Big Trouble for the Big Three: An Audience Perspective of the Appropriateness and Effectiveness of the Big Three Automakers’ Image Repair Strategies

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)The importance of image management has created the need to for organizations to continually work in order to improve their image or defend it against perceived threats. Since organizations engage in a constant struggle to preserve their reputation, it is important to understand the persuasive discourse associated with image repair strategies. In addition, a successful rhetor must also acknowledge the importance of perception of the appropriateness and effectiveness of the apologetic discourse from the perspective of an audience. Focus groups were conducted and analyzed in order to better understand the perceived appropriateness and effectiveness of the image repair strategies employed by the Big Three Automakers as perceived by the audience. The findings of this study complement the original findings of Benoit and Drew’s quantitative study assessing the appropriateness and effectiveness of image repair strategies in an interpersonal setting. However, there were observable differences between the studies in terms of the perception of both the appropriateness and effectiveness of bolstering and the effectiveness of differentiation. The implications of these differences can be important in developing a better understanding of the utilization of image repair strategies in the apologetic discourse of organizations. Specifically, the results demonstrate how the audience determines the appropriateness and effectiveness of the strategies and how rhetors are able to successfully use different strategies based in context

Where Do You Turn? Student-Identified Resources in the Basic Course Experience, Sources of Information, Feedback, and Help-Seeking Behaviors

This study explored the formal and informal resources students enrolled in a basic communication course use to gather information and receive feedback about their course experience, including presentations and work in the class. To do so, an online survey was completed by 393 students at three universities. The data were analyzed thematically using an iterative process facilitated through NVivo coding software. This process not only allowed for a descriptive summary of the students’ responses and the creation of a typology of resources, but also revealed four emergent themes related to student motivations to seek out and use sources of information/feedback: (1) the level of availability (2) the value of personalized feedback, (3) the perceived authority, and (4) need for of examples. Taken together, these findings inform practical implications about information literacy, availability of vetted examples, and family/friend involvement, all of which are important for basic course administrators and instructors to consider in order to support student success and learning in the basic communication course classroom

Mapping Research Directions in the Introductory Communication Course: A Meta-Synthesis of Published Scholarship

The introductory communication course has a history of producing meaningful scholarship that shapes teaching and learning at institutions of higher education around the world. The scope of this research is broad and, as such, calls for a meta-synthesis of trends in and avenues for future research. This project examines published work from the past decade—2010 through 2019—in key outlets that regularly publish introductory course-focused research (The Basic Communication Course Annual, Communication Education, Communication Teacher, The Journal of Communication Pedagogy). This analysis of 98 articles revealed that publications tend to focus on three primary areas: (1) students and instructors, (2) the structure of the course, and (3) assessment—while calling for future research to “replicate” past studies. Based on this meta-synthesis, we propose directions for future scholarship that will continue to impact teaching and learning practices beyond replication

Defining Feedback: Understanding Students’ Perceptions of Feedback in the Introductory Communication Course

Feedback is an essential part of the teaching/learning processes. This statement is especially true in the introductory communication course where students receive feedback throughout the presentational speaking process. This paper explores how students define useful feedback based on 1,600 qualitative questionnaires that asked students about their perceptions of feedback. A thematic analysis of a randomly selected subset of 163 responses uncovered two themes: (1) feedback content characteristics (e.g., specific, constructive, praiseworthy, and purposive) and (2) process of instructor-provided feedback (e.g., iterative, timely). Based on these findings, a set of best practices for providing feedback is offered as a means to improve teaching/learning in the introductory communication course

Redesigning the Basic Communication Course: A Case Study

In the competitive environment of higher education, the basic communication course is under pressure to defend its place in the curriculum. One way to do this is to engage in a course redesign program. In this case study, we detail our experience taking part in such a program to (re)evaluate our course. Over the course of a year, we collected active participation data and conducted a series of three qualitative surveys that focused on student perceptions of our course. In doing so, we explored the ways in which the basic communication course can take advantage of course redesign efforts. Specifically, we found that we were better able to (1) articulate our unique course identity to constituents across the campus as we (2) developed a more holistic view of the ways we were (or were not) achieving our stated learning outcomes. Based on these findings, we developed practical implications including explicating how a well-planned course redesign program can be used in the basic communication course, the need for “collaborative consistency” when redesigning a course, and the imperative to incorporate student voice into redesign efforts

Incorporating Learning Analytics into Basic Course Administration: How to Embrace the Opportunity to Identify Inconsistencies and Inform Responses

