Communication Across the Curriculum
                       Best Practices

Note: The CAC committee surveyed each school and department for the ways they support the development of students' communication skills. Rather than list everything sent by the departments, the committee selected two best practices from each department to provide samples of some of the best practices on the campus.

School of Education

Electronic portfolio project: All majors will soon be required to have an electronic portfolio. In the capstone experience, the clinical practice semester, interns synthesize learning throughout the program in long- range unit and lesson plans.

Thesis or portfolio defense: The MAT and MEd candidates either write a master's thesis or develop a portfolio and publicly present it.

 School of Science and Math

Annual SSM poster day session: Students representing all departments from the School of Science & Mathematics exhibit at an annual poster day.

Research emphasis: The emphasis is on research of undergraduate students with their professors. In addition, students are encouraged and supported, when funds are available, to attend professional meetings and present their work.

  School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Conferences, publications, speakers, and retrospectives: Faculty, students, and the community are treated to a large number talks from visiting professionals, professional meetings, and nationally recognized publications through the H&SS.

Publication: H&SS also sponsors the student publication Chrestomathy.

  School of the Arts

Concerts, theatrical productions, exhibits, etc.: Faculty, students, and the community enjoy a large number of high quality performances, lectures, and exhibits from the SOA.

The Halsey Gallery: The Halsey Gallery, which is open to the public, also exhibits works of nationally recognized artists and sponsors lectures by these artists.

 School of Business and Economics

AACSB, the accreditation body for the SOBE, recently re-certified the accreditation in both Business and Accounting. It based its accreditation on best practice and continuous improvement while requiring the following communication elements in its standards: significant written and oral communication, required IT related courses in the majors with elective courses having a variety of electronic communication components, and team oral presentations.

Departments:

  Accounting & Legal Studies

1.   The undergraduate program has strong CAC components in writing, interpersonal communications (especially in team formats) and oral presentation with increased student oral presentations and faculty training for electronic communication. In addition, public speaking is a required general education course for accounting majors.

2.   The graduate program in accounting has as part of its mission statement a collective commitment to "Developing writing, speaking, presentation, and other communication skills." Their importance is further reinforced in reports from accounting association commissions and task forces over the past decade.

  Anthropology

1.  Anthropology has a cross-cultural, computer-based research methods class. Students present their findings orally to the class. They also present in a poster sessions.

2.  Students enrolled in the prehistoric archeology courses are required to give oral and PowerPoint presentations to their classes.

  Art History

1. A gateway course is writing intensive and requires a formal oral presentation. Majors participate in a capstone experience, a semester long research project which culminates in a term paper and oral presentation. This is faculty supervised with a strong revision component. Students must revise at least twice.

2. All majors must take Studio Art and learn to express themselves through two visual media. Students must also be able to analyze visual imagery verbally - a skill the department emphasizes.

  Biology

1. Students present information orally. They also use Power Point, create web pages, and present at poster sessions.

2. Students participate in undergraduate research with faculty and publish and present the results.

  Chemistry

1. Students present the results of their research at professional meetings at the local, state, regional, and national levels.

2. The department has a two-semester capstone sequence in which all majors participate. In Chem 490 they prepare resumes, graduate school and job applications, and work on interview skills. In Chem 492 they must write a paper and make a Power Point presentation.

 Classics, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian

1. Modern foreign language courses focus on developing communication skills from the beginning through the advanced level. Oral proficiency evaluations are a regular component of all modern language courses to test and track the development of student oral communication skills.

2. Classics majors are required to complete a capstone research seminar, which requires the production of an extended research paper and formal presentation of their work.

  Communication

1. The department sponsors the college's Forensics Team of about 12 students who compete in intercollegiate debate and oral interpretation events on a regional and national basis.

2. The department has about 70 interns, and most of their extra-curricular assignments involve working on communication tasks in a public context: writing press releases or brochures, writing internal communication documents, assisting in public presentations or news media events.

  Economics and Finance

1. The required Senior Seminar in Economics involves considerable technical writing, statistical analysis, and oral presentations. In addition, many of the required courses have these same components in addition to book reports, etc. In the principles courses that meet the social science/general studies requirement, there are some elements of writing, increased faculty use of web pages, and electronic communication.

2. The Finance concentration/minor requires the same core of required business administration courses as upper level required and elective classes. Seminar in Finance is a case course that requires extensive writing, presentations, and analyses using information technology. In addition several of the elective courses require considerable writing based on mini cases as well as oral presentations.

  Elementary and Early Childhood Education

1. Using Web CT for student teachers, student teachers chat and exchange information and help each other.

2. In reading and language arts, students summarize chapters and reflect on their reading in an electronic format. The professor's comments are embedded in the original summary.

 English

1. Senior Symposium: The best papers of the year of CofC seniors from English classes are submitted to an English department committee. The committee selects the best of these papers, which are read at a meeting attended by students, family, friends, and faculty. This event grew out of the English department assessment.

2. The department sponsors publications (Crazy Horse, Illuminations) and visiting prize-winning writers to speak on campus.

  Environmental Studies (see also Political Science)

1. Simulations. Two faculty have received support from the Sustainable Universities initiative to implement the fishbank simulation, a computer-assisted simulation that teaches principles for sustainable management of renewable sources. Simulation often involves both undergraduate and graduate students.

2. Students collaborated with faculty and the community on the Green Building Project. Upon completion of the project, students regularly give presentations in the community about the project and conduct tours of the building.

  Foundations, Secondary and Special Education

1. Students are involved in clinical practice (formerly student teaching) during their senior year. Students receive critiques of their work.

