5. Requirements for C-I Courses, Speaking Emphasis TEACHING: instruction on the conventions of discipline-specific oral presentations
6. Model good behavior Discuss novice mistakes Critique samples See it as “story-telling” Share rubrics in advance Self-record practice sessions Partner students for practice Provide substantive feedback Create multiple opportunities Instruction on Oral Presentations
7. Requirements for C-I Courses, Speaking Emphasis Learning: three or more informal speaking experiences
We all know the importance—and power—of oral communication. The need to be able to effectively articulate our thoughts, ideas, questions, and of course, knowledge. This skill alone could make the difference in success and failure. Yet we often set the bar rather low for students in terms of our expectations for their oral presentation skills.
Before we delve in to what you need to have in a Speaking-Intensive course, I want to go back to something Sarah talked about earlier—the connection to the course elements. You’ll hear us say time and time again, that C-I is NOT an add on to your course, it should be seamlessly embedded into your teaching and learning—that’s what makes it intensive. So as we walk through the requirements for certifying your course as Speaking-Intensive, think through Your course goals, what you want students to learnYour instruction, the knowledge you want to transferYour assignments, the skills you want students to learn Your assessments, the feedback to give to studentsAnd think through how you thread relevant speaking experiences throughout all of it—not just in the assignment portion—to increase students’ learning and skills.So what does it take to certify your course as C-I in speaking?
For each mode, the C-I requirements are broken up in to 3 sections – teaching, learning, and demonstrating skill.The first criterion in that the faculty member provides students ample instruction on the conventions of discipline-specific speaking, including detailed directions for the assignment itself and grading descriptions or formal rubrics for assessment.So how might you do this?
The first criterion in to have students participate in a minimum of three informal speaking experiences throughout the semester that engage them in good oral communication techniques to process and learn course content.
This requirement is all about students practicing and learning.
Here’s what some of these exercises might look like.
The third criterion is that students complete a minimum of two graded speaking experiences.
This requirement is all about students demonstrating skills and knowledgeBefore we go any further, I’d like to play a little game!
…a little game of “Faculty Feud”! The great divide will be here in the center and it will be the “Left Family” versus the “Right Family” So let’s get started. Queue theme music![hit 1 at bottom to revel board][stop music] We’ve polled some of our Speaking-Intensive faculty over the years and asked what are the top mistakes student-speakers make. What did they say?[hit ring in][left/right arrows for which family answers][number reveals answer / x if not right]fillerphrasesunder/over prepweak structure (intro/conclusion)time managementfidgeting/gestures rely on podium transitionsslides as crutchin appropriate dress*Only use keyboard. If you accidently us mouse, move cursor to below FF logo until it turns into a line and click to regain keyboard control
Well that was fun! Now back to business. When you’re developing your speaking experiences, we encourage you to consider the discipline-specific competencies you want your students to learn. Let’s take a look at each of these.
What content do your students need to master?
What type of speaking experience do they need to be most comfortable with?
What type of audience do they need to learn how to address?
Which structure is most appropriate for your discipline and for this type of content?
How will they most likely interact post-college—as teams or individuals?
Which delivery formats are vital to your discipline?
What type of interactions should students be prepared for?
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the importance of feedback. For some reason, are quick to mark up a paper and scribble notes on a visual, but when giving students feedback on presentations, we seldom spend enough time with them on the right things.One of the best ways for students to really use your feedback is to address it while viewing a video recording of themselves so they can really connect your comments to what they did. Often times you’ll comment on something that the student doesn’t realize they were doing and doesn’t recall doing.And whether it’s a 2 minute talk or a 20 minute presentation, you should always use a formulated rubric to evaluate students. This will key you in to the things you really want to focus on. Also, be sure you give it to them in advance. You’ll be amazed at how many things the students will fix ahead of time because your rubric serves as a check-list for them.This speaking rubric is comprehensive, but you may want to pick an choose which criterion you want to use. Maybe you start with a few for the first speech and add on for subsequent speeches, enabling them to focus on a few areas each time and building up to the full rubric.
The next step is designing your course and we’re excited to have a few of your colleagues here today to talk about how they incorporate speaking into their C-I courses, how they encourage growth of skills throughout the semester, and what works and doesn’t work for them.
We all know the importance—and power—of oral communication. The need to be able to effectively articulate our thoughts, ideas, questions, and of course, knowledge. This skill alone could make the difference in success and failure. Yet we often set the bar rather low for students in terms of our expectations for their oral presentation skills.