Basic Course: Informing Communication Pedagogy through Teacher Training and Program Assessment

The basic course serves as a training ground for our future faculty as well as an introduction for students to the discipline. Through curriculum design and assessment, the basic course provides a context for practicing communication pedagogy and research within general education

Uniquely Qualified, Distinctively Competent: Delivering 21st Century Skills in the Basic Course

In this manuscript we argue that the communication discipline’s pedagogical content knowledge should be expanded to include educational strategies for advancing students’ critical thinking, information literacy, and political engagement skills. Further, we argue that the discipline should explicitly position itself as uniquely qualified to address these skills. By doing so, those affiliated with the basic communication course can leverage a substantial amount of political capital on their home campuses and go a long way toward delivering the critical skills students need in order to be successful in the 21st century

Extending Learning Opportunities in the Basic Communication Course: Exploring the Pedagogical Benefits of Speech Laboratories

This study asked 527 students enrolled in a basic communication course to evaluate the efficacy of a speech lab in relation to speech requirements stipulated by their instructors. In addition, the researchers examined the scores of 435 student speeches to determine if students who visited the lab earned higher grades compared to students that did not visit the lab. Results showed that (a) most instructors require their students to visit the lab before at least one speech, (b) the vast majority of students perceive the help they receive in the lab to be very useful, and (c) students who visit the lab prior to their speeches earn significantly higher grades on speeches than those who do not visit the lab

From the Outside Looking In: Employers’ Views of the Basic Course

This essay is designed to connect specific communication skills desired by employers in industry to basic course concepts. While communication is often identified as one of the most important skills for graduates seeking employment, this broad view makes it nearly impossible for basic course directors and instructors to design their pedagogy to satisfy students’ future needs. This manuscript examines a part of the 2014 Basic Course Conference where industry leaders were invited to present what they felt to be the most important communication skills and knowledge in employees and then engaged in a discussion with the attending basic course directors to clarify which specific communication skills they desired most. This study ties those communication skills and knowledge to concepts common to the basic course identified in the 2014 document produced by the National Communication Association Core Competencies for Introductory Communication Courses Task Force on the role of communication in general education, as well as the most recent Basic Communication Course Survey from 2010

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

Speech Evaluation Assessment: An Analysis of Written Speech Feedback on Instructor Evaluation Forms in the Basic Communication Course

As a critical component of many general education programs, the basic communication course is at the forefront of many assessment efforts. Five years after conducting extensive program assessment using student portfolios, and after implementing revisions to the instructor training program, course directors at Illinois State University conducted another round of portfolio assessment. The present study reveals progress in the specific areas originally targeted for improvement. Additional areas for future revisions to the instructor training program are suggested. Implications for assessment efforts at other institutions are discussed

The Basic Communication Course Syllabus as a Rhetorical Document: The Impact of Mediated Immediacy on Communication Apprehension with Instructors and Out-of-Class Communication

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ use of mediated immediacy in a syllabus to determine effects on students’ communication apprehension with instructors and student out-of-class communication with instructors. Participants viewed either a basic course syllabus with high levels of mediated immediacy or low levels of mediated immediacy and then completed surveys. The results showed that syllabi high in mediated immediacy made students significantly less apprehensive to communicate with instructors and more likely to engage in out-of-class communication with them. Implications for the use of mediated immediacy in syllabus construction are discussed

Learning Communities in the Basic Communication Course: Exploring Students’ Perception of Power and Use of Compliance-Gaining Strategies

This study compared students’ use of behavior alteration techniques (BATs) and power based upon whether they were enrolled in learning community or traditional sections of the basic communication course being taught by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). The results of the present study reveal no differences between learning community and regularly enrolled students’ perceptions of power. However, learning community students reported using more prosocial, antisocial, and neutral compliance-gaining strategies compared to traditionally enrolled students. Overall, this study addresses the utility of incorporating learning communities into the pedagogy of the basic communication course and devotes special attention to the training needs of GTAs

Critical Thinking Assessment: The Link Between Critical Thinking and Student Application in the Basic Course

The intent of this study is to evaluate existing literature on the concept, teaching and assessment of critical thinking. To reach this goal, critical thinking will be examined in terms of its multiple definitions, and its relationship to higher order thinking, critical teaching, and assessment. In response to the need for a more generative and creative way of assessing critical thinking, the authors offer an activity assigned in the basic course (artifacts) as a viable tool for allowing students to take an active role in learning to think critically. The artifacts are then analyzed to determine if they serve as an authentic form of critical thinking assessment

Preparing to Participate: An Exploration of Student Engagement through Student Work and Instructors’ Observations

The present study investigates two instructional strategies that promote student preparation for and participation in class: reading objectives and participation sheets. In the first study, students were asked to complete the reading objectives (knowledge level questions about the assigned reading) and write the extended comments. Extended comments move beyond the knowledge level by demonstrating comprehension, application, or evaluation of the content. These include personal examples, insights, or questions about the course material. A content analysis of the students’ ex-tended comments found evidence of student engagement as 76.3% of the comments moved beyond the “knowledge” level. Study 2 examined instructors’ perceptions of student preparation for and participation in class. Instructors were asked to reflect on the differences between their classes that used and did not use the graded participation strategies. Instructors reported that the graded participation strategies resulted in more insightful discussions, a more positive class climate, and more knowledge of their students com-pared to their class sections that did not use these instructional tools