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© 2019 Macmillan Learning. All rights reserved.
groups.
• Debates. Another approach to instruction is to offer students an argument or position
classroom discussion afterward.
• Experiential learning activities. As a way of better understanding interpersonal concepts,
students might be asked to act out a simulation or role-play, write a reflection, or complete a
field observation. Such activities are common in interpersonal teaching. Be sure to allow time
• Developing an anticipatory set. A final consideration in effective lesson planning is
identifying an engaging way of starting the lesson, otherwise known as an anticipatory set. An
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Lesson Plan Template
Topic
Learning objective
Instructional aid
Anticipatory set
Pre-assessment
Learning activity
Post-assessment
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SAMPLE LESSON PLAN
Topic
Perception and First Impressions
Learning objective
The learner will identify factors influencing impression formation.
Instructional aid
Anticipatory set
Examine three different photographs of strangers and elicit student responses of their impressions.
Slides on overhead projector
Pre-assessment
Ask: What are some factors that influenced your impressions?
Write student responses on whiteboard
Learning activity
Experiential learning activity:
Introduce “I think I know you” exercise. Activity time = 25 minutes.
Debrief:
1. What was the basis for making your decisions about how to answer the questions?
2. How accurate were you in your guesses? Why do you think this happened?
3. How do you feel your partner answered the questions about you?
4. What does this activity bring up in terms of chapter concepts?
“I think I know you” worksheet
Key terms to listen for and post on the whiteboard for defining and illustrating
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Topic
Perception and First Impressions
Gestalt
Algebraic impressions
Stereotypes
Post-assessment
Simple three-item, multiple-choice review of the three factors
Slides on overhead projector
PLANNING FOR DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM
The U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse, with more than one-third of the
population belonging to a minority group (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Indeed, colleges
and universities are experiencing the impact of changing demographics through increased
student enrollments among ethnic minorities, women, and students age 25 and older (American
Council on Education, 2005). These trends have profound implications on teaching and learning.
FORMS OF DIVERSITY
Students are diverse in many ways, not all of which are apparent. In fact, it’s a safe bet that your
students are probably more different than similar along several important dimensions. Some
student differences may be (but are not always) apparent along the lines of age, gender, physical
disability, race, and ethnicity. These demographic variables can affect classroom performance
and learning. Take, as a simple example, the older student who is balancing multiple life roles of
work, community, family, and school. This student’s life stress is quite different from that of the
student athlete, who may feel pressured to maintain academic eligibility. Each student is
operating from a different motivational basis, with different life skill sets that become apparent
in classroom performance. Less apparent student differences, such as religion, learning
disabilities, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, also impact students’ learning
experiences and your instruction. These factors can have an influence on how students process
information, their motivation, their attitudes, and their responses to instructional material. An
astute teacher will consider classroom demographics in developing classroom policy, choosing
instructional resources, and managing the classroom climate.
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
One student population with an increasing presence on college campuses is English language
learners (ELL). Although English language learners populate most campuses, they are most
evident on those campuses with strong international education programming and those that
traditionally have open access admissions, such as comprehensive community colleges. In most
cases, these students are adjusting culturally, as well as gaining better facility with the English
language. Indeed, enrollment in interpersonal communication is often a next step outside of
college ELL offerings to support the continued enculturation of these students. Given the
apprehension associated with learning a new language, the steps you take to minimize such
apprehension in your classroom will support learning not only for the English language learner in
your classroom but for most other students as well. Some reasonable instructional
accommodations you might make include:
• Presenting students with reading questions and lecture guides. This provides a “map” for
allusion in the classroom.
SELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE MATERIALS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Your choice of instructional material, ancillary materials, and use of examples when teaching
creates a subtext about your sensitivity to diversity. Reflect & Relate makes its cultural
perspective known through theory, research, and application exercises. Particularly notable is the
Focus on Culture feature found in every chapter. However, these cultural references are only as
effective as the instructor who addresses diversity issues explicitly as part of the teaching and
learning processes. Moreover, the classroom has myriad opportunities for displaying images on
overheads and clip art on handouts, selecting media, and providing verbal examples and stories
that reflect diverse people and ways of life. Incorporating instructional materials and illustrations
that show a genuine rather than perfunctory sensitivity to culture and diversity is important to
those students who may otherwise feel they’re on the margins of the classroom.
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THE NONVERBAL DIMENSION OF TEACHING
Another subtle yet powerful force in the classroom is your nonverbal manner, which either
supports or undermines an atmosphere of inclusiveness. Many other behaviors may be perceived
by students as prejudices or dislikes, including your enthusiastic vocal affirmation of some
student contributions and not others, whether you turn to and establish eye contact with students
CAMPUS RESOURCES TO SUPPORT DIVERSITY
A final source of support for classroom diversity is your campus resources. Most college
campuses have academic support services for helping students with writing papers, studying for
and taking tests, and other basic academic skills. Academic labs and support areas can be
USING TECHNOLOGY TO FOSTER LEARNING
Digital technology is the lingua franca of today’s younger college student. The proliferation of
smartphones and social media, coupled with the pervasiveness of the Internet, necessitates
consideration of how technology—properly used—can serve classroom learning. Three
technological tools readily available to support student learning are (1) computer-generated slide
programs, like Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote; (2) television and film; and (3) the
Internet.
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USING POWERPOINT
Given the wide availability of Microsoft PowerPoint, you no doubt have seen dozens of lectures
that are nothing more than an endless set of slides read by the presenter as the audience slumbers
away. Quite frequently, slides are the organizing principle for a lecture, rather than serving as an
instructional aid. Slides can enhance a lecture when they reinforce ideas or make a point that
might be difficult to convey through words alone (e.g., summarizing survey results with a graph).
