Other Communication Commons^™

Communication Strategies To Restore Working Relations: Comparing Relationships That Improved With Ones That Remained Problematic, Jon Hess, Katelyn Sneed

Jonathan A. Hess

When considering problematic workplace relationships, the question naturally arises of how people can deal most effectively with these challenges. What people most want with difficult relationships is a way to make the problems go away. That desire calls for research on strategies to transform problematic relationships into non-problematic relations. For this issue, there is both good news and bad news. First, the bad news: There are few easy answers when dealing with problematic relations. Problematic relationships are difficult by definition. Relationships that involve challenges a person can easily resolve are not difficult relationships. The co-construction of these relationships often intertwines …

Distancing From Problematic Coworkers, Jon A. Hess

Jonathan A. Hess

Troublesome relationships are a universal aspect of human social interaction (Levitt, Silver, & Franco, 1996). Perhaps nowhere besides the family are problematic relationships so commonplace as in the workplace. Although relationship research primarily focuses on positive relations and thorny problems that occur even in the best of relationships, virtually everyone who has worked in an organization can relate stories of problematic relationships. The challenges these relationships pose resonate with people’s deepest feelings and most significant experiences at work. Problematic work relationships are often as memorable as they are challenging. Workplace relations are largely nonvoluntary relationships. They are created when people …

Human-Animal Communication In Captive Species: Dogs, Horses, And Whales, Mackenzie K. Kelley

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

My hopes for this project are to collect and analyze the current research in the field of animal communication. In the first part, my goal is to define animal communication, specifically within human contexts. I will look at how the history of humans and certain species have intertwined to result in their modern day relationships. I will also explain why we should care about animal communication. In the second part, I will look at three specific species I have chosen to study: dogs, horses, and cetaceans. I will provide a brief history of our roles as humans in the evolution …

Creating Supplements To An Anti-Bullying Program In A Harrisonburg City Public School, Jessica G. Hunt

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

With the implementation of the Olweus Anti-Bullying program, Harrisonburg City Public Schools demonstrated a drive to succeed in the area of bullying prevention. However, due to specific demographics and other external forces, the implementation of the program needed additonal materials in order to maximize effectiveness. Through posters, videos and class meetings, the researcher was able to promote an enriched and fuller program.

Efficacy According To Viewing Length And Video Content Of Promotional Videos For Sustainability Graduate Education., Bryan T. Ogden

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Sustainability communication opens up a range of perspectives on the definition and theory associated with concepts of sustainability and communication. An overview of the literature dealing with sustainability communication and its measure is presented with a dialogic perspective in mind. Practical matters of the video length, production methods and design are described. The Project is evaluated with the sustainability testing rubric advanced by Polk, Reilly, Servaes, Shi and Yakupitijage. The study compares three videos of different length and environmental images through an online survey. It is hypothesized that related environmental images and a three minute video will prompt more positive …

Noise., Laura Katherine Polaski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My research is in the realm of the psychological, the emotional and way these drives manifest physically. The works in Noise. aims to give a physical representation to the non-physical. Research on Affect Theory and the teachings of Silvan Tomkins were paramount to understanding emotional drives and the ways in which they manifest.

The purpose of this research is to understand how emotions are generated and communicated and to ask if specific emotions can be generated upon viewing inanimate objects. I create abstract figurative sculpture, which imitate emotion that has no specific physicality. These works exist with one foot in …

Organizational Communication: Perceptions Of Staff Members’ Level Of Communication Satisfaction And Job Satisfaction, Priti R. Sharma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore the topic of organizational communication in higher education and examine staff members’ perceptions about their level of communication and job satisfaction in their workplaces. This study was also designed to test the relationship between communication satisfaction and job satisfaction by analyzing the significance of different dimensions of Communication Satisfaction with the view that satisfaction is multifaceted.

A total of 463 non-faculty staff members from different units of a single higher education institution participated in this study. This study included non-teaching staff, including student workers and both full-time and part-time staff members. …

The Relationship Between Parent Communication Orientations And The Self-Efficacy Of Student-Athletes, Sara Marie Erdner

Masters Theses

The influence of parent(s)/guardian(s) communication on a student-athlete’s self-efficacy has received limited attention despite its potential implications for the athlete’s sport performance. Student-athlete participants (N = 290) completed measures to report their level of self-efficacy along with the student-athlete perceptions of their parent(s)/guardian’(s) communication orientation. Further, efficacy-enhancing techniques were measured to report frequency-of-use and effectiveness as these strategies were administered by the parent(s)/guardian(s). Significant relationships were found between conformity- and conversation communication and a student-athlete’s self-efficacy. However, these communication orientations did not interact to influence a student-athlete’s self-efficacy. Mean scores are reported to demonstrate which efficacy-enhancing techniques are the most …

Deception Among Organizational Leaders: Impacts On Employee Perceptions Of Supervisor Credibility, Power, And Trust, Paisleigh Jo Kelley

Masters Theses

Deception is ubiquitous in day-to-day communication. While most deceptive acts are relatively minor in terms of interpersonal impact, lying in the workplace may result in negative organizational outcomes (Griffith et al., 2011). Moreover, business leaders who engage in deceptive communication may elicit similar behavior in their employees (Henrichs, 2007). The current study assesses how different deceptive messages spoken by organizational leaders (e.g., honest messages, messages that withhold information, and messages that distort information) impact employee perceptions of that leader’s credibility, power, and trustworthiness. The results of this study indicate that employees view business leaders as less credible and less trustworthy …

