A Grade-Norming Exercise to Increase Consistency and Perceived Consistency in Grading among Public Speaking Instructors

This study reports the results of a grade-norming training exercise in a mid-Atlantic university. The study’s goals were to improve consistency in grading among Public Speaking instructors, and to see whether self-report normative perception behavior and self-efficacy also improved. Four training sessions on speech evaluation were conducted with a group of instructors over the course of one semester. A control group was asked to evaluate speeches independently at the same time period, but its members did not have any training. Results show that the training led to greater consistency in grading over time in the training group compared to the control group. The training group also had higher levels of perceived normative behavior over time, and normative behavior perception was significantly correlated with self-efficacy regardless of group

Measuring the Impact of Course Modality on Student Knowledge, Performance and Communication Apprehension in Public Speaking Pedagogy

This research explores how integrating course modality changes through blended learning technologies impacts the framework of public speaking curriculum. Public Speaking is a unique area of study, as it involves a large number of student performances, requires a small class size, and incites increased communication apprehension in students. Authors of this study incorporated a blended learning course change to tackle these challenges. Through quantitative assessment comparing student knowledge, performance/skills, and communication apprehension between a blended course modality versus traditional face-to-face classes, more is understood regarding the impact of modality on public speaking pedagogy. Results of this study demonstrate how a blended learning modality of instruction is able to enhance the quality of instruction, specifically by increasing student knowledge, improving performance/skills, and lowering communication apprehension. Challenges of hybrid modality are also discussed

Shifting Winds: Using Ancestry DNA to Explore Multiracial Individuals\u27 Patterns of Articulating Racial Identity

This study explored how genotype information affects identification narratives of multiracial individuals. Twenty-one multiracial individuals completed individual interviews before and after receiving a DNA analysis to clarify their genetically based racial ancestry. Based on results, this article proposes patterns of articulating racial identity by multiracial individuals. Four patterns extend evolving research in multiracial identification, namely (1) the individual articulates a monoracial identity; (2) the individual articulates one identity, but this can shift in response to various conditions; (3) the individual articulates an extraracial identity, opting out of traditional categories applied to race; and (4) the person distinguishes traditional categories of race from culture and owns the two identities in different ways. Implications of these findings are discussed. First, adding new ancestry DNA information further muddles the neat categories of race, consistent with the view of race as socially constructed. Second, results emphasize the fluidity of identification for multiracial individuals. Third, DNA information challenges the neat percentages people tend to associate with their backgrounds. Particularly for younger multiracial individuals, there was less of a sense that race was a real thing and more that culture played a big part in how they saw themselves

Who Am I?: Identity in the Age of Consumer DNA Testing

Have you ever wondered about the origins of your ancestors? Are you curious about your ethnicity or race? Have you heard or told stories about your family’s past? Would you like to know the science that can help to uncover some of these mysteries?In Who Am I? Identity in the Age of Consumer DNA Testing, communication scholars Anita Kathy Foeman and Bessie Lee Lawton present readers with the most comprehensive and cutting-edge research on DNA and identity construction. They investigate the modern trend of individuals using direct-to-consumer DNA test results to explore and negotiate their personal and social identities. This book explores the numerous misconceptions that exist with regard to race, culture, and ethnicity, and how DNA kits have changed the ways in which race and ethnicity are understood and acted upon in our everyday lives.Featuring groundbreaking research, illuminating case studies, and a compelling analysis of what makes us who we are, Who Am I? is an ideal book for courses in identity, diversity, and other social sciences, including intercultural communication, sociology, anthropology, and psychology.https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/cahfaculty_books/1019/thumbnail.jp

Bridging Discussions of Human History: Ancestry DNA and New Roles for Africana Studies

This paper explores how Africana Studies offer the opportunity for a new worldview that may supplant the assumption that Western history is history. It considers how new knowledge of the human migration bodes for the future of Africana Studies. It has the following research questions: (1) Does new ancestry data reveal or clarify African narratives that may have been missing or suppressed?; (2) What heritage do participants over- or under-predict?; (3) Do participants over-predict indigenous American heritage?; and (4) How is unexpected heritage received? Data from the DNA Discussion Project is used to answer these questions, and implications for bridging discussions of human history using Ancestry DNA are discussed

DNA Ancestry Testing and Racial Discourse in Higher Education: How the (Re)Biologization of Race (Un)Settles Monoracialism for Graduate Students

The recent proliferation of DNA testing in both popular culture and higher education calls to question whether such testing reifies race as a biological construct and, in particular, whether or not it disrupts or reinforces monoracial categorizations. Graduate students, who are often at a point in their educational journeys to further question and critique commonly held ideas, provide a unique lens through which to investigate discourses surrounding DNA testing. In this qualitative study, we analyze data from four focus groups with 22 racially diverse U.S. graduate students who had recently completed an ancestry test. We identify two specific discourses that graduate student participants engaged in, including (a) a biological race discourse and (b) an agentic choice discourse. Together, these discourses produced distinct unsettled subjectivities for Black and White participants. Our findings suggest the need to more critically consider the usage of DNA ancestry testing in and out of higher education and to provide further nuance around the validity of these tests as they relate to the social construction of race