Encouraging creativity is an important aspect of communication instruction. Qualities to be encouraged include sensitivity, flexibility, originality, imagination, perception, and the ability to analyze. A teacher can do this by creating the proper atmosphere, generating ideas, focusing on content, and applying content. Creativity can be evaluated…

Presents exercises to teach critical thinking skills based on the divisions of classic rhetoric. (PD)

Responds to an article in the same issue of the journal. Discusses five interrelated issues: whether required speech communication courses should be skills or theory; to what extent skills should be emphasized; the effect on the academic integrity of the communication discipline; the effect of grade inflation; and attracting high-quality majors.…

This article analyzes the rhetorical message of Garner Ted Armstrong, leader of the World Church of God, and attempts to explain his church's financial success and audience appeal in terms of this broadcast message. Each message is specifically organized to deceive the audience through the following strategy: (1) gain attention by using shock…

Forced discipline refers to the specific procedures, routines, and standards required for carrying out course-related tasks. This paper discusses various facets of discipline, then looks at how 160 students in a basic speech-communication course respond to forced discipline. The paper next looks at how 30 basic-course directors define forced…

Developed as a result of the growing interest in public speaking in business and other professional sectors, this annotated bibliography contains recent citations of public speaking and related subjects in the popular press. The citations are drawn from trade journals, magazines, and books in print, rather than from scholarly or academic works.…

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…

Investigates various questions and problems confronting directors of basic communication courses and discusses the development of course purposes, course organization procedures and administrative policies. (MH)

Speech departments from 658 colleges and universities completed questionnaires in an investigation of the status, philosophy, content, methods, and materials of the interpersonal communication course as it is currently being taught. The study revealed that there is a consistent pattern in the nature of interpersonal courses. Generally, they are…

At Bowling Green State University (Ohio), a training program to prepare and develop teaching assistants to handle the basic communication course has been in effect for five years, and has resulted in strong basic course evaluations and effective teaching on the part of the graduate teaching assistants. The preparation begins in midsummer, when the…

Acknowledging the value of peer evaluation in the classroom, this paper describes the peer evaluation system used in a basic speech communication course at an Ohio university. The first section of the paper defines peer evaluation and describes the situation at the university to provide some understanding of the context in which the system was…

The guidelines used by the Bowling Green State University, Ohio, speech communication department to assess graduate assistants' teaching skills are outlined in this paper. Visitations by observers, in conjunction with introductory sessions, weekly staff meetings, and teacher's manuals, can provide follow-up feedback regarding the implementation of…

The humanistic approach to the teaching of speech is vital, especially in light of current trends in interpersonal communication. Four interrelated classroom goals should be pursued: (1) the establishment of a climate of trust, (2) the encouragement of open expression of emotions, (3) concentration upon the persuasive expression of interpersonal…

Noting that while the literature clearly states a need for colleges and universities to teach students critical thinking skills from a liberal arts perspective, this paper points out that there are few descriptions of how these skills can be taught. Using the canons of classic rhetoric, the literature is reviewed to discover the skills that arise…