This article presents the Instructional Beliefs Model which forwards that teacher behaviors, student characteristics, and course-specific structural issues combine to influence students' instructional beliefs. Through these instructional beliefs, the first-order variables influence student learning outcomes. Three studies were conducted to…

Presents a master syllabus describing a communication course designed to (1) maintain a hands-on internship experience for students; (2) provide a method for integrating theoretical principles into "real-world" settings; and (3) offer an avenue for faculty supervisors to receive credit for time spent teaching and administering…

Shares an alternative (and tested) approach to teaching the small group communication course, which includes discussions of race, gender, and class as important communication variables within various social and interpersonal communication. (SR)

Discusses problems encountered in developing and teaching a course on Stuart and Tudor Drama, some of the teaching methods employed, and ideas for improving the effectiveness of the course. (JMF)

Suggestions on how instructors can improve the effectiveness of communication courses presented for business and industry. Emphasis is placed on the initial meeting with company officials, class preparation, and teaching style. (PD)

Advocates the interpretive communities approach to teaching political communication. Discusses philosophical issues in the teaching of political communication courses, and pedagogical techniques (including concepts versus cases, clustering examples, C-SPAN video examples, and simulations and games). (SR)

Presents seven brief essays regarding the role of the textbook in basic communication courses. Addresses the proper function of a textbook, how instructors weave a textbook into their course, how students should be reading their textbooks, how students and instructors define the textbook's role, and what textbook features optimize and hinder the…

Discusses the planning, development, implementation, and course management required to use the Personalized System of Instruction in the basic speech communication course. (PD)

An experimental method for teaching about power in groups, using an adaptation of the Tavistock method, is described. Course assumptions, methods, goals, and evaluation are discussed. (JMF)

Presents a master syllabus for a course whose purpose is to introduce students to a variety of topics and subjects in language and communication from a social science perspective. Discusses conceptual issues for the instructor, presents five instructional units, and discusses teaching strategies and evaluation. (SR)

This seventh in a series of investigations of the basic communication course at 2- and 4-year colleges and universities that began in 1968 has as its purpose to gather longitudinal data on the nature of the course. This latest study differs somewhat from past studies. The survey instrument from 1999 was revised to include timely concerns such as…

Provides a syllabus and teaching notes for a course on gender and communication theory. Presents teaching notes based on the assumption that a course grounded in a gender perspective requires style in the classroom that complements the course content. (KEH)

Systematically determines the current status of the introductory small group communication course at American colleges and universities. Examines specific content areas being taught, pedagogical approaches used, and teaching problems encountered to identify current curricular trends in teaching the course, charting subsequent course modification,…