Making a Difference: The Launch of the Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Communication pedagogy is the systematic study, reflection, and identification of teaching practices across communication course curricula that results ultimately in effective classroom instruction, gains in student learning, and the establishment of a supportive learning environment. Systematic study focuses on the teaching, the assessment, or the scholarship of teaching and learning of a specific communication course, extra-curricular activity (e.g., forensics), or curriculum (e.g., internships, concentrations/areas of emphases, undergraduate programs). Reflection centers on a pedagogical problem or issue encountered by instructors when teaching a specific communication course. Best practices offer tips for teaching or assessing a specific communication course, extra-curricular activity, or curriculum. Together, systematic study, reflection, and best practices work together to inform research conducted from instructional communication, the basic course, critical communication pedagogy, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and service-learning lenses, and vice versa

And So It Goes: An Introduction to Volume 2 of the Journal of Communication Pedagogy

As part of the larger instructional communication education umbrella and similar to, yet distinct enough from, its related subdisciplines such as basic course scholarship, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and critical communication pedagogy, the articles published in this volume of JCP demonstrate the three forms through which communication pedagogy can emerge. That is, whether communication pedagogy centers on the systematic study (i.e., Original Research Studies), reflection (i.e., Reflection Essays), or identification of teaching practices (i.e., Best Practices) across communication curricula, the end result is that communication pedagogy acts as a vehicle through which teaching effectiveness can be improved, strengthened, or even realized, with the goal of enriching—in some way—the educational lives of instructors and students and assisting instructors, students, and classmates in the development and maintenance of productive and satisfying communication relationships with and among each other

Reflections about Future Directions for the Basic Communication Course and Basic Course Scholarship

The importance of the basic communication course is underscored by a somewhat overused but decidedly meaningful phrase—it’s our discipline’s front porch! While serving as the president of the National Communication Association, Beebe (2013) coined that phrase in reference to the basic course serving as the critical point-of-entry to the communication discipline, introducing students to communication studies for the first time. More recently, others (Bertelsen & Goodboy, 2009; Morreale et al., 2022; Myers et al., 2021) have pointed to the increasing presence of the basic course in general education and the fact that it is one of most frequently taught courses in most communication departments. Against this backdrop, it may be time for communication scholars to engage in public conversations about the need for reflection and dialogue about the most promising future for this critical course in the communication curriculum. At the core of these conversations would be a concern for the basic course changing with changing times in order to make its finest contributions to the discipline, to higher education, and, more importantly, to our students

Impossibility to eliminate observer effect in the assessment of adherence in clinical trials.

PURPOSE: To utilize the Travoprost Dosing Aid (DA) in the assessment of patient medication adherence, while also determining whether or not altering the functionality of the DA in three randomized subject groups can reduce observer effect. METHODS: Forty-five subjects were randomized into three groups: two with monitored DAs and one without monitoring. One group of subjects was given a DA that both monitored drop usage and had visual and audible alarms, while the other monitored group included subjects given a DA that had no alarms but continued to monitor drop usage. The third group was given a DA that had no alarm reminders or dose usage monitoring. Subjects were informed that some monitors would not be functional, in an attempt to reduce observer effect, or the effect of being monitored on subject behavior and adherence. A six-item questionnaire was also utilized to assess how the subjects felt about their adherence and DA use. RESULTS: The overall adherence rates were found to be 78% in the fully functional group (95% confidence interval: 70-88) and 76% in the no alarms group (95% confidence interval: 65-89). No association was seen between questionnaire response and medication adherence. The patients in the DA group without alarms had a significantly higher odds ratio of medication adherence if they reported on the questionnaire that using the DA did affect how much they used their drops. CONCLUSION: Though the use of DA was expected to reveal different rates of adherence depending on the functionality of the DA between groups, patients with a nonfunctioning DA did not have a significant difference in medication adherence compared to those given a fully functional DA. This supports that an observer effect was not reduced despite these interventions, and that the subjects adhered to taking their medications as if they had a functioning DA and were being monitored

Students’ Communication Predispositions: An Examination of Classroom Connectedness in Public Speaking Courses

The connected classroom climate centers on supportive student-to-student communication in the classroom, and may provide students enrolled in public speaking courses with a safe and comfortable haven to present speeches. This study examined student connectedness in public speaking courses and it’s affect on students’ (N = 368) communication abilities. Results revealed positive perceptions of student connectedness related to decreases in public speaking anxiety and public speaking apprehension, as well as increases in perceptions of communication competence. These outcomes suggest public speaking instructors should consider the relationships that exist among students and how they may further encourage connectedness in their classrooms

