COMS 506: Communication Skills Tutoring
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and instructor's permission
Credit Hours: (3)
Principles and methods of training clients in the improvement of communication skills in such areas as public speaking, group discussion, and listening. Applied component of the course provides supervised consultation and tutoring experience.
Detailed Description of Content of Course
Students will study the theory and practice of three content areas. First, they will review and/or learn fundamental principles and techniques of various forms of communication, including but not limited to public speaking, small group communication, and listening. It is assumed that they already have an academic background in most of these areas, so most of the study will be in the form of a review. The instructor will guide students who feel deficient in any of these areas to appropriate readings.
A second content focus of this course is instructional communication. Students will learn how to facilitate learning and give appropriate feedback in interpersonal, small group, and large group settings.
A final focus of study is communication consulting. Topics in this area include: training and development; personal skills inventory; conducting a needs assessment; designing, developing, and evaluating proposals and assessments; presenting proposals and assessments; and ethical issues in consulting.
Detailed Description of the Conduct of Course
The course will use a variety of teaching/learning formats, relying primarily on a seminar/discussion approach. Learning in this course will come from a variety of instructional sources:
(1) Reserve Readings (located in OCP Library)
(2) Instructor Generated Materials
(3) Class Generated Materials
(4) Lecture and Discussion
(5) Reports and Essays
(6) Papers and Projects
(7) "Client" Consultations
Public Speaking Proficiency Examination
As part of the requirements for this class students will consult with and tutor students enrolled in SPCH 114 (Public Speaking) or a communication-intensive course. It is important, then, that students understand principles of public speaking and be familiar with the content of the 114 textbook.
In order to remain in this class students must pass a public speaking proficiency examination, scheduled for the second week of class. A grade of 75 or higher is a passing grade. A student receiving a grade of 74 or lower may take the exam a second time but must receive a grade of 80 or higher. Students are allowed to take the exam a third time with the minimum grade being 85. A student not passing the exam after the third attempt will be dropped from the class. The grade on this exam is not factored into the grade received for the course.
Honor Code
The university requests that the following statement be included in each course syllabus: "By accepting admission to Radford University, each student makes a commitment to understand, support, and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception. This class will be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code."
Quality of work: Student work should be good and be the student's. What is not the student's should be fully cited. Unless otherwise indicated, written work is to be typed. Correct spelling, grammar, and form are expected. Students may use either MLA (Modern Language Association) or APA (American Psychological Association) style when documenting sources.
Goals and Objectives of the Course
This course is designed to accomplish several goals. After completing this class, students should
(1) understand principles of communication skills instruction and their application in a variety of academic and professional contexts.
(2) understand the roles, skills, attributes, training, and ethical responsibilities of a communication consultant and peer tutor.
(3) be able to identify, access, adapt, and utilize resources for instruction.
(4) be able to apply communication principles learned in other courses to peer consulting and tutoring.
(5) be able to assess clients' communication skills and needs.
(6) be able to assist clients to enhance their communication skills.
(7) discover their style and strengths as a communication consultant and tutor.
Assessment Measures
Grades in this course will be based on oral and written performance on the following assignments: essays, critiques, consulting project, paper, tutoring/lab work, and class discussion and oral reports.
Essays
Three essays are assigned. Each should be typed, double-spaced, and 3-4 pages in length. Sources should be properly cited.
Essay 1: Peer Tutoring
This paper should focus on any aspect of peer tutoring that the student justifies as important (e.g., benefits to the tutor, benefits to tutees, ethical dilemmas and responsibilities, differences among tutoring programs, etc.).
Essay 2: Evaluating Oral Communication
This paper should explore methods and strategies of evaluating another person's speaking.
Essay 3: The student will select the topic for this essay in consultation with the instructor.
Critiques
Periodically students will view a videotape of a speech, discussion, interpersonal interaction, or other form of oral communication. They will give a written and/or oral critique of the communication event using the guidelines for critiquing provided by the instructor.
Consulting Project
The consulting package is a proposal for and description of an oral communication workshop appropriate for a business/professional audience. The proposal is to be divided into five parts:
I. Title page (title, abstract, name of workshop facilitator)
II. Statement of Need
III. Statement of Objectives
IV. Detailed Agenda (agenda, description of each workshop session, resource materials, handouts)
V. Resources (bibliography)
Paper
In consultation with the instructor, students will select a topic relevant to an aspect of oral communication relevant to this course. The paper is to be a research paper and should be fully referenced. The bulk of the research should be from scholarly, rather than popular, publications. The typed copy should be double spaced and be approximately 10-12 pages in length.
Graduate students will write and deliver their papers in a style appropriate for a panel at a professional conference. The paper will be delivered in class, and communication faculty and other graduate students will be invited to attend. Each student will have ten minutes to summarize (not read!) the paper. As part of this assignment, the student will select someone who will respond to the paper. This may be a faculty member or a graduate student. The person will have five minutes to respond. The student will also answer questions from the audience.
Tutoring/Lab work
Part of the students' experience in this course is to engage in several consulting/tutoring relationships. They will interact with students (clients/tutees) as they assist them in becoming better communicators. They will keep a log of their consulting and write a three-page reaction paper at the conclusion of this experience.
Other Course Information
None
Review and Approval
DATE ACTION REVIEWED BY
April 1999 David Dobkins, Chair
