Assessing the Effects of a Public Speaking Course on Native and Non-Native English Speakers

This study tested whether there is a difference in the benefits of a traditional public speaking course for Native English Speakers (NES) and Non-Native English xii Speakers (NNES). The study assessed changes in Communication Apprehension (CA), Self-Perceived Communication Competence (SPCC), and Willingness to Communicate (WTC) before and after participants took the traditional public speaking course. The findings indicate that NES and NNES had equal benefits and growth in these self-report measures and suggest that we should further investigate which public speaking course structure is most beneficial for NNES

Prepared to Pivot: Creating a Resilient Basic Course Program

The rapid transition to emergency remote teaching due to COVID-19 provides many lessons for how BCDs can design resilient basic course programs that will be prepared to adapt in any number of potential future emergencies. BCDs can design resilient courses by pre-planning how courses will maintain instructional continuity, pre-loading pivoting options into learning management systems, and adopting online texts that are accessible anywhere. BCDs can also build instructor resilience by providing high-quality training and providing continued support for instructor well-being

Nontraditional Students, Multilingual Learners, and University Type: The Vital Missing Comparisons in our Basic Course Research

After the G.I. Bill was passed in 1944, the United States saw a massive expansion of higher education. The subsequent economic growth, expanding middle class, and support of public education meant that more Americans had access to college education than ever before (Bok, 2006). In the decades that followed, a typical or “traditional” college student was a person who entered a four-year university at the age of eighteen immediately after completing high school, attended full time, considered their education a full-time responsibility, had no dependents, was employed part time or not at all, and graduated in four years (Center for Institutional Effectiveness, 2004; Ross-Gordon, 2011). Most descriptions also assume that traditional students are born in the United States, speak English as their first language, and live in student housing on or near campus. However, the majority of students in college and university classrooms today do not reflect these “traditional” characteristics. In 2014-2015, 886,052 international students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities (Institute for International Education, 2014), and many universities facing budget cuts are trying to increase international student recruiting. Since the basic communication course is frequently required for most or all students at many colleges and universities as part of a general education requirement, and because the basic course is typically intended to help incoming undergraduate students build communication skills that they will use in other courses, their future careers, and in their communities, this diversity of student preparation and experience has important implications for how we approach the basic course

Best Practices for Training New Communication Graduate Teaching Assistants

Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are often the first college instructors who new students meet when they arrive for their first day of class, and as instructors and as students, GTAs are the future of the discipline. As such, GTAs need to receive comprehensive training in a variety of pedagogical, procedural, and professional areas to help graduate students continue to develop as instructors and, eventually, into full-time faculty. To assist basic course directors, department chairs, and faculty in creating and supporting a comprehensive and ongoing GTA training program, this article provides 10 best practices for training new GTAs who will be teaching introductory communication courses

Making the Case for the Basic Communication Course in General Education

Authors were asked to prepare an essay as if they were writing a letter to their dean (whose academic training was in another discipline) who (1) asked that enrollment in each basic course section be increased to a level that compromises the pedagogy of the basic course or (2) proposed that the required basic communication course be eliminated from the university’s general education program. In this essay, the authors discuss the academic, career, and social benefits stemming from strong effective communication skills

Using In-Class Versus Out-of-Class Peer Workshops to Improve Presentational Speaking

This study sought to determine whether there is a difference in the effect of in-class and out-of-class peer workshops on Cognitive Learning, Affective Learning, speech grades, Public Speaking Anxiety, Connected Classroom Climate, and Perceived Workshop Value. This study used a within-subjects modified switching-replications design and found that there were no significant differences in the effects of the two types of workshops. However, students preferred in-class workshops, and there is slight evidence that there might be benefits for doing an in-class workshop first so that students can build trust and learn to give and receive better feedback before considering out-of-class workshops

Creating Equitable and Inclusive Basic Course Classrooms: A Response Essay

In 1992, Jo Sprague challenged communication educators to think more critically about how we teach and what we include in our communication curriculum. In the decades since Sprague’s powerful call for instructional communication researchers and instructors to ask ourselves, “What is knowledge and how is curriculum established?” (p. 11), we find ourselves needing to engage with ongoing contemporary conversations about what counts as knowledge in a basic communication course and which knowledge is viewed as important enough to include in the curriculum. A meta-synthesis of basic communication course surveys showed little change in the basic communication course content over the last 60 years (LeFebvre and LeFebvre, 2020). The radical changes that have occurred in our society and in higher education student populations over the last decades have required a rethinking of how college classrooms function to create inclusive and equitable campus communities. Campus Chief Diversity Officers who inform institutional policies surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion and Centers for Teaching and Learning are working to support faculty in critically examining their curricula and teaching practices in support of campus inclusion efforts (Ruiz-Mesa, 2022). In the previous essays, the authors offer a variety of creative and pedagogically-informed practices to support campus and classroom inclusion and equity. This essay responds to the Basic Course Forum submissions about how instructors and basic course directors can effectively support diversity, equity, and 94 inclusion efforts through course materials, pedagogy, and instructor training in the basic communication course by focusing on three emergent themes

The Impact of Public Speaking and Hybrid Introductory Communication Courses on Student Perceptions of Homophily and Classroom Climate

This study examines whether public speaking and hybrid introductory communication courses contribute to whether students feel connected to one another as a result of taking the course. Results indicate that students develop stronger perceptions of homophily and connected classroom climate over time, and this growth is slightly larger in public speaking courses than in hybrid introductory communication courses. Attendance impacted the levels of perceived homophily and connected classroom climate at the end of the course. However, perceived homophily did not predict academic performance in either course, and perceptions of classroom connectedness only predicted the academic performance of students in the hybrid introduction to communication course

Recruiting and Nurturing a Pipeline of Future Basic Course Directors

This essay responds to the Basic Course Forum question about best practices for recruiting to and/or from the basic course

The Impact of Communication Center Visits on Students’ Performance and Engagement

This study sought to empirically evaluate the extent to which visiting the communication center before delivering the first major speech in an introductory communication course improved students’ academic performance and engagement. A total of 262 students were included in this study, half of whom visited the communication center prior to their first speech, and half of whom did not. Between-subjects MANOVAs showed that students who visited the communication center had significantly higher speech grades, course grades, and attendance than students who did not. Likewise, those who visited the communication center also had higher levels of behavioral and cognitive engagement, but not agentic or emotional engagement