Communication Education

Jon A. Hess; Paul L. Witt

doi:10.4135/9781483381411

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Communication Education

By: Jon A. Hess & Paul L. Witt
In:The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods
Chapter DOI:https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483381411.n75
Subject:Communication and Media Studies, Sociology

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Communication education is a general term used to encompass two related areas of research: instructional communication and communication education. Instructional communication focuses on connections between communication and learning, such as how instructors speak and act when teaching, and how students respond. Communication education focuses on the teaching of communication as an academic discipline, including topics such as curriculum and assessment. At first, it may seem confusing that communication education refers to both the entire field of study and one of its subfields. In practice, however, the meaning is usually clear from context.

Communication education has been a research focus since the founding of the National Communication Association (NCA) in 1914. With higher education continuing amidst a period of significant change, the need to study innovative pedagogies and new communication technologies has and will continue to provide fertile ground for pioneering research in this subdiscipline for years to come. This entry first further describes the two areas of study that encompass communication education. Next, an overview of methods in communication education research is provided. Finally, types of questions, methods, and theories most commonly employed are discussed and some prominent areas of research in both instructional communication and communication education are provided.

Areas of Study

Instructional Communication

Instructional communication is the larger of the two areas in terms of research produced. It refers to the study of communication in the teaching and learning process. Instructional communication researchers are particularly interested in connections between communication and learning, though they sometimes assess other course outcomes such as student motivation. Because instructional communication examines communication as a general process in the classroom, its findings can be applied to all fields of study. However, most of the data are collected from classes in the [Page 191]communication discipline. Some of the major foci of instructional communication research include:

student and instructor characteristics (such as attitudes, personality traits, or cultural background), as related to messages in the educational context;
the teacher–student relationship or classroom interactions, as related to educational outcomes;
students’ cognitive processing or learning outcomes, as related to students’ or instructors’ messages; and
use of technology, as related to communication and learning. This technology may include educational technology, such as video recording of speeches, or other technology that finds its way into the classroom, such as social media and personal digital devices.

The majority of instructional communication research to date is centered on communication and learning in the American university classroom, with most of the data collected from undergraduate students. Accompanying the explosive growth in digital media technology in the early 21st century, researchers are giving considerable attention to learning contexts outside the traditional classroom, including instructional communication in mediated contexts, as with online education and student–teacher interaction via social media.