Open AccessMapping Research Directions in the Introductory Communication Course: A Meta-Synthesis of Published Scholarship
Author(s) -
Lindsey B. Anderson,
Ashley Jones-Bodie,
Jennifer Hall
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of communication pedagogy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2640-4524
pISSN - 2578-2568
DOI - 10.31446/jcp.2021.1.07
Subject(s) - scholarship , scope (computer science) , scholarship of teaching and learning , publication , course (navigation) , sociology , mathematics education , pedagogy , psychology , political science , teaching method , computer science , engineering , teaching and learning center , law , programming language , aerospace engineering
The introductory communication course has a history of producing meaningful scholarship that shapes teaching and learning at institutions of higher education around the world. The scope of this research is broad and, as such, calls for a meta-synthesis of trends in and avenues for future research. This project examines published work from the past decade—2010 through 2019—in key outlets that regularly publish introductory course-focused research (The Basic Communication Course Annual, Communication Education, Communication Teacher, The Journal of Communication Pedagogy). This analysis of 98 articles revealed that publications tend to focus on three primary areas: (1) students and instructors, (2) the structure of the course, and (3) assessment—while calling for future research to “replicate” past studies. Based on this meta-synthesis, we propose directions for future scholarship that will continue to impact teaching and learning practices beyond replication.