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This paper takes the SUNY (State University of New York) Learning Network faculty development program, which helps faculty and their students incorporate technology in their courses, the perspective of one educator who decided to participate in the program because online teaching would help him adapt to the current changes in higher education. The paper then describes the learning and student-centered approach which is one of the characteristics of online teaching. It does not present data on the effectiveness of learning via the computer or discuss issues related to online learning. To draw attention to the many ways in which teachers shift their perspective from a lecture-oriented approach to a learning-centered approach to teaching, the paper explains in detail how a teacher prepares for the course--in this case, "Interpersonal Conflict"--and how he actually teaches online. The paper suggests that advocates of online learning and traditional teaching may learn from one another. (Contains 16 references.) (NKA)

This paper reports on a college educator's attempts over the past two years to use computer conferencing via the Internet as a 3-week unit in a semester-long senior level seminar in Interpersonal Communication. The paper states that the educator wanted to see if he could successfully add computer conferencing as a part of an existing face-to-face (FtoF) course. A computer conference is defined in the paper as an asynchronous electronic conference organized by subject or topic. According to the paper, since computer conferencing satisfies the college as a writing intensive course and the teaching method employed is process and discussion-oriented, the effective use of computer conferencing parallels classroom discussion in FtoF classes. The paper explains that one part of the course examines "the mediating effects of the computer" in the development, maintenance, and dissolution of online personal, social, and working relationships. It adds that computer conferencing was used in place of FtoF class discussion to give the students practical experience in computer conferencing via the Internet as they read about computer mediated communication and discussed its effects on the development of interpersonal relationships. The paper describes the online unit in the seminar and recounts the online interactions. It also presents self-reported data from the 22 students who participated and were asked to respond anonymously to a series of questions about the class. The paper then discusses the students' final papers and their opinions of the differences between relationships online and FtoF. (Contains conferencing information.) (NKA)

Ninety-three officers and enlisted men of the United States Army National Guard were surveyed for their communication attitudes in a study comparing rhetorical sensitivity to two organizational communication variables--leadership effectiveness (as a managerial skill) and position in an organizational hierarchy (rank). The survey measured the ways in which the subjects matched three communicator types: (1) the rhetorically sensitive person, one who generally accepts the variability of communication and interpersonal relationships and does not try to avoid stylized verbal behaviors; (2) the "noble self," one who sees any variation from personal norms as hypocritical and a denial of integrity; and (3) the "rhetorical reflector," who presents a different self for each person or situation. The results showed that subjects who scored high in rhetorical sensitivity were not rated significantly higher in leadership effectiveness than individuals who scored low in rhetorical sensitivity. However, rhetorical sensitivity did relate to rank, so that scores for rhetorical sensitivity increased across groups from enlisted men through sergeants to officers. Other results showed that sergeants tended to score higher in noble self than officers and enlisted men, but lower in rhetorical reflector than the others, while the enlisted men tended to score relatively high in both areas. (RL)

Noting that placement of graduating speech communication students is an important measure of the success of career programs, and that faculty and department heads who are presently developing, recommending, or supervising career programs may be interested in useful career attitudes and placement activities, a study was conducted to determine what attitudes and activities relative to career placement were most useful at the college department level. Ferris State College (Big Rapids, Michigan) was selected for this study because of its unusually high success rate in placing students. A questionnaire designed to elicit information on career placement attitudes and frequency of career placement activities was completed by the directors of 25 programs related to the study of speech communication at the college. The results indicated that career-sensitive attitudes and placement activities at the department level were crucial variables in the placement success at Ferris State College, in marked contrast to results of other nationwide studies indicating that most speech communication departments felt they should not be career oriented or responsible for providing career guidance at the undergraduate level. The findings suggest that the widespread use of internships by Ferris College program directors may be the most important department level activity contributing to career placement. (HTH)

One hundred fifteen members of the organization Parents Without Partners were surveyed for their communication attitudes in a study examining the relationship between rhetorical sensitivity and a dramatic, stress-producing situation--the loss of a spouse through death, legal separation, or divorce. The survey measured the ways the subjects matched three communicator types: (1) the rhetorically sensitive person, one who generally accepted the variability of communication and interpersonal relationships and did not try to avoid stylized verbal behavior; (2) the "noble self," one who would see any variation from personal norms as hypocritical and a denial of integrity; and (3) the "rhetorical reflector," who would present a different self for each person or situation. The results of the attitude survey revealed that the widowed subjects scored significantly lower on rhetorical sensitivity and significantly higher on noble self than did the divorced/separated subjects. No significant differences were found between the two groups as rhetorical reflector types. Based on these results, it was hypothesized that the grieving process may differ for the two groups, creating variations in the way these people reorder their social systems after the loss of a spouse. (RL)