978-1319103323 Introduction Part 3

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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

Lesson Plan Template

Topic

Learning objective

Instructional aid

Anticipatory set

Pre-assessment

Learning activity

Post-assessment

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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,

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?

• 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

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