When you’re designing a Communication Intensive subject for the first time, or revising an existing syllabus for a new semester, it’s crucial to consider what conceptual knowledge students will need, about both communications and about the topics they’re studying in the subject, in order to complete the assignments. This inventory of conceptual knowledge is related to the learning objectives of the subject, but helps to distinguish between the concepts and methods that students should already have when they arrive, and thus can begin to apply immediately, and those that they need to learn and practice through their work in the subject.
For instance, students in their first CI-H subject should already be familiar with a general concept of argument, and know that academic arguments consist of claims supported with reasoning (students who don’t show this knowledge in their placement evaluation are required to first take a CI-HW subject before taking a CI-H). Students will not know how academic arguments vary by discipline, or what counts as a reasonable claim in a subject such as History or Anthropology, or what forms of reasoning and evidence are common in that subject. These, then, would need to be taught explicitly before students are assigned to produce a historical or anthropology-based argument.
Similarly, students in their first CI-M will have some understanding of how academic writing varies by discipline, and will have some experience with oral presentations, but they will not know how to design appropriate slides for data presentation or how to differentiate between what belongs in a Results section of a scientific paper and what belongs in the Discussion.
We’ve collected some useful pedagogical practices here that will help you to consider which communication concepts to teach in your subject and how to integrate them with the other content of the course.
Teach Genre and Disciplinary Methods by Analyzing the Reading Assignments
Emphasize Patterns of Disciplinary Thinking in the Writing Assignments
Use Class Discussion and Student Presentations to Help Students Come to Terms with New Concepts
Foreground the Writing and Speaking Practices in Your Discipline
Integrate Writing, Speaking, and Disciplinary Instruction throughout the Semester
Teach Students How Experts in the Field Use the Writing and Speaking Process to Develop their Work
Teach Students to Research and Use Sources According to the Practices of the Discipline
Teach Students How to Revise Effectively