Perspectives on Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Grading in Introductory Speech Performance Courses

This article explores the integration and amalgamation of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced perspectives in a manner that is particularly appropriate for use in basic or introductory speech communication performance courses. Possibly the greatest virtue of using criterion-referenced grading of speeches in a basic speech performance course is the generation of positive affect toward performance. Because students identify with their speeches, they are much more demoralized by negative feedback about their work on these assignments than for others. By setting appropriate minimal performance criteria that most beginning students can achieve, morale remains high, there is an atmosphere of success, and, in fact, most students will have mastered the skill levels that one can reasonably expect from a graduate of the basic course. For the content aspect of the course, norm-referenced examinations provide appropriate distributions that, when combined with speaking scores, still support the grade expectations of the school or department. Now, somewhat more of the variance in final course grades is accounted for by the norm-referenced aspect of the dualistic grading system. In summary, there are important benefits in using both grading methods. Students prefer criterion-referenced grading for performances and are especially appreciative of the fact that they can work toward mastery using whatever reasonable amount of time they need. Secondly, they like norm-referenced grading for the content components of the course because that\u27s what they expect on the basis of past experience. Third, elevating the difficulty level of content exams seldom creates new problems, especially when the results are somewhat positively curved

New Wave Computer Technology and the Administration of Speech Communication Performance Courses

The article talks about the continued interest of the speech communication field in technology-supported instruction. Earlier detailed descriptions of teaching/learning laboratories in speech communication are based upon older computer-assisted instruction models and such laboratories were financially out of reach for most small-to-average sized departments. Recent, dramatic enhancements of the memories and processing speeds of microcomputers has made them ideal for recording, editing, and replaying sound supported motion picture clips of speech presentations. Clearly, evaluating student performance and providing substantial and prompt instructional feedback can easily be accommodated by the course web site. Aside from the interactive testing and automated grading features described above, computer-assisted grading and evaluation of speaking performances are supported by specialized forms software and the personal data assistant or PDA connected to a server

Computer-Assisted Evaluation of Speaking Competencies in the Basic Speech Course

This article discusses the computer-assisted evaluation of speaking competencies in the basic speech course. Whenever a college-level course utilizes a number of instructors and sections, administrators responsible for ensuring the quality of that course become increasingly concerned about issues of equivalency or the extent to which students in the various sections of the course are receiving essentially the same educational experience. educators have recommended the use of student portfolios in courses featuring public speaking. In this instructional strategy, a student\u27s work during a course is compiled and reviewed periodically throughout the academic term. This improvements will dramatically enhance record keeping for both teaching and research purposes

Communication Education Transformations: Implications for Curricular Change

This article explores the implications of communication education transformations for curricular change in the U.S. Differences in education and training between public relations (PR) practitioners and journalists reflect, in part, effects of certain pressures brought to bear upon these professions. Any edge which graduates may have in the marketplace will depend on the extent to which their communication programs have focused on initial detection and measurement of related talents, skill development and enhancement, and discovery of communication-related careers that depend on the integration and application of these skills. With respect to faculty placement, infusing PR faculty into existing communication programs will produce creative collegial associations among scholars serving to stimulate innovative lines of teaching and research

Grading Policy and Student Retention

This article discuses two policies that work at cross purposes to one another which university administrators and faculty works collaboratively with. Schools are actively resisting grade inflation trends while at the same time seeking to retain students. The article describes the borderline student, a category of at risk student often overlooked, yet numerous. It is found that academic performance was the highest ranked risk factor, accounting for approximately 20% of the variance, while behavior and coping skills was a distant second, accounting for only 6% of the risk factor variance. Borderline students can be efficiently rescued with modest outlays of additional institutional resources and are more likely to persist than students with less ability or more pernicious learning difficulties

Regulatory Fit Explains Students’ Emotional Responses to Graded Speech Assignments

