Communication Across the Curriculum
Guidelines for a Speaking-Intensive Course
The following Guidelines provide a broad definition of the SI marker courses
that will be offered to satisfy the General Education Core Requirement. Effective
Fall 2002, students will be required to complete two speaking-intensive courses,
one of which must be a requirement of the major, irregardless of the prefix.
The purpose of the Guidelines is to ensure that these courses will help each
student develop the "ability to...speak clearly, coherently, and effectively
as well as to adapt modes of communication to one’s audience."
1. A Speaking-Intensive course has two goals:
to enhance subject area learning through active engagement in oral communication
to improve a student's ability in oral communication.
2. A Speaking-Intensive course treats speaking as a means of learning via one of a variety of oral contexts, including interpersonal communication, small group communication, and public communication (presentational speaking). The choice of oral context should be appropriate to the learning outcomes of the specific discipline.
3. A Speaking-Intensive course recognizes process and product by including both
formal (graded) and informal (ungraded) assignments/learning activities.
4. A Speaking-Intensive course includes:
instructing students in effective oral communication
giving students informed feedback
providing opportunities for students to apply what they have learned to subsequent
oral communication activities.
5. Assessment activities should be appropriate to each assignment and could
include a variety of methods and products, emphasizing both quality and development
of students’ skills. Students should be informed of the assessment criteria.
6. Assessment of oral communication should be sensitive to the effects of relevant
physical, linguistic, and psychological disabilities on the assessment of competence
(e.g., with appropriate aids in signal reception, a person with a hearing impairment
can be a competent communication partner).
7. Because of the personal attention and guidance that students will receive
in a Speaking- Intensive course, class size should be limited to 22-25 students
unless additional resources (teaching assistants, release from other duties,
etc.) are made available to the instructor.
Speaking-Intensive Committee of the General Education Program
October 2000