Communication is used to engage and involve students in addressing food deserts and developing sustainable solutions. This application-based activity allows students to explain the reality of food deserts, map the food deserts in an area of interest, develop an intervention, and present their communication intervention to a nonprofit interlocutor.…

This original teaching idea for a semester-long course encompasses a team-based project in which students worked together to create persuasive campaign materials for a local community health organization. The purpose of this project was for students to apply learned concepts related to theories and principles of persuasion to a real-world…

This activity aims to assist students with persuasive tactics for argumentative speeches. The activity involves students creating an argumentative speech to defend a hot-take assertion chosen from a list provided by the instructor. In small groups, students will craft an argument supporting their hot-take assertion and present it to the class.…

Utilizing popular murder-mystery texts that transcend boundaries of race, class, age, and sex, students apply Toulmin's 1958 concept of claim, data, warrant (Toulmin, S. E. 2003. The uses of argument. Cambridge University Press). Ultimately, students engage in an activity that demonstrates how argumentation plays a role outside of the college…

This single-class activity augments the popular desert island activity to include a secret insider who aims to influence their group covertly. The motivation for this augmented activity is twofold: (1) to highlight and dispel notions of invulnerability to groupthink and (2) to provide an opportunity to engage in small-group decision making. To…

Analysis of political and visual arguments is a key exercise traditionally included in undergraduate argumentation courses. This activity teaches students how to identify and analyze political candidate arguments presented on visual social media platforms, demonstrating how argumentation theory applies to social media campaigns. In the exercise,…

Communication and dietetics departments co-created an assignment to design health campaign materials for a rural South African community that promotes healthy eating habits for pregnant mothers and mothers of young children. The goal of this assignment was twofold. First, we explored the possibility of incorporating a service-learning element into…

This lesson offers students a way to analyze conspiracy theories while neither platforming dangerous ideas nor dismissing them as unworthy of academic study. Ideal for argument or rhetoric courses, first, the lesson advances conspiracy theories as a recognizable species of argument; second, the lesson uses a truncated version of Toulmin's model of…

"Targeting an Audience: A Discussion of Relevant Variables and a Test of Priming" is a teaching activity created to further students' knowledge of persuasive message reception and priming--a persuasion tactic often used in advertising by brands. Explanations of intended courses, learning objectives, and rationale are provided to help…

Courses: Public Speaking, Survey of Communication Studies, Interpersonal Communication, Intercultural Communication. Objectives: This activity focuses on helping students (1) become aware of their implicit biases, (2) understand the relationship between implicit biases and the quality of arguments (i.e. unfounded ad hominem arguments), and (3)…

The polarizing nature of many science-based topics often causes people to engage in a hostile manner with those who have differing perspectives. As the next generation of scientists and industry professionals, students studying in science-based disciplines must understand the value of civil discourse. Additionally, they need the skills necessary…

Online activism is a space of opportunity for students to encounter social justice issues, explore the possibilities of visual rhetoric, practice persuasive speaking skills, and actively contribute to the momentum of social movements. At the same time, digital activism raises concerns about "slacktivism," limiting the necessary…

Courses: Persuasion, Marketing, Advanced Public Speaking, Argumentation. Objectives: The aims of this assignment are to introduce students to the concept of data mining as a tool for audience analysis and to improve students' ability to adapt a message to a specific audience.

Courses: Persuasion, Group Communication, Communication Theory, Computer-Mediated Communication. Objectives: In this activity, students discuss and analyze film clips in order to understand theories, processes, and applications related to the concept of deindividuation.

Communication courses enhance learning through engaging diverse perspectives. However, students' unawareness of diverse perspectives can inhibit communication effectiveness and classroom engagement. Communication teachers encounter challenges and opportunities when these viewpoints impact students' assignment quality, class discussion…