The Effect of Affect: Krathwohl and Bloom’s Affective Domains Underutilized in Counselor Education

Bloom\u27s (1956) Taxonomy cognitive domains have proven useful for decades. Counselor educators are experts in affect, and yet most are unfamiliar with Bloom\u27s affective domains that correspond to the cognitive domains. The affective domains focus on attitudes and values that can help counselor educators assist students to more successfully navigate Bloom\u27s cognitive process by harnessing the effect of affect through combining Bloom\u27s affective and cognitive domains. Since Bloom\u27s cognitive domains are already widely and effectively utilized, perhaps it is time for counselor educators, the experts in affect, to use the affective domains in conjunction with the cognitive domains as initially intended. By studying the correlation between the Cognitive and Affective domains, and further researching the impact of both on the development of CITs, counselor educators can embrace a best practice approach to their work within the already established and widely utilized structure of Bloom\u27s Taxonomy. Keywords: Counselor-in-Training Affect; Bloom’s Affect; Supervision; Counselor Preparatio

Averting HIV Infections in New York City: A Modeling Approach Estimating the Future Impact of Additional Behavioral and Biomedical HIV Prevention Strategies

Background:New York City (NYC) remains an epicenter of the HIV epidemic in the United States. Given the variety of evidence-based HIV prevention strategies available and the significant resources required to implement each of them, comparative studies are needed to identify how to maximize the number of HIV cases prevented most economically.Methods:A new model of HIV disease transmission was developed integrating information from a previously validated micro-simulation HIV disease progression model. Specification and parameterization of the model and its inputs, including the intervention portfolio, intervention effects and costs were conducted through a collaborative process between the academic modeling team and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The model projects the impact of different prevention strategies, or portfolios of prevention strategies, on the HIV epidemic in NYC.Results:Ten unique interventions were able to provide a prevention benefit at an annual program cost of less than $360,000, the threshold for consideration as a cost-saving intervention (because of offsets by future HIV treatment costs averted). An optimized portfolio of these specific interventions could result in up to a 34$106,378; the total cost was in excess of $2 billion (over the 20 year period, or approximately$100 million per year, on average). The cost-savings of prevented infections was estimated at more than $5 billion (or approximately$250 million per year, on average).Conclusions:Optimal implementation of a portfolio of evidence-based interventions can have a substantial, favorable impact on the ongoing HIV epidemic in NYC and provide future cost-saving despite significant initial costs. © 2013 Kessler et al

Peripheral arterial disease affects kinematics during walking

Objective: Claudication is the most common manifestation of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) producing significant ambulatory compromise. The purpose of this study was to use advanced biomechanical analysis to characterize the kinematic ambulatory pattern of claudicating patients. We hypothesized that compared with control subjects, claudicating patients have altered kinematic gait patterns that can be fully characterized utilizing advanced biomechanical analysis. Methods: The study examined fourteen PAD patients (age: 58 ± 3.4 years; weight: 80.99 ± 15.64 kg) with clinically diagnosed femoro-popliteal occlusive disease (Ankle Brachial Index (ABI): 0.56 ± 0.03, range 0.45 to 0.65) and five healthy controls (age: 53 ± 3.4 years; weight: 87.38 ± 12.75 kg; ABI ≥ 1). Kinematic parameters (hip, knee, and ankle joint angles in the sagittal plane) were evaluated during gait in patients before and after the onset of claudication pain and compared with healthy controls. Joint angles were calculated during stance time. Dependent variables were assessed (maximum and minimum flexion and extension angles and ranges of motion) and mean ensemble curves were generated. Time to occurrence of the discrete variables was also identified. Results: Significantly greater ankle plantar flexion in early stance and ankle range of motion during stance was observed in PAD patients (P \u3c .05). Time to maximum ankle plantar flexion was shorter and time to maximum ankle dorsiflexion was longer in PAD patients (P \u3c .05). These differences were noted when comparing PAD patients prior to and after the onset of claudication with healthy controls. The analysis of the kinematic parameters of the knee and the hip joints revealed no significant differences between PAD patients and controls. Conclusion: PAD patients with claudication demonstrate significant gait alterations in the ankle joint that are present prior to the onset of claudication pain. In contrast, the joint motion of the hip and knee did not differ in PAD patients when compared with controls. Further research is needed to verify our findings and assess the impact of more proximal disease in PAD patients as well as the effect of revascularization on joint kinematics