Students’ emotional responses often provide valuable indicators of whether they are languishing or flourishing in their first-year classes, including introductory communication courses. Grading often exerts a strong influence on students’ emotions. However, though students generally have positive moods after receiving high marks and negative ones when their grades are low, the intensity of these responses varies considerably. The current study examines whether Higgins’ (2012) regulatory fit theory accounts for students’ differing moods after receiving grades on introductory speech assignments. According to this perspective, prevention focus students use vigilance to avoid adverse outcomes. Thus, low evaluations provide a regulatory fit for prevention focus students by evoking feelings of alarm or distress that increase vigilance. Promotion focus students use eagerness to make gains progressively. High grades create a regulatory fit for promotion focus students by producing feelings of excitement that contribute to eagerness. When grading does not provide regulatory fit, prevention, and promotion focus, students will experience feelings of relief and discouragement. In the current study, each of these hypotheses was confirmed and support the principle that the fit between student regulatory focus and feedback sign explain student emotional responses to grading. These findings contribute to research and pedagogy in the introductory communication course. Keywords: Instructional feedback, grading, feedback sign, regulatory fit, prevention focus, promotion focus, regulatory congruence, public speaking

Manageable creativity

This article notes a perception in mainstream management theory and practice that creativity has shifted from being disruptive or destructive to 'manageable'. This concept of manageable creativity in business is reflected in a similar rhetoric in cultural policy, especially towards the creative industries. The article argues that the idea of 'manageable creativity' can be traced back to a 'heroic' and a 'structural' model of creativity. It is argued that the 'heroic' model of creativity is being subsumed within a 'structural' model which emphasises the systems and infrastructure around individual creativity rather than focusing on raw talent and pure content. Yet this structured approach carries problems of its own, in particular a tendency to overlook the unpredictability of creative processes, people and products. Ironically, it may be that some confusion in our policies towards creativity is inevitable, reflecting the paradoxes and transitions which characterise the creative process

Characterization of Fast Ion Transport via Position-Dependent Optical Deshelving

Ion transport is an essential operation in some models of quantum information processing, where fast ion shuttling with minimal motional excitation is necessary for efficient, high-fidelity quantum logic. While fast and cold ion shuttling has been demonstrated, the dynamics and specific trajectory of an ion during diabatic transport have not been studied in detail. Here we describe a position-dependent optical deshelving technique useful for sampling an ion's position throughout its trajectory, and we demonstrate the technique on fast linear transport of a $^{40}\text{Ca}^+$ ion in a surface-electrode ion trap. At high speed, the trap's electrode filters strongly distort the transport potential waveform. With this technique, we observe deviations from the intended constant-velocity (100 m/s) transport: we measure an average speed of 83(2) m/s and a peak speed of 251(6) m/s over a distance of 120 $\mu$

Multi-platform assessment of transcriptional profiling technologies utilizing a precise probe mapping methodology

BACKGROUND: The arrival of RNA-seq as a high-throughput method competitive to the established microarray technologies has necessarily driven a need for comparative evaluation. To date, cross-platform comparisons of these technologies have been relatively few in number of platforms analyzed and were typically gene name annotation oriented. Here, we present a more extensive and yet precise assessment to elucidate differences and similarities in performance of numerous aspects including dynamic range, fidelity of raw signal and fold-change with sample titration, and concordance with qRT-PCR (TaqMan). To ensure that these results were not confounded by incompatible comparisons, we introduce the concept of probe mapping directed “transcript pattern”. A transcript pattern identifies probe(set)s across platforms that target a common set of transcripts for a specific gene. Thus, three levels of data were examined: entire data sets, data derived from a subset of 15,442 RefSeq genes common across platforms, and data derived from the transcript pattern defined subset of 7,034 RefSeq genes. RESULTS: In general, there were substantial core similarities between all 6 platforms evaluated; but, to varying degrees, the two RNA-seq protocols outperformed three of the four microarray platforms in most categories. Notably, a fourth microarray platform, Agilent with a modified protocol, was comparable, or marginally superior, to the RNA-seq protocols within these same assessments, especially in regards to fold-change evaluation. Furthermore, these 3 platforms (Agilent and two RNA-seq methods) demonstrated over 80 % fold-change concordance with the gold standard qRT-PCR (TaqMan). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that microarrays can perform on nearly equal footing with RNA-seq, in certain key features, specifically when the dynamic range is comparable. Furthermore, the concept of a transcript pattern has been introduced that may minimize potential confounding factors of multi-platform comparison and may be useful for similar evaluations. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1913-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users