Courses: Large-lecture; public speaking, business, professional, and technical communication; sales and marketing courses; courses with team-based projects. Objectives: To provide opportunities to develop public speaking skills, especially in large-lecture courses; to improve public speaking endurance; to improve students' abilities to give…

This study reports on science student perceptions of their skills (scientific knowledge, oral communication, scientific writing, quantitative skills, teamwork and ethical thinking) as they approach graduation. The focus is on which teaching activities and assessment tasks over the whole programme of study students thought utilised each of the six…

Focusing on public speaking as a major instructional tool for teachers, this paper contains suggestions for more effective lecturing. In the introduction, classroom communication is analyzed according to four moves: structuring, soliciting, responding, and reacting. The paper then discusses four problems in studying learning from meaningful verbal…

Coded campaign speeches recorded during the 1980 American presidential primaries and college lectures using a taxonomy of verbal response modes. Both candidates and lecturers used mostly informative modes, but candidates used relatively more disclosures (subjective information) and fewer edifications (objective information). Candidates…

Discusses the relationship between rhetoric (the study of effective communication) and hermeneutics (the study of how to interpret and understand any kind of communication). Illustrates how principles of rhetoric and hermeneutics apply to lecturing. (PD)

Lecturing is essentially a form of public communication. Hence public speaking literature can be used to learn more about how to improve lecturing skills. The following objectives can help the lecturer be effective: (1) exercising/gaining control of the class; (2) highlighting major ideas; (3) setting the stage for forthcoming activities; (4)…

No teaching method is more widely used and yet more strongly criticized than the lecture. Yet, an examination of more than 40 basic public speaking textbooks reveals that lecturing is seldom mentioned. There are, perhaps, several reasons for this omission. For example, authors of textbooks might feel that (1) material on lecturing duplicates their…

College students in nine intact beginning speech classes served as subjects for a study testing the effects of humor on student recall of lecture information. The 156 subjects were exposed to one of three versions of an audiotaped lecture. One version amplified eight points in the subject matter with humorous material; and a third version (the…

The lecturer's first job is to get the students' attention. Techniques to hold the students' interest include: adapting the lecture to the audience; covering a few topics in depth rather than many superficially; and putting variety in the format. Nonverbal communication is as important as the content of the lecture. (JN)

Examines four methods of instruction to teach public speaking students how to use visual aids effectively in their speeches: oral lectures, written handouts, demonstration lectures, and multi-media demonstration lectures. Found that demonstration lectures are the most effective method of instruction and written handouts the least effective. (PD)

A commonly accepted theoretical paradigm in the research and practice of effective learning and teaching is constructivist. Researchers and practitioners in the higher education community attend educational technology focused conferences to share their findings, seek feedback and collaboration, or challenge. Although researchers may espouse…

A guide for faculty who want to improve their lecturing skills is presented. After identifying advantages and disadvantages of the lecture method, suggestions are offered for effective lecture preparation, with attention to organizing the body of the lecture, and beginning and closing the lecture. Vocal aspects of lecture delivery are addressed,…