Pedagogy Resources for Essential Skill 1: Communication

Even as forms of communication evolve, the need for effective communication does not change. Employers continue to desire graduates who can communicate well in writing and speech to make sense of information, share new information, and synthesize their own thoughts with those of others. Employers expect polish and refinement in all forms of graduates’ communication.  They also expect those they hire to be adept at new and emerging forms of communication. Students who can demonstrate both a proficiency and an ability to translate thoughts between various communication platforms will prove they possess the right combination of communication-related skills.

Teaching Effective Communication

How to Improve Your Communication Skills | University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Student-facing tips for effective communication and improving areas of communication that may not come naturally to all students.

Effective Communication: Improving Your Interpersonal Skills | HelpGuide
Easily-accessible guide to help public audience understand what is meant by effective communication and identify practices to incorporate in daily interactions.

Teaching Communication Skills: A Toolkit for Educators | Vanderbilt University Kennedy Center
Practical guide for educators working with students with ASD. Primarily directed at early childhood educators, but applicable to those working with students of any age.

“8 Ways you can Improve your Communication Skills” | Harvard Division of Continuing Education Professional and Executive Development
Blog post providing practical ways to communicate more effectively.

Teaching Listening Skills

“Integrating Listening Skills into Higher Education Curricula: A necessity in the Age of Technological Distractions” | International Journal of Humanities Social Science and Management
Article identifying role of listening as a communication skill and introducing strategies to enhance listening skills.

Academic Listening Strategies | University of North Carolina Learning Center
Student-facing guide to applying listening skills in classroom contexts, including engaging with lecture content.

How Lectures Can Help Build Students’ Listening Skills | University Affairs
Faculty-facing article that identifies listening as a crucial skill for students, while acknowledges difficulties in fostering its development. Includes helpful list of ways to teach listening skills.

Practices that Support Listening | National Council of Teachers of English
Teacher-facing post identifying reasons for teaching listening and practices that support listening behavior and development in students.

Teaching Written Communication

Principles for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing | Conference on College Composition and Communication
Purpose, premises, and principles of sound writing instruction in higher education contexts.

Helping Students Write Across the Disciplines | Ohio State University Teaching and Learning Resource Center
Faculty-focused site that provides context for instruction in writing across the curriculum and promising practices for incorporating writing tasks in any classroom.

“Future of Writing and Writing Instruction in the Disciplines and Professions | Carnegie Mellon University English Department
White paper identifying key principles for writing instruction and practice in the age of AI.

First-Year Writing: Pedagogies, Methods, and Design | Dartmouth University Writing Program
Multi-part site that provides various resources to support faculty teaching first-year writing. Includes applicable to instructors of writing at other levels and in other disciplines.

“We Know How to Teach Writing” | Inside Higher Ed
Opinion piece explaining why writing instruction (and writing) is difficult and identifying some of the problems and practices central to the work.

Teaching Oral Communication

Oral Communication as a Learning Tool | Kent State University Center for Teaching and Learning
Site describing how student participation and communication supports broader learning goals and can be implemented as a classroom practice. Includes useful list of resources and references.

“Most Schools don’t Teach the Skill Employers Want Most: Oral Communication” | K-12 Dive
Article focusing on K-12 practices and gaps in teaching oral communication. Aligns employer demand with educational needs.

Teaching Professional Presentations

Improving Presentation Style | Washington University in St. Louis Center for Teaching and Learning
Faculty-focused site on effective classroom presentation styles. Information can be easily re-interpreted to student-facing pedagogy.

Tips for Teaching and Assessing Student Presentations | University of Texas San Antonio Academic Innovation
Resource providing tools for instructors to support students’ communication and presentation skills. Includes assignment design, pedagogy practices, and assessment guidelines.

Assessing Communication Skills

Teaching Essential Skills: Communication | University of Kentucky
Resource that includes teaching approaches and assessment strategies for communications skills.