Standards for General Education Speech Communication Courses
Approved by the Maryland Communication Association
September 26, 1998
Approved by the Maryland Intersegmental Chief Academic Officers Group
April 14, 1999
Definition of the Speech Communication Discipline
The general education course in Speech Communication employs as its core the definition of communication studies developed and adopted by the Association for Communication Administration.
Definition: The field of communication focuses on how people use verbal and nonverbal messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media. It promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.1
Core Components
Speech Communication courses should include at least 12 (80 percent) of the following core components in order to qualify as a general education course.
General Education Course Areas
In general, the following basic-level communication courses could qualify as general education courses at institutions of higher education if they include at least 12 (80%) of the aforementioned core components:
Although many of these courses focus on understanding and developing communication competencies, others have more of a theoretical focus that concentrates on understanding, analyzing, and appreciating the role of communication in personal, professional, and societal relationships.
Note: This document does not require institutions to include speech communication courses in their general education curriculum. However, when institutions do include speech communication courses in the general education core, such courses must adhere to the standards advanced in this document.
The Arts and Humanities Area Group in General Education
The state of Maryland=s Chief Academic Officers (CAO) group has recommended the following components in their definition of the Arts and Humanities Area Group in General Education.
Arts and Humanities courses:
The CAO group also established that general education courses in the arts and humanities should develop the following proficiencies in the student:
Speech Communication as a Core of Arts and Humanities
Speech Communication courses include the majority of Arts and Humanities components and proficiencies recommended by the CAO group.
The following description of general education Speech Communication courses includes both the definitional and skills components of the arts and humanities requirements specified by the CAO group:
A general education Speech Communication course improves students' ability of expression both orally and in writing; develops proficiency in listening, critical thinking, and message analysis; fosters creativity through a variety of communication assignments; enhances appreciation and understanding of various forms of expression/communication; and nurtures good citizenship and personal responsibility through the study of communication ethics.
General Education Speech Communication Competencies
By including at least 12 (80 percent) of the 15 core components previously listed, a student taking a Speech Communication course qualifying as a general education course should be able to demonstrate the competencies listed below. After each competency statement, specific behaviors are listed that a student should demonstrate in order to be considered competent.
Arts and Humanities Area Group and Speech Communication Course Competencies
The following table demonstrates the ways in which a general education Speech Communication courses address all of the Arts and Humanities competencies established by the Chief Academic Officers group.
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Communication Process |
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Verbal/Nonverbal Communication |
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Message Development & Organization |
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Audience & Context Analysis |
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Expression |
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Listening |
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Analysis & Evaluation |
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Ethics |
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The Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues Area Group in General Education
The state's Chief Academic Officers (CAO) group also recommended the following components in their definition of the Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues Area Group in General Education.
(1) In addition to the five required areas . . . of this regulation, a public institution may include up to 8 semester hours in a sixth category that addresses emerging issues that institutions have identified as essential to a full program of general education for their students. These courses may:
(a) Be integrated into other general education courses or may be presented as separate courses; and
(b) Include courses that:
(i) Provide an interdisciplinary examination of issues across the five areas, or
(ii) Address other categories of knowledge, skills, and values that lie outside of the five areas.
(2) Public institutions may not include the courses in this section in a general education program unless they provide academic content and rigor equivalent to the areas in (the following section) of this regulation.
J. General education courses shall reflect current scholarship in the discipline and provide reference to theoretical frameworks and methods of inquiry appropriate to academic disciplines.
K. Courses that are theoretical may include applications, but all applications courses shall include theoretical components if they are to be included as meeting general education requirements.
L. Public institutions may incorporate knowledge and skills involving the use of quantitative data, effective writing, information retrieval, and information literacy when possible in the general education program.
The CAO group recommends that general education courses in interdisciplinary and emerging issues should use the following requirements to guide course development:
I. An Interdisciplinary Issues course is one in which a broad theme is examined from multiple perspectives and leads to a synthesis of experiences from at least two of the five general education areas.
II. An Emerging Issues course is one that the institution has determined is of such current significance to the students that it is essential to include as a part of their general education experience. Such a course must be based on a credible body of established scholarship with pertinent evidence of methodology and/or epistemology. In addition, the course must address a body of knowledge, skills, and values that lie predominantly outside the five general education areas.
Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues in Speech Communication Courses
In addition to those Speech Communication courses that meet the Arts and Humanities area group standards, many Speech Communication courses also qualify as Interdisciplinary and/or Emerging Issues courses. The following titles are only offered as examples of courses that would be expected to meet the rigorous criteria set forth by the CAO group:
REFERENCES
Berko, R.M., Morreale, S.P., Cooper, P.J., & Perry, C.D. (1998). Communication standards and competencies for kindergarten through grade 12: The role of the National Communication Association. Communication Education, 47, 174-182.
Book, C.L. (1989). Communication education: Pedagogical content knowledge needed. Communication Education, 38, 315-321.
Engleberg, I.N. & Wynn, D.R. (1996). DACUM: A national database justifying the study of speech communication. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 1, 28-37.
Ford, W.S.Z. & Wolvin, A.D. (1993). The differential impact of a basic communication course on perceived communication competencies in class, work, and social contexts. Communication Education, 42, 215-223.
Maes, J.D., Weldy, T.G. & Icenogle, M.L. (1997). A managerial perspective: Oral communication competency is most important for business students in the workplace. The Journal of Business Communication, 34, 67-80.
Morreale, S., Moore, M., Taylor, P., Surges-Tatum, D., & Hulbert-Johnson, R. (1993). The competent speaker speech evaluation form. Annandale, VA: National Communication Association.
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). (November, 1995). Special report: Job outlook >96. Spotlight, 15. Bethlehem, PA: NACE.
National Communication Association. (1998). Competent communicators: K-12 speaking, listening, and media literacy standards and competency statements. Annandale, VA: National Communication Association.
This document was approved and adopted by the Maryland Communication Association at its annual meeting on September 26, 1998. The standards were endorsed by the Maryland Intersegmental Chief Academic Officers Group on February 10, 1999. Final approval was conferred on April 14, 1999.
Revised: 2/10/99