Are we winning?! A team challenge to engage students in the large lecture introductory communication course

Jacobi, Laura

dc.contributor.author	Jacobi, Laura	en
dc.date.accessioned	2018-03-22T13:54:35Z
dc.date.available	2018-03-22T13:54:35Z
dc.date.issued	2018-03
dc.identifier.citation	Jacobi, L. (2018) 'Are we winning?! A team challenge to engage students in the large lecture introductory communication course'. Journal of pedagogic development 8 (1)	en
dc.identifier.issn	2047-3265
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10547/622551
dc.description.abstract	The development and implementation of a semester‐long team challenge in an introductory level communication course is described. The team challenge was developed to encourage active engagement of students with large lecture material and to build community within lab sections of the course. Teaching assistants were trained to observe and record participation, distraction, and attendance levels in the large lecture portion of a hybrid course, ‘Fundamentals of Communication.’ Assessment of the team challenge as a case study reveals higher levels of verbal participation and attendance, and lower levels of distractions (i.e. use of cell phones, side conversations, late arrivals to class). In addition, there were other unexpected outcomes related to the way in which students were dispersed in the lecture hall. Results are discussed along with implications pertaining to the role of teaching assistants, the utility of competition versus collaboration in academia, and the definition of participation across all student populations.
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	University of Bedfordshire	en
dc.relation.url	https://journals.beds.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/jpd/article/view/424	en
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/	*
dc.subject	large lecture	en
dc.subject	engagement	en
dc.subject	participation	en
dc.subject	attendance	en
dc.subject	X342 Academic studies in Higher Education	en
dc.title	Are we winning?! A team challenge to engage students in the large lecture introductory communication course	en
dc.type	Article	en
dc.identifier.journal	Journal of pedagogic development	en
html.description.abstract	The development and implementation of a semester‐long team challenge in an introductory level communication course is described. The team challenge was developed to encourage active engagement of students with large lecture material and to build community within lab sections of the course. Teaching assistants were trained to observe and record participation, distraction, and attendance levels in the large lecture portion of a hybrid course, ‘Fundamentals of Communication.’ Assessment of the team challenge as a case study reveals higher levels of verbal participation and attendance, and lower levels of distractions (i.e. use of cell phones, side conversations, late arrivals to class). In addition, there were other unexpected outcomes related to the way in which students were dispersed in the lecture hall. Results are discussed along with implications pertaining to the role of teaching assistants, the utility of competition versus collaboration in academia, and the definition of participation across all student populations.