A study was conducted (1) to investigate factors that influence an instructor's choice of behavior when confronted with incidents of students' poor communication performance, and (2) to demonstrate how attribution theory can be used as a vehicle for describing and understanding the causes of instructor reactions or behaviors. The study sought to…

Questionnaires were sent to communication trainers in diverse businesses and organizations to discern how they perform their teaching and consulting functions. Survey results were obtained from 57 respondents (28% response rate) for the following areas: topics dealt with in seminars, workshops, and courses on communication; primary sources for…

The planning, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive health program creates a continuing demand for concise and accurate information of many types. The major source of some of the most pertinent information is the American Indian people, the recipients of health services. Gathering the required information is complicated by…

In order to determine the content of an organizational communication course, this study examined 26 textbooks in that field, according to the frequency of discussion of a topic and the number of pages devoted to a topic. The findings from that examination indicate that topics in organizational communicaton can be outlined under three course types:…

Personal intent and discourse considerations play an important role in understanding the nature of a conversation between a youth and an elderly person. Each participant makes assumptions about the listener's knowledge and ability to communicate effectively. The way a speaker reacts to the other participant depends upon the speaker's own…

These three self-contained units of study will help community college students learn about the economics, international relations, and politics of Latin America. Each unit can be used independently and contains introductory notes for instructors, student materials, and a bibliography. Students are expected to read and discuss the reading…

Reframing, (redirecting or changing the perceptual experience of a situation by placing it in another frame that fits the facts equally well or better) is a relatively unique approach to interpersonal problem solving. A study was conducted to determine whether reframing could be taught as a self-help interpersonal problem-solving skill and to…

One important role performed by the hospital nurse is that of health teacher to elderly patients. Often nurses teach elderly patients the techniques of self-injection, how to monitor their dietary regimens, specialized hygiene techniques, and how to detect the physiological changes they may expect as a chronic disease advances. From the nurse's…

The notion of symmetrical communication and its application in course teams at Deakin University, Australia, are considered. Symmetry in communications is evident in groups characterized by mutual recognition by members of one another as persons accepted and appreciated in their common striving for mutual understanding and consensus. The technique…

The family, responsible for the well being of children, has felt alienated from the schools. One of the reasons has been its inability to communicate personal and social needs to the schools, and the schools' inability to clarify what is expected from parents. Parents and the family unit need to be helped to understand the schools' role in the…

Typically, teachers approach ambiguity in student writing by suggesting that students focus on diction, syntax, and writing format; however, the works of modernists (including T.S. Eliot, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl Marx, and Pablo Picasso) suggest the importance of conceptions of semantic clarity. Transformational models for syntactic elements in…

This booklet for parents provides a brief explanation of how babies and young children learn to communicate with others (through actions and words) and suggests specific ways parents can help their children learn to communicate effectively. (RH)

Questionnaires concerning the users of educational tests were returned by 87 school superintendents in the United States and 228 members of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). Most NCME respondents were associated with colleges. The NCME sample represented measurement experts, while the superintendents represented…

A trustee orientation or colloquium program designed to enable representatives of various college governing and administrative bodies to meet together and share ideas is described. The proposed model was used at Emmanuel College in Boston. The college is governed by a Board of Trustees, appointed by the Corporation, which owns the college. The…

Using typical statements made by teachers and school administrators as examples, this self-help primer offers tips for developing conversational patterns that promote interpersonal understanding. The tips are designed to help readers learn about 40 effective conversational habits, including being specific, talking sparingly, admitting mistakes,…