At the Rochester Institute of Technology, a course was created which took students out of the traditional classroom setting in order to teach small group communication in an experiential-adventure based format. The course was designed by a faculty member in Communications and the Coordinator of Outdoor Experiential Education. Based on a survey of 10 small group communication textbooks, 10 topics were selected for the course: communication models, group development, cohesion, norms, verbal and nonverbal communication, decision making, leadership, roles, conflict and competition, and empathy and trust. These topics were approached using assigned reading, short quizzes, brief lectures and class discussions, a research paper, and experiential activities--many of them adventure-based--taking place at a facility on campus known as the Red Barn, run by the Outdoor Experiential Education Program. Each activity was designed to reflect concepts related to small group communication. This experiential approach to teaching small group communication seemed to be effective and popular. The combination of a thorough plan, strategic sequencing of materials, clearly structured experiences, and frequent discussions relating the experiences to the subject matter is essential if these techniques are to be used successfully. This course has remained popular in its second and third offerings. (Eighteen references are attached.) (SR)