This paper describes a comprehensive assessment program utilized in the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs' basic public speaking course, The Speech and Thought Curriculum. The paper begins with a description of the theoretical underpinnings of the course and its approach to assessment. Next, the paper outlines the competency objectives…

A study examined the communication climate of a graduate teaching assistant's (GTA) college classroom. Because the teaching role is often new to the GTA, establishing a communication climate may be a significant factor in classroom management. One section of a public speaking class taught by a new graduate teaching assistant at a large midwestern…

A study documented an investigation into the use of selected theater technologies to enhance the oral/written communication skills of entry-level theater students at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a public high school for the performing arts. The Paradigm, a critical tool developed by Syd Field, and the students' application of the…

Noting that the trend in the newspaper industry from the predictive-control model to the explanative-naturalistic model mirrors a trend in the communication discipline toward qualitative research and more meaningful connections between industry and academia, a study investigated Sedgwick County, Kansas residents' concerns regarding politics and…

A study investigated the styles teachers exhibit while interacting with children in literacy-enriched play settings, whether teachers switch between several different styles, and how different play interaction styles affect children's play behaviors. Subjects, seven 4-year-olds enrolled in a university laboratory preschool class, a lead teacher,…

Although organizations spend increasingly large amounts of money on training, little effort or money is spent on evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. When evaluations are done, they are often designed for specific programs and often consider only participant reactions and immediate learning, and ignore behavior changes and long-term…

Karaoke (singing along to music videos) has swept Taiwan with such force that many people go to singing schools to improve their singing. Three cases in this paper demonstrate how the ethos, or credibility, of the singer is a combination of initial and derived ethos. Who the singer is tends to determine how much attention he or she receives…

One of a series of quarterly reports, this publication contains 11 articles which report the status and progress of studies on the nature of speech, instruments for its investigation, and practical applications. Articles in the publication are: "Evidence of Flexible Coding in Visual Word Recognition" (Kenneth R. Pugh and others);…

This paper offers a small group discussion model as a viable alternative for facilitating critical thinking. The paper first review literature discussing what critical thinking is and whether it can be taught. After defining critical thinking as an active process which involves constructing arguments, the paper concludes that an optimally…

Working from prior findings on the relationship between transgression, intent, guilt, and other factors, researchers reviewed a series of studies of undergraduate students. The students were offered varying hypothetical scenarios in which a member in a heterosexual relationship meets a friend of the opposite sex in a bar. In each case, after…

A study tested those theories upon which instruction and curriculum in speech and public communication are based. The study investigated the relationship of mode of delivery on ratings of individual speech characteristics as well as the relationship of these perceptions of effectiveness in a public communication setting. Twenty-four videotapes of…

To improve the performance appraisal systems used by personnel offices, a study collected the reactions of 200 managers to giving performance appraisals through interviews, scripts, role enactments, a list writing exercise, and an anxiety measure. The data produced three major findings: (1) managers experienced high levels of anxiety when giving…

By synthesizing theoretical and empirical research on issue networks, this paper describes and classifies four examples of networks involving educational issues. A literature review shows that, unlike other social and economic influences, networks are marked by flexibility in membership, leadership (individual, group, or organizational),…

Taken from a computer search of the ERIC system, 1975 through August 1983, this selected, annotated bibliography contains several hundred citations related to conflict. The entries are arranged according to the following sections: communication (thought transfer), decision making, human relations, interpersonal relationships, organizational…

To examine the consequences of responsiveness in dyadic interaction, explore the effects of irrelevant response on listener processing and retention of content, and determine the impact of irrelevant responses on listener perception of speaker attributes, 108 college students were asked to read a debate between two fictitious political candidates…