During the past decade, interest in chocolate and its history has increased significantly. Following on this trend, a vast number of books dealing with chocolate have appeared in different publishing venues, both academic and nonacademic. Similarly, some instructors have included units that study the commodity or, in some rare instances, have…

Supplying an insightful introduction to current trends in general education reform, this second edition of "General Education Essentials: A Guide for College Faculty" gives an important, timely overview of general education curricular design. General education curricula provide students with the intellectual flexibility they need to…

When we spend the first class period focusing on the syllabus and letting students leave early, we miss an opportunity to expose them to the course content. What happens to those who drop that day? By spending the first day illustrating expectancy violations theory, both instructors and students can explicate anticipated behaviors and use them to…

This article presents a technique for interweaving information literacy (IL) into a pre-existing assignment of an introductory general education human geography course. The course, titled Geography of Sport, represents a unique opportunity to introduce students to contemporary methods of geographical study and analysis through a range of…

Courses: Argumentation, Public Speaking, Political Communication. Objectives: After completing this unit activity, students should be able to (1) demonstrate comprehension of Burke's (1941) concept of terministic screens; (2) apply the concept of terministic screens to write a brief political autobiography of themselves that analyzes the history…

Describes a poster assignment developed by the teaching assistants at the University of Washington (Seattle) for use in introductory geography courses. Discusses the purpose, design, implementation and value of the exercise in the instruction and promotion of geography. (Author/LS)

Argues that technical communicators must be prepared to communicate via multiple media, including video. Describes a technical scriptwriting course that develops skills useful in several media. Discusses pedagogical strategies, three major assignments, reading assignments, client assignments, production diary assignment, and new technology. (SR)

Describes how a survey of the history of sex, love, and marriage in Western cultures is used in an undergraduate course on the sociology of emotions. Identifies several periods of history particularly suited to this use and describes assignments and course requirements. (AEM)

Provides results of a survey of public relations education at 30 colleges and universities with respect to an examination of 115 syllabi, course requirements and reading lists, and innovative practices. (PD)

Summarizes what was learned from the experience of bringing desktop publishing into the curriculum of a business college, especially regarding hardware, software, textbooks, and assignments. (SR)

Expressing a communication perspective on teaching public relations, this booklet is designed for instructors of public relations courses. The introduction to the booklet establishes the theoretical grounding of this investigation, namely, the mutual relationship between public relations and communication. The first section explicates the…

A model course in legislative drafting meant to increase writing abilities and to apply analytical skills is described. Course assignment sheets and problems and checklist/grading sheet are provided. (Available from: Dennis & Co., Inc., 251 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, $4.00) (Author/MLW)

Argues for the inclusion of a unit on visual communication in the basic course in communication. Provide suggestions for content, exercises, assignments, and resources for such a unit. (SR)

A legal research and writing course at Stetson University is described that follows a separate legal bibliography course (one credit hour) for freshmen. Having completed the legal bibliography course, students progress more rapidly with better results in the research and writing course. (MLW)

The two articles in this publication focus on ways of teaching argumentation and debate in the college setting. The first article examines the place of the argumentation and debate course in the speech communication curriculum and suggests cognitive and behavioral objectives and assignments for use in such a course. The second article discusses…