Public Speaking - Communication 020

About the Textbook

Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking

 Description:  The two key themes to Stand up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking make it a welcomed addition to the choices you have for a public speaking textbook. First, its focus on helping students become more seasoned and polished public speakers, and second, its emphasis on ethics in communication. It is this practical approach and integrated ethical coverage that sets Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking apart from the other texts in this market.

Authors:

• Bernardo A. Attias - California State University Northbridge 
• Anne Goding - The State University of New York 
• Jason S. Wrench - SUNY New Paltz
• Danette Ifert Johnson - Ithaca College

Formats: 

Textbook is available as webpage and a PDF. 

Supplemental resources: 

None

Peer reviews: 

This book has been The book has been reviewed by one faculty member from UC, one from CSU and one from CCC of the California higher education systems. There are also two Accessibility Evaluations (Ass1 and Ass2).

Cost savings:  

In the past I  used C. I. Jaffe's Public Speaking Concepts and Skills for a Diverse Society (8^th ed), which retails on Amazon for $112.I usually teach 3-5 sections per semester with 27-28 per class. This could result in potential annual savings for students of $13,608

Accessibility and diversity statement: 

Although not all versions of the textbook have been verified for accessibility, a Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) and Braille-Ready-Format(BRF) formats are available from Bookshare.org. We don't have any information regarding diversity.

License:

Standup and Speakout: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking from Saylor.org is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. This means that you may copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and remix, transform, and build upon the material as long as you give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

About the Course

COMM 020: Public Speaking

Description:  Principles of rhetoric applied to oral communication; selecting, analyzing, adapting, organizing and delivering ideas effectively.

Prerequisites: None

GE credit: 3 units, GE area A1.

Learning outcomes:

• Identify and assess socially significant and intellectual topics, then compose and deliver extemporaneous oral presentations (using note cards or key-word outlines) on those topics. 
• Engage in critical and analytical listening. 
• Analyze audiences, adapt oral presentations to diverse audiences and use that information to accomplish the purpose of the speech. 
• Assume the ethical responsibilities of the public speaker, including basic understanding of the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the access and use of information. 

Curricular changes:

None at this time

Teaching and learning impacts:

Collaborate more with other faculty: No
Use wider range of teaching materials: No
Student learning improved: Unsure
Student retention improved: Unsure
Any unexpected results: Not at this time 

This course is usually populated with First Year students (and those who have procrastinated). The students who have procrastinated taking the class usually have a high degree of communication apprehension.  Public Speaking may be one of the last classes needed for graduation.  They are always surprised that it “wasn’t half as hard" as they thought it would be.

Sample assignment and syllabus:

Syllabus
This is the syllabus I use for the class.

Assignment
I only use two chapters from the Stand Up and Stand Out book. I used this assignment to have students compare the differences between the regular textbook and the OER textbook.

Textbook Adoption

OER Adoption Process

I like the idea of a free, online textbook for the course. I decided to use two chapters from the free book to replace/supplement the chapters in my regular textbook. I wanted to see if the students perceived any difference in the two books.

I have found that some students either cannot afford the books required or have to wait for the funds to arrive at a later date missing assignment deadlines.  

Student access:  

Many of the students use their phones, tablets and laptops to get online into the Canvas shell.  The two chapters are embedded in two assignments.

Student feedback or participation:

I asked the students in five of my classes to compare the two chapters of the OER online text with the current text.  While they did note that the online text was much longer than the course text they did like the chapters for many reasons.  

• The students stated that that the inclusive use of "we" in the online text made them happy.  
• They liked the "take-aways" throughout the chapter and the self-checking quizzes. 
• They did like the pictures and thought they were relevant but wanted more.  

Even though the students liked the rich depth of the online text they thought it a bit too long.  I wonder if that would be the case if there were no other text to compare it with.

The reasons I am interested in adopting this text are two-fold. The first reason, it is free.  The students don't have to carry any financial burden for this text.  Second, I can deliver the two chapters to all of the students at the same time.  I chose to embed the chapters in the course management shell making them available at  a specified time in the semester.

Elizabeth S. Harris, M.A.

I am an adjunct professor at San Jose State University. I teach Public Speaking, Argumentation and Interpersonal Communication.

I use a mix of interactive, performance and collaborative methods in the classroom.  I like to see the students engaged in skill building that will empower them.