Forum: Learning Outcomes in Communication. Responses. On the Importance of Communication Research

Anita Vangelisti writes in this response that although the recommendations set forward in this "Forum" are well thought out and important additions to the discussion, teacher-scholars in the field of communication can, and should, do more. She agrees that there is a need to identify and describe learning outcomes in communication, and says that the work done by the faculty who participated in the LOC Project is overdue. Vangelisti also advocates for the need to empirically interrogate the leaning outcomes put forth to ascertain how they are best taught and, as noted by Mello and his colleagues, how they should be evaluated. With this said, the learning outcomes generated by the LOC Project and the ideas offered in the current forum represent "a starting point for conversations" as opposed to an endpoint (see NCA's LOC Project). Vangelisti observes that in addition to investigating learning outcomes, how they are used, and how they might be refined, there is a need to continue the conversation by conducting research that demonstrates why the communication outcomes being taught are so important. She believes various stakeholders and researchers should also be more than responsive or reactive. They should be proactive. What Communication educators and researchers bring to the conversations about teaching and learning is a deep understanding of and an ability to embrace the complexity of communication, and the LOCs and the present "Forum" essays offer an exciting starting point for further discussion.