basic course to be taught in smaller units and at times in a student's studies when the communication skills in the specific units are more relevant. A tentative schedule for the units is suggested.

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Basic Communication Course Annual

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Basic Communication Course Annual

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Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 11

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (192 pages, 7.056 MB)

Communication Of Social Support In Computer-Mediated Groups For People With Disabilities, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Vincent R. Waldron, Jerry Finn

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study documented the types and extent of social support messages exchanged by persons with disabilities who participated in a computer-based support group. A modified version of Cutrona and Suhr’s (1992) social support category system was used to code 1,472 support messages. The largest percentage of these messages offered emotional and informational support, whereas network support and tangible assistance were least frequently offered. It appeared that many of the support messages directly redressed limitations and challenges associated with disability-related mobility, socialization, and self-care. Results are discussed in terms of the generalizability of existing category systems for coding support to this …

Protecting Communication Departments: Reflections On The Nebraska Experience, Ronald Lee, William J. Seiler

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Eight years ago, in the first week of the 1991 fall semester, the Acting Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs announced a series of vertical budget cuts that included the elimination of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s department of Speech Communication (now Communication Studies). Over the next seven months the department fought against the proposed action. In March 1992, the Budget Reduction Review Committee voted against the Vice Chancellor’s recommendation. Later in the month, the Academic Planning Committee also voted to rescind the budget cutting measure.

These actions ended the battle and assured the continuation of the department. In an earlier …

Grading Policy And Student Retention, Ralph R. Behnke, Chris R. Sawyer, Paul E. King

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article discuses two policies that work at cross purposes to one another which university administrators and faculty works collaboratively with. Schools are actively resisting grade inflation trends while at the same time seeking to retain students. The article describes the borderline student, a category of at risk student often overlooked, yet numerous. It is found that academic performance was the highest ranked risk factor, accounting for approximately 20% of the variance, while behavior and coping skills was a distant second, accounting for only 6% of the risk factor variance. Borderline students can be efficiently rescued with modest outlays of …

Departmental Excellence: Constituencies In Tension, Ronald C. Arnett, Janie M. Harden Fritz

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article explores the question of departmental excellence within historicity and temporality and the political demands of multiple constituencies. If one accepts excellence as a rhetorical construct of political significance for a college campus, then one requires knowledge of the primary constituencies shaping this political debate. The eventual political outcome is shaped through the interplay of three constituencies: the discipline, the local campus and the larger public. The task for every department that wants to pursue excellence is to know, understand and operate within the hidden curriculum of a campus that socializes faculty to the ongoing mission of that particular …

Award Winning Communication Programs: Centrality Or Confusion?, Mary E. Beadle, Jacqueline J. Schmidt

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article analyzes award winning communication programs. The winners of the Small College Interest Group's Programs of Excellence Award provide directions for achieving centrality and the goals outlined by the National Communication Association Task Force on Advancing the Discipline. They have similar names, degrees and locations within their institutions and they favor a holistic department and curricula that are interdisciplinary with strong department anchors. Most have assessment programs in place to maintain this quality. In most cases, they have identified themselves with the mission of their institution through courses and goals. These programs can provide some guidelines for departments in …

Strategic Planning For A Communication Department: Process And Promise, Catherine Konsky

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of planning, most notably strategic planning, and describes a process for developing a department strategic plan by involving the entire faculty in its creation. Principles of business planning and small group communication are joined to address academic department planning needs. Moreover, planning needs to capitalize on the essential soft information lacking in separate groups of planners such as planning departments frequently used in business settings. Soft information refers to experiential knowledge that comes, in this case, from faculty, doing the job as opposed to relying on the numerical data that drive many business …

Proactively And In The Heat Of The Moment: Administrative Advice For Communication Instructors To Help Students Cope With Crisis, Jennifer H. Waldeck

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article provides advice on helping students cope with crisis. The first section discusses communication research that is pertinent to helping students be prepared proactively to deal with relationship crises. Second, it focuses on strategies that teachers of interpersonal communication survey courses may use to deal with students who are already victims of these situations, and as a result, may be emotionally troubled, abusing drugs or alcohol, or have suicidal feelings. Although communication faculty often are perceived to be immediate and thus approached by troubled students, most are rarely qualified to dispense or perform counseling duties. Recommendations are made in …

Faculty And Student Expectations/Perceptions Of The Adviser-Advisee Relationship, Lawrence B. Nadler, Marjorie Keeshan Nadler

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article discusses the importance of the relationship between faculty adviser and advisee. The faculty advising system is one of the principal ways provided for accomplishing improvement in faculty-student interaction. Direct contact with their advisees can benefit students in multiple ways. Contact with professional staff has been associated with increased retention among undergraduate university students. Students also benefit scholastically and affectively from such contact. Faculty and academic institutions also can derive benefits from the adviser-advisee relationship. The quality of the advising relationship is a major contributor to institutional holding power.

