BCCA Contents & Abstracts, Volume 2, 1990
Editor Lawrence Hugenberg
ISBN 978-0-89641-203-3
Pearson, J.L. & Nelson, P. — The future of the basic course — This article recommends some changes that should occur in the basic course. The prescriptions are based on four notions: the course must include accurate information, it should be inclusive in nature, it must be responsive to our contemporary world and to our student’s current and future communicative needs, and it must provide a unique contribution to our student’s education. (1-26)
1989 Basic Course Committee Awaard Winning Papers
Bourhis, J. & Berquist, C. — Communication apprehension in the basic course: Learning styles and preferred instructional strategies of high and low apprehensive students — Students who experience high levels of communication apprehension are at a distinct disadvantage in school when compared to those who do not. This is particularly true in basic courses in public speaking and interpersonal communication which students may be required to take to satisfy general education requirements. This study examines the relationship between communication apprehension, learning style, and preferred instructional strategies for students enrolled in a basic course in interpersonal communication. (27-46)
Yook, E. & Seiler, B. — An investigation into the communication needs and concerns of Asian students in basic communication performance courses — The University of Nebraska is one of the many institutions of higher education in the United States with a growing foreign student enrollment. Consequently, the numbers of foreign students enrolled in speech communication classes has been increasing. There, however, is currently a lack of systematic investigation into the needs and concerns of foreign students in speech performance classes. This study investigates the needs and concerns of Asian students in speech performance classes. (47-75)
Instruction in the Basic Communication Course
Schliessmann, M.R. & Haleta, L.B. — The required course and the advanced student: A placement perspective — Advanced placement describes a system in which incoming freshman students are invited to elect an advanced speech course, in lieu of taking the university required Speech course. The system is not an exemption system, like practiced in other colleges and universities. It allows the speech faculty to choose qualified students who have competence beyond the basic course. The paper describes the system, analyzes its advantages and discusses perceived disadvantages. (76-88)
Haynes, W.L.— Beyond writing: The case for a speech-based basic course in a vid-oral world — Recent developments in media studies research suggest ways basic course curricula may be inappropriately biased toward written mediation and the forms of cognition writing engenders. This paper explores the media-cognition relationship to argue for teaching oral communication from a different perspective. (89-100)
Troester, R.A — Communication based model of friendship for the interpersonal communication course — This paper presents a model of friendship drawn from the friendship research of S.W. Duck and the management approach to interpersonal communication of S.A. Deetz and S.L. Stevenson. These complementing approaches are integrated using the general systems notions of structure, function and evolution. The approaches and model are discussed as they relate to the development of interpersonal communication competence. (101-120)
Grading the Basic Communication Course
Foster, T.J., Smilowitz, M., Foster, M.S. & Phelps, L.A. — Some student perceptions of grades received on speeches — Frequent evaluation of student work is standard practice in basic courses. Frequent evaluation assumes a relationship between the evaluation and improved performance. In higher education, evaluations are often expressed as grades. This study examines the relationship between twelve grades students receive on their speeches, and the affective and motivational effects those grades might have. (121-142)
Goulden, N.R. — A program of rater training for evaluating public speeches combining accuracy and error approaches — Systematic rater training results in higher validity and reliability for scores from either classroom speeches or speeches from wide-scale testing. This paper includes a complete script for rater training using a combination of two training methods: error training to sensitize raters to their biases and accuracy training to insure rater understanding of criteria and processes of rating. (143-16)
Evaluating the Basic Communication Course
Bendtschneider, L.B. & Trank, D.M. — Evaluating the basic course: Using research to meet the communication needs of the students — This paper presents a rationale for evaluating the basic course to determine the extent to which it meets the communication needs of the students. (166-191)
The "State" of the Basic Course
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Buerkel-Rothfuss, N.L. & Kosloski, D.L. — The basic course: What do we know? What do we need to know? Where do we go from here? — Research in the basic course in the 1980s was largely atheoretical and limited in generalizability, both inside and outside of speech communication. The review of literature presented in this paper reveals an extensive typology of basic course variables but no clear framework within which to conduct future research. Several potential theoretical perspectives are described and a research agenda for the 1990s is presented, with a goal toward more systematic, coordinated efforts. (192-232)
Gibson, J.W., Hanna, M.S. & Leichty, G. — The basic speech course at United States colleges and universities: V— This paper reports the results of a survey undertaken to determine the nature of the basic course in speech as it is now taught at United States colleges and universities, and to identify important trends in instruction of the basic communication course. (233-257)