Health campaigns have long been viewed from a transmissive lens. That is, typically campaigns assume that medical experts, government officials, and nonprofit organizations have information about some form of care, prevention, or cure, which is then disseminated to those in need of their direction. Health communication scholars have started to…

The results of this study argue that communication, and specifically oral communication education, is critical to students' future personal and professional success. Similar to three earlier studies, thematic analysis of 2,155 articles, identified in academic and popular press publications extending from 2016 to 2020, provides support for the…

When communication strategies of government and public health officials across the world during a crisis are unclear and incompetent, it can lead to confusion and increase fear and anxiety in the public. Health campaigns should be organized strategically and professionally, and must rely on creative briefs to develop communication strategies…

The creation of innovative and impactful communication theories depends on improving our theorizing practices. A grounded practical theory analysis of communication theory textbooks and exercises explored representations of theorizing and what it means for students to think like theorists. The analysis suggests that communication theory pedagogy…

In this essay, the author interrogates openings for decolonizing the pedagogy of health communication campaigns. In doing so, they will not rehash in this stimulus essay the current zeitgeist of health communication campaigns, which forms the dominant conceptual registers and shapes the teaching and practice of health communication campaigns.…

In times of uncertainty, the messages we receive can be long-lasting and influential. This study sought to understand what memorable messages students recalled receiving from their instructors at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and what kind of impact those messages had on them. Based on open-ended responses, students (N = 297) recalled…

Recently, many scientists and science advocates have taken the responsibility to mobilize for the sake of science. With fake news or "alternative facts" on the rise, many scientists and science supporters are determined to protect the credibility of science and promote evidence-based policy-making. At the core of these mobilization…

In 1938, Dewey wrote "Mankind likes to think in terms of extreme opposites." In this response to the FORUM essays, Deanna Sellnow writes that she heard Dewey's words as she read the authors' struggle with the either-or question regarding the role of interpersonal communication in instructional research. She argues that this is not an…

College instructors use lecture and its current counterpoint--active learning--widely and often rely on both strategies, but the question of which best promotes student learning has become a debate that ignores the fact that learning can result from both. Students still listen to and learn from lectures. They pass exams, obtain degrees, and…

Students' concealed carry of guns is now legally allowed at many instructors' places of employment, representing an influential and understudied message. Therefore, using Emotional Response Theory and the chilling effect, the purpose of this study was to examine how college instructors perceived the legal presence of guns on campus influenced…

In this article the author addresses whether educators have accumulated sufficient knowledge about interpersonal communication in the instructional context--at least as it pertains to the relational perspective--"and" whether other meaningful topics in the instructional communication literature have been ignored. The author's purpose…

Throughout its history, instructional communication research has played an important role in the discipline of Communication. In tracing its lineage, Myers (2010) explains that instructional communication research has focused on communicative behaviors that instructors use with their students to better understand and facilitate affective and…

In this response, Scott Titsworth analyzes similarities among the forum essays and then offers ideas for how instructional communication scholars might adopt greater situational awareness in research, theory, and application of their work. [Other essays in this forum include: (1) FORUM: Interpersonal Communication in Instructional Settings: The…

In a post #SilentSam, #METoo, #BlackGirlOnCampus, #WhatHappenedtoSandraBland world, a world where universities find themselves inundated by a 24-hour social media cycle and the truth of campus life is one viral video away, both communication staff and instructors are often tasked with new social media responsibilities not previously encountered or…

Instructors use humor in the classroom in numerous ways, including behaving stupidly, offering impersonations, manipulating their nonverbals, telling a story, joke, or pun, and using a costume or prop. How students decode their instructors' use of humor impacts their feelings about the course and their instructors. In this study, we investigated…