At Florida State University in Tallahassee, 30 students a year are enrolled in the public relations major, beginning with the junior year, so that at any one time there are approximately 60 majors, all of whom have at least a B average. The basic course--PUR 3000, Introduction to Public Relations--enrolls over 150 students a semester in two…

A description of the sophomore level speech communication fundamentals course offered at Wauwatosa East High School in Wisconsin is presented in this paper. Following a statement of a philosophy of teaching communication theory, the major portion of the paper contains descriptions of the five units of the course: (1) communication concepts and…

A college teacher describes the organization of his course in fundamentals of speech. (SP)

A survey was conducted of the 56 public and private two-year colleges in Illinois to determine the nature of their course offerings in mass communication. The results showed that 65% of the schools offered a course in mass communication and 72% offered an introductory course. Most of the introductory courses had been offered for more than five…

When designing a workshop about communication and stress, it is important to consider the medical definition--that stress is a physiological reaction to an external force that is interpreted by the individual--and the psychological definition--which suggests that through communication with self one can change the stress in one's life. Stress can…

Reviews surveys on the status of the basic speech communication course. Identifies issues and concerns about instructional approaches, staffing, textbooks, philosophy, etc. (PD)

The guidelines provided in this paper are intended to help teachers develop a separate course on oral business communication skills that would follow a course on written business communication. Following a review of research corroborating the need for a specialized business speech course, suggestions are enumerated concerning course objectives,…

A survey questionnaire was sent to speech instructors at 55 public and private community and junior colleges in Illinois to determine the status of small group discussion instruction and curricula. In addition, careful examination was given to course catalogs and general sources that have a direct relationship to the community and junior colleges…

Discusses the planning, development, implementation, and course management required to use the Personalized System of Instruction in the basic speech communication course. (PD)

Argues for the inclusion of a unit on visual communication in the basic course in communication. Provide suggestions for content, exercises, assignments, and resources for such a unit. (SR)

Urges speech communication educators to adapt their curricula to the needs of potential law students. Describes a course of instruction which includes units on communication theory and the legal/trial process, interviewing and counseling, negotiating and pretrial strategies, and special topics in judicial communication. (PD)

A course was designed around three major questions: (1) what is the relationship between rhetoric and its context; (2) how does the message construct a particular reality for the audience and the rhetor; and (3) what does the rhetorical artifact suggest about the rhetor? Feminist criticism is used as one of the three methods that focus on the…

More than 600 colleges and universities responded to a survey designed to determine the status of business communication education and to seek the opinions of business communication faculty on content emphasis and supplementary materials for an introductory business communication course. Survey results indicated that business communication…

The two articles in this publication focus on ways of teaching argumentation and debate in the college setting. The first article examines the place of the argumentation and debate course in the speech communication curriculum and suggests cognitive and behavioral objectives and assignments for use in such a course. The second article discusses…