This original teaching idea is designed for a course unit on protest communication. It consists of a performed protest speech, dubbed the "fantastical speech," and a post-speech reflective analysis. Students utilize the subversive genre of fanfiction to compose a protest speech in which, as a fictional character, they convince their…

Rubrics are a commonly used tool to evaluate student work in the introductory communication course. Although rubrics may appear objective, they are continually interpreted by both instructors and students, often reflecting traditional classroom power dynamics. In order to understand how rubrics constrain as well as expand opportunities for the…

This article communicates a methodology for and benefits of including online student presentations in an on-campus research symposium named Scholar Day at A (SDA). The authors provide an account of how SDA was structured to allow participation of online students; and how, during an aggressive outbreak of COVID-19 in the Spring of 2020, the event…

Public speaking often imposes a nerve-wracking atmosphere in the L2 classrooms. Consequently, an alternative to the anxiety-arousing activity by using advanced technology for pedagogy is urgent. Prior publications reported the use of virtual reality (VR) for training public speaking and alleviating students' public speaking anxiety (PSA). However,…

Context: College campuses in the United States are currently engaged in public and ongoing negotiation of the value and limits of free speech in educational contexts. Responses to invited campus speakers from students, faculty, and campus leaders point to diverging perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of higher education institutions and…

This article offers a semester-long approach to using generative AI in the public-speaking course. Using critical communication pedagogy, the authors provide practices to navigate the turbulence that has followed the emergence of publicly available generative AI tools. These tools have received negative attention because of their potential to…

Professional and academic communication is changing rapidly due to the evolution of new technologies. In the context of language teaching, this scenario offers possibilities for genre innovation (Hafner & Miller, 2018) while also encouraging teachers' reflection on how to best prepare students for effective communication. To this end, it has…

Unaffordable textbooks highlight neoliberal regimes in higher education, whereby privatization and profit undermine student success. The cost of textbooks has risen more than 1,000% since 1977 (Popken, B. 2015, Aug. 6. College textbook prices have risen 1,041 percent since 1977. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/…

The purpose of this article is to illustrate an innovative teaching and learning method developed to address the limitations of 'normal' classroom instruction during the unprecedented health crisis of 2020. The course redesign for the digital classroom discussed in this paper details one instructor's journey of adjusting to a new way of teaching,…

This paper presents a survey that explored the impact of service-learning in the realm of higher education on the readiness of students for their forthcoming leadership positions as citizen leaders. A narrative review approach was adopted. A significant amount of research has been conducted on service-learning outcomes; however, few studies have…

With the development of technology, the circulation of information around the world has accelerated. Journalism has now entered social media and mobile phones and has started to accompany people everywhere. The role of the media in education helps to learn, develop and keep alive a culture, and then transfer it to new generations. Media messages…

Language is a critical social tool for communication in modern society. However, language's role is not often considered in efforts to combat historic and contemporary racism in higher education. Research analyzing racialized dynamics and the complex ties race has to our nation's development recognizes the hidden factors and inequitable systems…

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…

Oral presentations and public speaking are an important aspect of the student experience in the United Kingdom higher education. Many modules (self-contained units normally within a programme of study) use presentations as a form of assessment and require students to verbally engage in small and large group settings to enhance learning. Previous…

Procedures and practices that are ableist in the educational system have been long overlooked. Speakers having differing abilities than neurotypical or able-bodied individuals is often not something that is considered in basic course assessment tools. This is important to address because although there are institutional policies and procedures in…