A Case Study Of Professional Coach-Client Communication., Scott Shank

Honors Theses

Organizations increasingly embrace coaching as a core process to improve employee learning, increase overall performance, and develop leaders. Extant research on coaching is increasing, yet communication-based theories are underrepresented in the literature despite the fact that coaching is fundamentally discursive in nature. Further, although the coaching literature suggests that coaching conversations contribute to client identity growth and potential transformation, studies that specifically explore such activities are underrepresented in existing scholarship. Further, there lacks sufficient research examining how coaching contributes to the ongoing identity development of the coaches themselves. To fill this gap, this qualitative study explored the role coaching plays …

Message Design Logics And Messaging In The Ebola Crisis, Gregory M. Bieger

Symposium of Student Scholars

O'Keefe's (1988) theory of message design logics explains why some messages are more

persuasive than others. The first, expressive design logic, is the most basic and focuses on

expressing individual thoughts and opinions (O’Keefe, 1988). This type of message design

merely states what the persuader wants. The second, conventional design logic, appeals to

typical reasons or emotional appeals that would be suitable for any audience. The third,

rhetorical message design logic, is the most complex and sophisticated message design focusing

on achieving an agreement between the sender and receiver in which the message provides

context. Unlike conventional design logic, rhetorical …

Older Adults Attitudes Toward New Communication Technologies., Ladonne Wilson, Kate Magsamen-Conrad

Kate Magsamen-Conrad

No abstract provided.

Ideological Analysis Of The Brady Bunch And The Cosby Show, Beth Brannen

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Core Conversations For The Greater Good: An Exploration Of Intrapersonal Communication As A Self-Leadership Strategy In Social Entrepreneurs, William L. Cowen Iv

All Theses And Dissertations

Social entrepreneurs actively create and apply business and communication strategies to support societal causes. They face many leadership and logistics challenges including the need to balance simultaneously mission advocacy and enterprise administration. This qualitative, phenomenological study examines how social entrepreneurs experience intrapersonal communication, conversations within oneself, as a self-leadership strategy that impacts mission and constituents. Within the vast intrapersonal communication field, this study specifically explored the concepts of self-talk, inner voice and inner dialogue, as well as imagined interactions, where conversations are rehearsed or replayed for perceived strategic advantage. The literature examined showed intrapersonal communication, self-leadership and social entrepreneurship all …

Making Oral Communication A Successful Part Of The Common Core, Jon A. Hess

Communication Faculty Publications

Adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represents the first time that oral communication has been included in the curriculum requirements for K–12 education in many states. If done well, this change will provide important benefits to students. However, effective implementation will require collaboration among policymakers, educators, and experts in oral communication.

As educators work to strengthen primary and secondary education in the United States, many agree that schools need educational standards that are grounded in today’s needs and shared across states. The CCSS have emerged as a potential solution, and the majority of states have adopted these standards. …

"A Short Burst Of Inconsequential Information": Networked Rhetorics, Avian Consciousness, And Bioegalitarianism, Damien S. Pfister

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This essay uses the concept of “avian consciousness” to reconsider assumptions about human communication and theorize networked rhetorics. By adopting an ornithomorphic frame, I critically read Don DeLillo’s The Body Artist as an exploration of overlaps between human and avian consciousness. I then argue that avian consciousness provides a richer metaphor for understanding networked rhetorics than autistic consciousness, which is an increasingly dominant trope for explaining interaction with digitally networked media. I explore how Twitter, explicitly modeled on avian communication, can be understood as circulating information in ways analogous to the contact and assembly calls of birds. The essay concludes …

Shaping The Repository, Paul Royster

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Conference Presentations and Speeches

Repositories play 2 critical roles: collection and dissemination. How Nebraska's repository has progressed despite not taking common expert advice. Remarks on the current state of publishing. Opportunities for library publishing and disruptive innovation. A call for scholarship to "come out of Babylon"--the commercial marketplace that inhibits the free creation and sharing of knowledge. A call for librarians to take leadership in the evolution of new roles and relationships with our faculty colleagues. Sturm und Drang, hyperbole, irony, and passion.

Note: Download button links to pdf version. PowerPoint slides (~30mb) attached below as related file.

Streaming video is available at http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/lawrepositories/2015/lr2015/1/

Connecting, Creating, And Composing: A Shared Multimodal Journey, Margaret B. Krause

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Given the dynamic nature of our society, literacy conceptualizations are constantly being redefined. While print literacy continues to be the primary literacy within elementary classroom, the growing nature of technological capabilities, social networking, and multimodal affordances require educators to delve into explorations of how children can be successful in negotiating meaning in our world. As an elementary educator, university instructor, and mother of three children, the author explores personal views of literacy through a shared multimodal journal experience with her children. This article highlights the experiences of her son through the journaling process and how he selects material for a …

Developing Media Literacy: Managing Fear And Moving Beyond, Katherine G. Fry

Journal of Media Literacy Education

One way to view the development of the media literacy movement is through the various different ways in which strains of media literacy education have been called on to allay fears that accompanying new media technologies. This article focuses on how one media literacy organization,The LAMP, deals with two very different arenas —the internet safety arena and the news literacy arena--where fear of digital media has created narrow pockets of concern seeking narrow solutions. As media literacy grows and develops the hope is that these fears subside, a perception of separateness dissolves, and a broader media literacy vision advances.

Dusty But Mighty: Using Radio In The Critical Media Literacy Classroom, Miglena S. Todorova

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In a culture dominated by images, what is the capacity of radio-making to enact the ideals and meet the objectives of critical medial literacy education that empowers learners and expands democracy? This article conceptualizes a radio-based critical media literacy approach drawing upon a course project called “Borderless Radio,” where fifty-two students in a large urban Canadian university produced short radio programs narrating how they view and experience “multiculturalism.” Radio making in the classroom is soundscaping that politicizes intimacy, disrupts hegemonic discourses, and allows for teaching and learning to transgress; yet it also illuminates the ways in which self-positionality poses limitations …