In the United States, textbook cost affects student debt and student success. To reduce textbook costs for students, the California legislature provided funding for Zero Textbook Cost programs. In the study, the researcher examined group differences based on Textbook Type, Zero Textbook Cost, and Non-Zero Textbook Cost in public speaking course…

Minority students' experiences in online public speaking courses suggest to readers how they might feel excluded in face-to-face public speaking classroom environments and even non-academic environments. This study examines the positive effects of online public speaking instruction on minority students and explores ways instructors can further…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore community college student perceptions of taking an online public speaking course within the theoretical construct of the Community of Inquiry model, which describes the manner in which the elements of social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence interact to create an educational…

Continuing a tradition dating back to 1968, this tenth study in a longitudinal series of surveys of the basic communication course has two goals: (1) to provide descriptive information about the basic course contemporarily and over time; and (2) to propose a framework for interpreting the impact of the extraordinary national and international…

This study investigated 113 community college students enrolled in face-to-face and online speech communication courses and their perceptions of instructor speech assessments. Each course completed a self-inventory questionnaire using Google Forms at the completion of the semester. Descriptive statistics and an independent samples t-test analyzed…

There are considerable bodies of research addressing the extent to which students are consuming political news messages and factors that influence student success and retention. However, there is a dearth of research addressing the relationship between these variables. Guided by Cultivation Theory and Sense of Belonging research, the present study…

Oral presentations, activities often assessed and also a means by which learning could take place, are commonplace in higher education. General (delivery) skills in presentations are particularly useful beyond university such as in job interviews and communication with clients and colleagues in the workplace. However, little has been in place to…

Most people admit to having some degree of public speaking anxiety (Hickerson, 1998). This study examined the public speaking anxiety levels of students enrolled in an online and traditional public speaking course. This study also investigated the relationship among a student's gender and the format in which the public speaking course was taken as…

This study examined the current operationalization of communication centers. Surveying center directors (N = 47), day-to-day operations were analyzed through descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Specifically, directors provided responses about current institutional context and structure, services, training, marketing, challenges, and…

Undergraduate research programs at community colleges maximize their impact through partnerships with baccalaureate-granting institutions, which provide much needed access to subject matter experts, research labs, and funding to underserved students. The program Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity: Promoting Opportunities for Diversity in…

Video continues to be used in many basic communication courses as a way for students to self-evaluate speechmaking. In this study, students (N = 71) presented speeches, viewed the video recordings, and produced self-generated feedback. Comparing student's self-estimated grades from the self-evaluation against earned grades resulted in composite…

Students often hold overly favorable views of their public speaking skills. In this study, students set goals prior to speaking, and then assess the presentation via video replay. Although some basic courses use video, the technology is not standard practice nor consistently utilized to aid student skill development for speechmaking. Differences…

A full-scale oral communication assessment was conducted by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) during the academic year 2013-14. Key components of this assessment included faculty involvement at all stages of assessment and collaboration with assessment coordinators and lead staff personnel. The VCCS Office of Institutional Research and…

On the first day of class, what should an instructor do? What do the students expect? What might ruin the first day of class? The author asked 270 students these questions, and their answers apply to any class's first day.

Many states offer police and corrections officer certification through state approved police basic training, either after hire (in-service) or before hire (preservice). Only large agencies conduct their own basic training academies after being hired. The trend is to save money through preservice training offered by colleges. This especially…