Consistency is imperative to the success of a multi-section basic course. However, establishing consistent practices is a difficult task, especially when coupled with maintaining instructor autonomy. Learning analytics tools, designed to improve learning and teaching by collecting and analyzing pertinent information through interactive databases, can be used by basic course administrators to improve consistency. Using a reflective case study methodology we share our experience incorporating a learning analytics platform into our basic course. In doing so, we highlight the role this technology can play in terms of identifying areas of inconsistency as well as informing ways to improve overall course delivery. Three major areas of inconsistency were uncovered: (1) the use of online grade books; (2) utilization of course-wide rubrics; (3) and instances of grade inflation. Stemming from these findings is a set of very practical implications regarding the coupling of learning analytics and basic course administration. These include clarifying the two-step process of identifying inconsistencies and informing solutions as well as introducing the concept of collaborative consistency, the term we use to describe the co-construction of course materials (e.g., rubrics, schedules) and activities (e.g., norming). The case ultimately provides the opportunity for basic course directors to embrace the role of learning analytics technology

Measuring Essential Learning Outcomes for Public Speaking

Basic Course Directors (BCDs) are typically expected to assess course learning outcomes, but few formal guidelines and resources exist for new BCDs. As one part of a larger multi-methodological assessment tool development project, this manuscript maps existing quantitative measures onto the six essential competencies and associated learning outcomes established by the Social Science Research Council Panel on Public Speaking. This manuscript compiles dozens of measurement resources, aligned by outcome, and also identifies areas where future assessment measures development is needed. While there are many measures available for evaluating outcomes related to creating messages, critically analyzing messages, and demonstrating self-efficacy, there are measurement gaps for outcomes related to communication ethics, embracing difference, and influencing public discourse

Online Pilot Grocery Intervention among Rural and Urban Residents Aimed to Improve Purchasing Habits

Online grocery shopping has the potential to improve access to food, particularly among low-income households located in urban food deserts and rural communities. The primary aim of this pilot intervention was to test whether a three-armed online grocery trial improved fruit and vegetable (F&V) purchases. Rural and urban adults across seven counties in Kentucky, Maryland, and North Carolina were recruited to participate in an 8-week intervention in fall 2021. A total of 184 adults were enrolled into the following groups: (1) brick-and-mortar “BM” (control participants only received reminders to submit weekly grocery shopping receipts); (2) online-only with no support “O” (participants received weekly reminders to grocery shop online and to submit itemized receipts); and (3) online shopping with intervention nudges “O+I” (participants received nudges three times per week to grocery shop online, meal ideas, recipes, Facebook group support, and weekly reminders to shop online and to submit itemized receipts). On average, reported food spending on F/V by the O+I participants was USD 6.84 more compared to the BM arm. Online shopping with behavioral nudges and nutrition information shows great promise for helping customers in diverse locations to navigate the increasing presence of online grocery shopping platforms and to improve F&V purchases

Stakeholder narratives on trypanosomiasis, their effect on policy and the scope for One Health

Background This paper explores the framings of trypanosomiasis, a widespread and potentially fatal zoonotic disease transmitted by tsetse flies (Glossina species) affecting both humans and livestock. This is a country case study focusing on the political economy of knowledge in Zambia. It is a pertinent time to examine this issue as human population growth and other factors have led to migration into tsetse-inhabited areas with little historical influence from livestock. Disease transmission in new human-wildlife interfaces such as these is a greater risk, and opinions on the best way to manage this are deeply divided. Methods A qualitative case study method was used to examine the narratives on trypanosomiasis in the Zambian policy context through a series of key informant interviews. Interviewees included key actors from international organisations, research organisations and local activists from a variety of perspectives acknowledging the need to explore the relationships between the human, animal and environmental sectors. Principal Findings Diverse framings are held by key actors looking from, variously, the perspectives of wildlife and environmental protection, agricultural development, poverty alleviation, and veterinary and public health. From these viewpoints, four narratives about trypanosomiasis policy were identified, focused around four different beliefs: that trypanosomiasis is protecting the environment, is causing poverty, is not a major problem, and finally, that it is a Zambian rather than international issue to contend with. Within these narratives there are also conflicting views on the best control methods to use and different reasoning behind the pathways of response. These are based on apparently incompatible priorities of people, land, animals, the economy and the environment. The extent to which a One Health approach has been embraced and the potential usefulness of this as a way of reconciling the aims of these framings and narratives is considered throughout the paper. Conclusions/Significance While there has historically been a lack of One Health working in this context, the complex, interacting factors that impact the disease show the need for cross-sector, interdisciplinary decision making to stop rival narratives leading to competing actions. Additional recommendations include implementing: surveillance to assess under-reporting of disease and consequential under-estimation of disease risk; evidence-based decision making; increased and structurally managed funding across countries; and focus on interactions between disease drivers, disease incidence at the community level, and poverty and equity impacts