2. Graduate students are sent to conferences, give papers, and sometimes publish.

  Geology

1. Students are encouraged to participate in professional meetings to present results of research with faculty mentors.

2. Geology faculty and students are part of several national initiatives that involve students in research and communication of the results of that research to larger groups such as the satellite imaging network, Project Oceanica, and SCAMP (SC Alliance for Minority Progress).

  Historic Preservation and Community Planning

1. Studio courses involve hands-on projects and require oral presentations of these projects, which must be defended before the professor and peers.

2. A series of speakers examining issues of importance to preservation and community planning annually addresses students, faculty, and the community.

  History

1. All history classes involve extensive writing with up to 80% of the grade depending upon in-class and research-writing assignments. Many sections involve oral discussion and debate.

2. All sections utilize visual materials (slides, films, and some PowerPoint). Many sections use Web CT, with on-line syllabi and links to materials related to the course.

  Languages

1. This year Languages established "Total Immersion" houses in French and Spanish on campus in which student residents are required to communicate only in the target language. Similar houses are under consideration for Italian and German. Satellite TV broadcasts are brought directly into the houses - and in some cases classrooms - so that students will acquire better comprehension skills.

2. The language program teaches communication skills that enhance majors in most disciplines. Languages connect specifically with other departments in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences through nine interdisciplinary minors that have a language component; to the Business School through courses such as Business Spanish/French/German and a Marketing course taught in French; to the School of Education in the training of language teachers; and through ad hoc language courses to the School of the Arts.

  Management & Marketing

1. Many of the required business courses are taught by this department. The management course is offered as a writing intensive course. It also offers considerable team or group experience with the opportunity to improve interpersonal communication and team (oral) presentations. In addition, the senior seminar courses (business and international business) are communication intensive with a considerable number of team write-ups and presentations. Almost all required and elective courses also require some sort of team presentation. Electronic communication/IT is a required element of Management Information Systems as well as components of Business Statistics and Production and Operations Management. This content is also required for Business and International Business.

2. Many faculty use Web CT, at least for communication purposes. As additional smart classrooms have become available and faculty development opportunities increased, it encouraged continuous improvement in the use of electronic communication. Finally, the International Business student frequently takes a minor in a language with communication elements.

  Mathematics

1. Majors take a capstone course, with a requirement of a written and/or oral presentation of work, or complete an independent research project with a written report of work.

2. Students who receive summer research support are required to present their results at a colloquium.

  Music

1. The capstone course is a full solo recital. The students write their own programs, make posters, and publicize the event.

2. Music Appreciation classes expose students to being in an audience, discussing performances, and writing critical responses and reviews.

  Philosophy

1. All philosophy courses are writing intensive, with a typical class having 25-50% of the grade based on writing assignments. A tutor selected by the Philosophy department is assigned to the Writing Lab to assist students with their writing.

2. In both the senior seminar and in any bachelors honors work, the entire grade is based on written and oral communication work.

  Physics

1. Physics majors are required to take a two-semester capstone experience. The first semester consists of a research course in which students learn the process of proposing a research project to an evaluating committee. In the second semester, the students perform the research that they proposed, and eventually must present the results of their research to an interdisciplinary audience.

2. The Physics and Astronomy Department is hiring more interdisciplinary faculty, which increases its ability
to communicate with a broad student audience. The department has recently made hires in astrophysics, biomedical physics, computational physics, and applied/industrial physics. The expertise of these faculty members is being used in the design of new lectures, courses, and potential degree programs.

  Physical Education and Health

1. Students are involved in teaching sessions where peers are required to give immediate feedback assessing the teachers' performances.

2. Many classes use Web CT for discussions.

  Political Science (see also Environmental Science)

1. The Political Science Guide to Referencing documents the proper format for source citation and presents a standard form for all bibliographies in POLS writing. It is included in the POLS Handbook for Majors.

2. Pilot mock trial course: Judge Robert Carr is training students to participate as litigants and witnesses for both sides of disputes. A team of best students will participate in regional, and potentially national, competitions.

  Psychology

1. The CofC (Psychology) and MUSC are co-sponsoring the National Conference on Child Health Psychology. Students and faculty will attend. Students will be involved in informal discussions with professionals. The department hopes to keep the conference here.

2. PSYC 368: On-line Experimentation. Students see how an on-line survey is put together. The on-line survey is used to gather information for research in psychology. Students participate as subjects and practice analyzing information gathered from such a survey. One faculty member has written programs to gather such information.

  Religious Studies

1. All sections in Religious Studies involve extensive writing, on both exams and papers. All 400 level courses require oral presentations, and these count for about 30% of the final grade.

2. RELS 399 is an independent study. The resultant paper determines the grade.

  Sociology

1. In Socy 360 (Power and Privilege), a requirement for majors, students write a major library paper, present the work orally to the class, and often present at the Carolina Undergraduate Social Science Symposium.

2. In Socy 370 (Research Practicum), students write papers, present orally to the class, use Power Point
and sometimes present at a regional poster session.

  Studio Art

1. Studio Art sponsors exhibits of student work in the SCFA lobby throughout the year. These exhibits change about seven times per year. Students demonstrate an understanding of the art and express their understanding in oral critiques.

2. Each spring, the Halsey Gallery mounts an exhibit ("Young Contemporaries") juried by outside professionals. Submissions are open to anyone regardless of academic year. Students also submit their work throughout the Southeast and in area galleries.

  Theater

1. The intro level classes take essay exams, write papers (usually in the form of critical response papers to theatrical performances), perform in class, and discuss the in-class student presentations. Strong oral component in all classes.

2. For majors, there is a strong theater history requirement with term papers. In performance classes, students keep journals, write performance reviews, and discuss.