Every day people are bombarded with information about romantic relationships. Magazine articles offer how-to advice on flirting, dating, and fixing relationship problems. Advertisements--from billboards to radio commercials to email marketing campaigns--feature products that promise to help people attract a special someone. Television and movie…

A key concept in health communication is the difference between disease and illness: disease refers to the physical manifestations of a condition, while illness encompasses the physical, emotional, social, communicative, and psychological experience of living with a condition. The individual illness experience takes into account the full story of…

During the past decade, instructors of speech communication have been adapting the introductory speech course to keep up with the television age. Learning units in speech textbooks now teach how to speak well on television, as well as how to interpret speeches in the media. This article argues that the computer age invites adaptation of the…

Public relations action relies on sound decision making about how to inspire cooperation between an organization and its publics. Such thinking must uphold principles for ethical communication. Effectively combining ethics with public relations practice for students is key. A pedagogical approach to public relations ethics, hinging on selected…

Civic engagement has become an essential learning goal for institutions throughout higher education. Communication scholars employ various pedagogical tools to foster civic engagement. For instance, service learning has been shown to increase political and community engagement in courses such as family communication and public relations. Teachers…

Skill development exercises designed to promote the development of students' interpersonal competence have been the centerpiece of undergraduate interpersonal communication courses for decades. Research suggests that students develop interpersonal competence through exposure to and participation in skill development courses and activities. In…

With the desire for more and more campuses to develop their online or hybrid curricula, expanding pedagogy to include real-time technology in the classroom not only makes sense but can also be done with little or no additional technological investment. The use of technology in the classroom to aid in student learning, help streamline grading,…

With the expansion of online interactions and exponential growth of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), attention is brought to those theories in communication that address the implications of relationships developed within these contexts. In communication courses students learn about both face-to-face (FtF) and CMC relationships and have the…

Many versions of social constructivism (SC) maintain that objects exist only after they enter communicative space. At one level an object's existence is determined through an individual's sensory perception; through communicative acts, both intra- and interpersonally, they are defined and eventually embody meaning. The social process of defining…

In communication courses, instructors frequently define the term "anecdote," explore the various types of anecdotes, and then encourage students to use anecdotes in their speeches. However, instructors do not often spend time teaching students "how" to construct memorable anecdotes. As a result, many students present weak anecdotes or choose not…

Corporate influence is a defining characteristic of mass media in the U.S. A typical introductory textbook devotes a number of chapters to the economic structure of the mass media including advertising, public relations, and corporate ownership, then also includes chapter sections on the economics of the various media (television, radio,…

Films have been used successfully to teach students about "the institutional and cultural role mass media play in creating, sustaining or changing social relations." They have also provided important lessons regarding ethical decision-making. This article presents an activity that enables students to understand the role of media and the concept of…

Gendered violence is considered to be the "physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, and visual brutality that is inflicted disproportionately or exclusively on members of one sex". According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2010), gendered violence is a major public health concern that often goes unnoticed because it takes place in private…

To say that there is a lack of student enthusiasm on the first day of Research Methods is an understatement. Research Methods begins each semester with two teaching goals: (1) lowering classroom anxiety; and (2) bolstering student enthusiasm for the course material by helping them identify its relation to their lives. The most powerful…

This article presents an activity that combines this popular website, Postsecret.com, with college students' love for the internet, and course content on privacy boundaries and theory, disclosure, communicative control, and privacy rule development. By taking part in this activity, students practice privacy disclosure and are able to examine their…