Acknowledging that, although a survey of educational offerings in Norway reveals courses in theater, mass media, and speech therapy, the curriculum does not contain oral communication courses per se, such as those found in the United States, this article compares how and why general education systems and speech education have developed differently…

Since the early 1970s the composition of faculty in communication departments and in higher education in general has changed dramatically. A review of the literature shows that increasingly, part-time instructors have come to dominate faculties in roles that have shifted from occasionally offering an outside specialty to regularly replacing…

Participation in an internship program offers many benefits to an undergraduate communication student. First, it allows a student to both make and develop professional contacts. Second, both full and part-time employment offers become available. Third, students can develop greater understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. Fourth,…

Golden West College's (GWC's) Interpersonal Communication course was designed to help students develop communication skills, understand the criteria used in selecting the most appropriate way to communicate, implement these choices effectively through verbal and nonverbal means, and evaluate the effectiveness of these choices. Students learn the…

Speech communication training is a valuable asset for those entering the public relations (PR) field. This notion is reinforced by the 1987 "Design for Undergraduate Public Relations Education," a guide for implementing speech communication courses within a public relations curriculum, and also in the incorporation of oral communication training…

The efforts associated with the communication competence movement, both within and without the Speech Communication Association, have done much to promote the inclusion of listening and speaking skills in the public schools to date, but areas remain where progress is still needed. Over the past 15 years, the most significant change has been the…

A study examined how W. Stephenson's Q-methodology can be used as an instructional technique in teaching speech communication. The method was applied to an undergraduate communication theory class of 14 students who constructed, completed, and analyzed their own 59-item Q-sort about principles of communication theory. The process, which identified…

Though lecturing reflects the outmoded view that communication consists of action rather than transaction, large lecture classes are a reality that must be engaged. An interpersonal communication course can be adapted to the lecture hall and need not include the traditional lecture as the only teaching method. Students should be allowed to…

To illustrate the incorporation of liberal arts values into the speech communication curriculum, this paper presents a rationale for creating a public speaking course that emphasizes the analysis of current critical issues. The paper argues that by requiring students to speak on important issues, rather than on personal topics, they will need to…

In response to Texas State Board of Education Rules for Curriculum, which stipulate that instruction shall be provided in the essential elements of art, music, and theatre in prekindergarten through grade six, this guide offers suggestions to assist schools with initial implementation of the theatre arts curriculum. The first section of the guide,…

A study examined whether the context in which interaction occurs would lead to any differences in adult perceptions of the relationship between children's communicator style and social attractiveness. Because previous research has indicated that teachers find children to be attractive when they communicate with friendly, relaxed, and attentive…

Although the American work force is generally better educated than ever before, the general productivity of American workers continues to drop. This trend indicates that too many people are unable to cope with the demands placed on them to organize, evaluate, and communicate information to each other. In order to better prepare citizens for life…

To determine what students expected their speech teachers to be like, students in introductory speech courses at two universities were asked to complete a questionnaire on the first day of class, prior to meeting their instructor. The students were told their instructor was male or female, but otherwise were given no information about the teacher.…

A community college basic speech instructor found that having students read public service announcements (PSAs) from various nonprofit organizations is a novel and beneficial way for them to experience the oral reading phase of the introductory speech course. Students chose one of three PSAs to read on the college radio station. The readings were…

In the personalized system of instruction (PSI) used in beginning communication courses at George Mason University (Virginia), the students do more than read text materials and master cognitive course objectives. They are encouraged to have experiences that reinforce what they read and to consider how these experiences relate to everyday life. The…