Oral Communication / Communication Across the Curriculum

What Is Communication Across the Curriculum?

“The goal of Communication Across the Curriculum is to incorporate oral and written (sometimes also visual and electronic) communication assignments and activities into courses across disciplines. From science to math, through English and history, communication across the curriculum enhances the educational environment for students, promotes their communication skills, while at the same time helping instructors to meet their teaching goals.”
University of Pittsburgh Speaking in the Disciplines Program. http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/about/index.html

How Do You Teach Oral Communication Skills?

Methods for Teaching Oral Communication Competency:

Speaking in the Disciplines Homepage (University of Pittsburgh).
Gives background and rationale for their university-wide Speaking in the Disciplines initiative.  Links down the left side of the page offer instructor resources, rubrics, syllabi, assignments & activities.  The next two entries are a sample of what is offered.
http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/index.html

Teaching Oral Communication:  A Few Basics (University of Pittsburgh).
A concise and useful guide to methods for helping students improve their oral communication skills in courses in the disciplines.
http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/about/teaching.html

Six Types of Oral Communication Activities (University of Pittsburgh).
Activities to develop oral communication competency that could be incorporated into curricula in many fields of study, helping students “become more proficient speakers by the time they graduate.” 
http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/about/oral-comm.html

Speaking Across the Curriculum Resource Page (Mark Stoner, California State University, Sacramento).
Contains links to online teaching ideas and assessment materials, including a downloadable rubric that focuses on 8 basic competencies of speaking.
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/stonerm/SpeakingAcrossCurriculumHomePage.htm

Communication Across the Curriulum Programs:

Links to the World of Speaking in the Disciplines (University of Pittsburgh).
Provides links to Communication Across the Curriculum programs throughout the U.S., plus Communication Centers and Speaking Labs.  
http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/about/links.html

Evaluating Oral Communication Skills:

Rubric to Assess Oral Communication (Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State University).
A rubric assessing levels of achievement in oral communication.
http://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/pdf/OralCommRubric3.pdf

Oral Communication Rubric (Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College).
A rubric assessing level of proficiency in oral communication for a class presentation.
http://www.mgccc.edu/instruction/rubrics/MGCCC_oral_communication_rubric.pdf

Oral Communication VALUE Rubric
http://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/pdf/OralCommunication.pdf

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