BCCA Contents & Abstracts, Volume 13, 2001

Editor Deanna Sellnow
ISBN 978-0-89641-362-7

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    Hunt, Stephen K., Daradirek Ekachai, Darin L. Garaard & Joseph H. Rust. — Students’ perceived usefulness and relevance of communication skills in the basic course: Comparing university and community college students — Communication skills training is extremely important in terms of students’ career choices. However, few studies have been conducted regarding differences between community colleges and four-year universities in terms of students’ perceived usefulness and relevance of the study of communication in relation to career choice. The present study extends extant research by examining students’ perceptions of this issue. The participants in Study 1 were 155 community college and 291 four-year university students and the participants in Study 2 were 205 community college students. (1-22)

  • Cox, Stephen A. & Timothy S. Todd. — Contrasting the relationships between teacher immediacy, teacher credibility, and student motivation in self-contained and mass lecture classes — Basic communication courses are increasingly taught in mass-lecture formats. Research on teacher verbal immediacy, teacher nonverbal immediacy, teacher credibility, and stu¬dent motivation has failed to contrast the relationships between these four variables in different basic course formats. Respondents enrolled in self-contained (n =326) and mass-lecture (n =865) formats of basic communication courses completed surveys measuring these four classroom variables. Discussion of the results, suggestions for mass-lecture instructors, and research directions are proposed. (23-45)

  • Treinen, Kristen & John T. Warren. — Antiracist pedagogy in the basic course; teaching cultural communication as if whitness matters — As we have found in our experience as communication educators and scholars, there is a need for educators to understand the implications and impact of whiteness in the classroom. What we argue is typically missing in the basic course is an antiracist pedagogy. In this essay, we offer four modifications to the basic course which are consistent with an antiracist pedagogy. We conclude by suggesting ways in which whiteness work is applicable and important in the basic course. (46-75)

  • Hess, Jon A. — Rethinking our approach to the basic course: Making ethics the foundation of introduction to public speaking — The basic public speaking course is often taught from a standpoint of effectiveness. That approach can be problematic due to the dangers of technique. The use of ethics as a foundation for public speaking can overcome this drawback and has other advantages. Issues in implementing an ethics-based course are discussed, such as identifying ethical issues and engaging in dialogue. The model is illustrated through a description of one introductory public speaking course that was recently restructured to meet this philosophy. (76-115)

  • Schwartzman, Roy. — What’s basic about the basic course? Enriching the ethosystem as a corrective for consumerism — A marketplace mentality featuring the student as consumer reaches deeply into educational practice today. This essay examines the roots and implications of framing public speak¬ing education in economic terms. (116-150)

  • Dixson, Marcia D. — Teaching social construction of reality in the basic course: Opening minds and integrating contexts — After a brief review of social construction theory (SCT), this paper explores the introduction of SCT into the hybrid basic communication course. (151-173)

  • Arnett, Ronald C. & Janie M. Harden Fritz. — Communication and professional civility as a basic service course: dialogic Praxis between department and situated in an academic home — Communication departments frequently offer basic service courses to other campus departments or schools. A communication course sensitive to the mission of the university or college of which it is a part, as well as to its own mission, allows programs that include such a course in their curriculum to distinguish themselves from competing programs. Additionally, such a mission-sensitive course further defines departmental and university identity, assisting in institutionalizing a mission. Offering such a course provides an opportunity for dialogic praxis to occur between departments situated within the context of a local institution. Duquesne University’s Communication Department designed a course entitled Communication and Professional Civility for the Physician Assistant Department through a process of dialogic praxis. This article examines how this course provides a public discourse approach to basic communication issues within a complex modern organization. (174-206)
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