This study provides a rationale for the claim that communication instruction is critical to students' future personal and professional success. Thematic analysis of 93 journal and newspaper articles, reports, and surveys provide evidence of the centrality of communication in developing the whole person, improving the educational enterprise, being…

A survey about the current overenrollment in communication courses indicates that students are willing to accept some alterations in the structure, teaching mode, and format of communication courses, but they are not willing to sacrifice all the advantages a major in communication has traditionally represented. (PD)

Surveyed 163 women associate professors and professors to determine the characteristics that contributed to the success of women in the communication disciplines. (PD)

Presents annotations of articles, commentaries, and publications that emphasize the importance of communication and the role of the study of communication in contemporary life. Discusses six emergent themes. Concludes that communication education develops the whole person, improves the work of education, advances the interests of society, bridges…

A study determined the relationship between communicator style and argumentativeness and clarified the relationship between psychological gender and communicator style. Three hundred and fourteen college students enrolled in introductory health and communication courses responded to the Communicator Style Measure, the Argumentativeness Scale, and…

A study examined the grading patterns in basic public speaking and communication courses. It was hypothesized that female students would receive higher grades in basic performance and nonperformance communication courses than would male students. The grades for one academic quarter in two nonperformance communication courses and one public…

To provide an assessment of current instruments being used by communication scholars, investigators examined and identified the most frequently used instruments that had been published in the past five years in the nine major speech communication journals. Each article was examined for the identification of the instruments used, constructs…

Survey results indicated strong support for requiring the basic speech course; favored a hybrid course of public speaking and interpersonal communication; preferred more practice than theory, autonomous classes, classes of 20 to 25 students or less; etc. (PD)

Examines students' questioning behavior in the college communication classrooms. Finds that (1) male teachers receive more questions than female teachers; (2) female students ask fewer questions than male students in courses taught by males; and (3) self-reported masculinity is associated with a greater likelihood of asking questions. (KEH)

Two variables that may affect speech criticism were studied: the sex of the speaker and the rater's attitude of sexism. An ancillary study concerning the effect of the sex of the teacher was also undertaken. The study included the development of an instrument to measure sexism, which revealed some of the effects of sex and sexism on the criticism…

Surveying alumni who had taken a basic communication course, this study obtained perspectives on communication training. Most alumni felt their speech classes prepared them "fairly well" for on-the-job communication. Although all communication skills were rated as important, interpersonal skills were rated somewhat higher than public speaking…

A study was conducted to determine the treatment of intrapersonal communication in basic communication course texts published in the last 10 years. Only 29 of the 77 textbooks surveyed covered the topic at all, and many of those treated it in a superficial manner. After being divided into two categories according to subject matter, public speaking…

A study was undertaken to determine the relationship between assertiveness and communication apprehension by examining common factors that exist between the items on the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension. The two instruments were administered to students at a large midwestern university. Responses…

A total of 106 college graduates who had taken a basic communication course was surveyed to obtain their perspectives on communication training. Although the alumni rated communication skills as being highly important, three-fourths of them did not receive communication training after college. Most of the alumni felt either "fairly well" or "okay"…

Of 782 undergraduate students enrolled in either interpersonal communication or public speaking courses, the 125 students scoring high in communication apprehension were retested upon completion of the courses and analyzed for their responses to a student attitudes survey. Significantly greater numbers of the high communication apprehensive (HCA)…