Expands the literature on the educational role of immediacy by exploring the relationship between touch during student/professor interactions and students' evaluations of the professor and the interaction. Indicate that student sex, professor reward value, and location of touch have significant influence on students' evaluations of professors and…

Initiation, response and follow-up (IRF) exchanges produced by a student and his tutor in an internet-based tutorial interaction have been analysed in terms of the multifunctional characteristics of each utterance. Different functions, related to different purposes, were observed in the IRF moves performed by the student. The control over the…

Instructional communication researchers, by focusing attention on "how-to" matters and forays into conventional areas of study (i.e., immediacy, apprehension), neglect a nuanced treatment of student and teacher identity. Such a perspective is relatively disembodied and fails to engage actual classroom interactions. By engaging in autoethnographic…

Large universities are increasingly offering marketing courses in classes of 300 or more students. Without access to the usual verbal and nonverbal cues, instructors in these megaclasses are disadvantaged in terms of their ability to respond to learners' needs. As a result, marketing instructors have supplemented course infrastructure with…

A study explored the relationship between creative problem solving and group decision making techniques as measured by the outcome variables identified in earlier studies. Subjects, 46 undergraduate students enrolled in communication courses at 2 midwestern universities, were divided into 3 groups, a Nominal Group Technique (NGT), Unstructured…

While most faculty and graduate students have opportunities to meet and begin networking at local, regional, and national meetings and symposia, the same opportunities do not exist for most undergraduates. At least four needs of undergraduates might be served by developing dedicated listservers and encouraging students to begin using…

A study investigated communication patterns among undergraduate student groups using email for instructional discussion at the University of Minnesota. A sample of three 6-person groups was studied over a 7-week period, during which the groups were given three topics to discuss sequentially for instructional purposes. Students used email outside…

A qualitative case study examined professor and student perceptions regarding how professors use communication to build their classroom credibility and the influence of the professor's race in the establishment of credibility. The research design reflects the vantage point of an African-American female researcher acknowledging and incorporating…

A study explored Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) in the context of news reports about a hazard. Content elements of outcome severity, vulnerability, and response efficacy were systematically varied in stories about a fabricated risk: fluorescent lighting lowering student academic performance. Research subjects were 206 students in an…

This paper presents a case study exploring the impact of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) on the formation of ethnic social groups, or communities, by examining the case of Chinese students in North America and other parts of the world. The paper (1) reviews the relationship between communication and community; (2) traces the development of…

The first stage of a 3-part research project designed to assess the appropriateness of using cooperative learning groups in communication courses with a significant oral performance component, a study assessed student perceptions about the appropriateness of using cooperative learning groups in a communication class with more than half of the…

The Communication Theory and Methodology section of the proceedings contains the following 18 papers: "The Continuing Question of Motivation in the Knowledge Gap Hypothesis" (Tom Weir); "Memory Decay and the Agenda-Setting Effect: An Examination of Three News Media" (Wayne Wanta and Melissa J. Roy); "Open, Closed, or Both:…

This review critiques the use of Lev Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) in quantitative research that focuses on the role communication plays in learning. A study that makes claims in terms of the ZPD should include a pretest, a problem-solving activity, and a posttest. Without these minimal elements, researchers are not…

Children have much to teach educators about the kinds of group work that enhance their social, emotional, and cognitive development. Using children's own words, this playlet juxtaposes third-grade and fifth/sixth grade views of how group work helps and hinders their school experiences in literacy learning. Students in both age groups experienced…

An exploratory study focused on United States and Japanese college students' perceptions of their communication apprehension, willingness to communicate, and sense of humor in various communication situations. Subjects, 110 students selected from several scientific and technical communication classes at the University of Minnesota and 108 students…