There are some basic design principles to keep in mind when developing a slide presentation for
the classroom.
1. It is easier for students to process the information when
• Slide design is clean and simple and avoids textual clutter
2. It is less distracting when
• You sustain eye contact with the class rather than with the slide show
other instructional materials
Finally, you must also determine whether to provide students with a handout of the slides prior to
the lecture, afterward, or not at all. Another decision is whether to upload the presentation to a
course Web site for review purposes or for students who miss class. Perhaps the easiest way to
make these decisions is to discuss with colleagues what they have found to be successful, or to
poll students to gain their input on what would best support their learning.
USING TELEVISION PROGRAMMING AND FILM
The media have much to offer in support of interpersonal communication studies. Most popular
television series and films are now widely available on Web sites like Netflix, YouTube,
movieclips.com, and Hulu. Such resources can be excerpted or shown in their entirety to
illustrate points during a lecture, to serve as a basis for class or case study discussion, or for
students to analyze as part of an individual or group project. Instructors should be aware of
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© 2019 Macmillan Learning. All rights reserved.
resource on copyright laws and teaching can be found at
https://libguides.library.umkc.edu/c.php?g=470745&p=3220125#s-lg-box-17489249.
You can increase the effectiveness of using media in the following ways: First, create clear
learning objectives for the use of media in your course. Do you want students to see an
illustration of an interpersonal concept or skill? Do you want them to use concepts to critique an
interpersonal exchange or relationship and to make recommendations of a different approach?
Do you want them to analyze how a set of concepts or ideas applies in an interpersonal exchange
or relationship? In other words, there should be a clear reason why you are requiring students to
watch a particular film or television program. Second, give students questions or prompts to
consider prior to viewing. This establishes a frame of mind that focuses their attention and,
ultimately, shapes a class discussion or their responses to a writing assignment. Finally, debrief
the experience. Have students start by describing what they thought about or how they felt about
what they saw. It helps to get personal opinions and feelings out on the table prior to moving to a
structured discussion (i.e., “I like/dislike Will Smith,” “I was disappointed with the ending”).
Then move to the structured questions or prompts they were given prior to the viewing, and
finally conclude with what was learned from the viewing experience.
USING THE INTERNET
A key decision in planning your course is whether and how to incorporate the Web in your
teaching. For example, you might require a traditional research paper that sets guidelines for the
use of Web sites as reference material. On the other hand, you may have Web-based course
resources that require students to participate in discussion forums or post comments or videos, or
USING PEDAGOGICAL FEATURES OF THE TEXTBOOK
Reflect & Relate has a plethora of activities and questions designed to enhance student learning.
LaunchPad includes over 100 videos, plus LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, Self-Quiz tests,
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assignable test bank questions, lecture slides, and the expanded Making Relationship Choices
video scenarios to help students build empathy. The print book also includes many useful
resources, including Self-Reflection questions, Self-Quiz tests, Focus on Culture features, Skills
Practice exercises, and Making Relationship Choices case studies. Detailed below are
suggestions for how these features might be used in the classroom.
LAUNCHPAD RESOURCES
The new online course platform, LaunchPad, offers a multitude of resources and activities for
students and instructors alike. To visit LaunchPad for Reflect & Relate, Fifth Edition, go to:
launchpadworks.com.
STUDENT-FACING RESOURCES
• Making Relationship Choices –This feature consists of a five-step process that walks students
through realistic communication scenarios. First, students read a brief case study in which
someone—a friend, a parent, or a significant other—is communicating in a problematic or
challenging way. Next, students are asked to respond to this character. Then students watch a
video in which the other person explains his or her side of the story, revealing that there is
more than one perspective in every communication situation. Finally, students are asked to
reevaluate their earlier response and decide whether their reaction has changed, now that they
have heard the other person’s side of the story.
• Videos – Over 100 videos illustrate key concepts from the text, from individualism to
adaptors, allowing students to see interpersonal principles in action. Every chapter in the
print book also includes one to four marginal features that prompt students to go online and
watch specific videos on LaunchPad. Here are some ways this feature could be incorporated
in your teaching:
- Organize groups to discuss video clips and have each group present an oral report on
their impressions. Are the characters in the videos competent communicators? Why
or why not?
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© 2019 Macmillan Learning. All rights reserved.
• LearningCurve – This adaptive quizzing system contains multiple-choice questions for each
chapter in Reflect & Relate, Fifth Edition. For every correct or incorrect answer a student
enters, LearningCurve offers detailed feedback and references to the text to help the student
learn the material more effectively.
• Video Activities – Over 20 professionally shot speech videos accompanied by multiple-
choice quiz questions help students further engage with the material.
• Chapter Quizzes – There are brief multiple-choice quizzes for students to complete after each
chapter.
Instructor Resources
• LaunchPad and LearningCurve Guide – This downloadable manual is aimed at first-time
users of LaunchPad. It explains the basics of using the course platform and the
LearningCurve adaptive quiz system.
• Test Bank – For each chapter, LaunchPad includes dozens of true/false, multiple-choice,
PRINT BOOK RESOURCES
The print book Reflect & Relate, Fifth Edition, contains many helpful features, boxes, and
activities for students.
SELF-REFLECTION
These questions prompt students to think deeply about the personal implications of an array of
ideas presented in each chapter. Creative use of this feature both in- and outside the classroom
can foster cognitive and affective learning. An instructor might:
• Use one or two of the Self-Reflection questions to introduce the topic for the day.
• Organize group discussion around Self-Reflection questions. Groups should end by
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SKILLS PRACTICE
Interspersed through every chapter are ample opportunities for students to practice interpersonal
skills. Each Skills Practice asks students to examine their current behavior and to develop an
alternative skill-oriented response in future situations. Possible uses of this textbook feature are
similar to others mentioned above, including