Critiques Of Gatekeeping In Scholarly Journals: An Analysis Of Perceptions And Data, Jean Bodon, Larry Powell, Mark Hickson Iii

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article analyzes criticisms on the nature and functioning of the editorial boards of communication journals. There are certain elements in the pattern among the critics of journal articles and the journal publishing process. First, they tend to distort what was written in the original article by changing the words, concepts, or ideas. Second, they redefine the parameters of the study they are critiquing. Third, there is sometimes an element of hypocrisy in the critics' attack. However, from the analysis it would appear that editors attempt to maintain balance considering experience in publishing, geographic and institutional affiliation, and gender.

An Investigation Of Audience Receptiveness To Non-Native Teaching Assistants, Eunkyong Lee Yook

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article examines the reliance of U.S. campuses on international teaching assistants (ITA) for staffing undergraduate course and the strategies that may affect ratings of their speaking competence. This increasing reliance has led to student complaints about incomprehensibility of ITA. This problem has been examined by looking through the eyes of the students, administrators and taxpayers. Therefore, the responsibility had been placed on the ITA, whose burden it was to learn the language and culture more fully. The goal of having ITA learn the language and culture better was eclipsing another important issue that needs consideration, the issue of teaching …

Graduate Program Assessment Of Student Satisfaction: A Method For Merging University And Department Outcomes, Jeremy H. Lipschultz, Michael L. Hilt

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article evaluates a communication graduate program based upon the perceptions of alumni satisfaction. The department's assessment plan was utilized to measure their perceived knowledge of theory and research, as well as feelings about career preparation. The results indicate that assessment measures related to content taught may be linked to perceptions about quality, flexibility and facilities in a graduate program. Educational outcomes will continue to be an important issue for communication educators. It is critical that assessment data be collected, interpreted and used to revise curriculum in order to be responsive to needs. By doing this, communication programs will be …

Employer Expectations Of Newly-Hired Communication Graduates, D. F. Treadwell, Jill B. Treadwell

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article examines employers' expectations and perceptions of communication new hires at three points in the school-to-work transition, the initial job application, and the beginning and the end of the first year. This study focuses on writing and related conceptual abilities because for most communication new hires they are the foundation of both a successful job application, and therefore employers' first impressions, and of subsequent performance evaluations and progress. In conclusion, broad generalizations about the communication abilities of communication new hires may be unwarranted because performance expectations and the level and types of assessment vary with the type of position, …

Lecturers, Instructors, And Part-Timers: The Person V. The Position, James W. Sayer

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Presents an analysis, based on a personal experience as department chair, on issues surrounding the employment of non-tenure-line faculty, lecturers, instructors and adjuncts, and the difference between the person filling the position and the position itself. Thesis on the difference between the position and the person filling the position; Terms of employment; Conclusion.

Traditional And Applied Graduate Education: Special Challenges, William G. Powers, Don Love

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article addresses the difference in philosophy and instruction methods in communication graduate programs of the traditional and applied graduate education. Both the traditional and the applied programs are equal in intellectual challenges but with significant differences recognized and accounted for in faculty decision-making associated with course selection, content, and instructional strategy. Graduate programs that contain elements of both models are the more common in our field and face special challenges. In conclusion, administrators must establish and focus upon mutual respect for the commonalities held by the two approaches to graduate education and the support they have for each other, …

Building Excellence In Communication Studies: Illinois Speech Communication 1975-1995 As Exemplar, Delia G. Jesse

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Comments on the establishment of departmental excellence at the Speech Communication Department of the University of Illinois from 1975 to 1995. Application of the concept of constructivism in department administration; Context of program creation at the department; Principles that guided program-building.

Establishing The Department's Credibility With Central Administration, John J. Makay

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Presents an article about how the Department of Interpersonal Communication at Bowling Green State University in Ohio established its credibility. Principles applied in administering the department; Importance of promoting a department's image; Skills and attitude relevant to department chairperson.

John Carroll's Department Of Communication: Growth At A Small University, Jacqueline J. Schmidt

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article examines the Department of Communications at John Carroll University between 1984 and 1999. John Carroll is an independent, Catholic, coeducational university founded in 1886 by the Society of Jesus. It is located in University Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. The Department of Communications is located in the Humanities division of the College of Arts and Sciences. Essential for the growth of the department has been a clear holistic philosophy that have been implemented in hiring, budget, curriculum and co-curricular decisions.

Advancing The Discipline: Guidelines From The Experience Of Colleagues, Samuel L. Becker

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Introduces articles from the issue about the disciplinary advancement of the communication departments of various colleges and universities.

Protecting Communication Departments: Reflections On The Nebraska Experience, Lee Ronald, William Seiler

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article reflects on the vulnerabilities and strengths of communication departments at the University of Nebraska. The relatively small size of communication departments makes them especially vulnerable to administrative budget cutters. For a complex set of reasons, particular disciplines have become defining elements of universities in the U.S. Unfortunately, communication departments have not achieved such status. The professional organizations need to do more than offer the occasional workshop, they ought to make a concerted effort to help communications departments maximize the discipline's opportunity and make the field of communication valuable to students and become ever more essential to the university.