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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume VIII, Number 2 |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume VIII, Number 2 |
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Integrating Oral and Writing Skills John Poulakos, communication, and Patricia Sullivan, English, will
cooperate in a pilot project, Integrating Oral and Writing Skills, that
combines speaking and writing skills. The idea for the project grew
out of informal conversations in which the two faculty exchanged teaching
experiences and discussed a recent CAS curriculum review that emphasizes
the need to improve undergraduate skills in both oral and written communication. The two project directors acknowledge the differences between speaking and writing but maintain that the two skills are complementary, not mutually exclusive. Poulakos argues that “when students go to the 11th floor of the Cathedral to learn speaking and to the 5th floor to learn writing, they usually do not see that there is a great deal of commonality between the two.” Sullivan adds, “We believe that if oral and written communication are taught simultaneously, each augments the other. Students who participate in this project will not only develop competence in each skill; they will also develop the facility to address an idea in both ways.” The effectiveness of the project will be ascertained by comparing the work of students who participate in this project with that of students who have learned each skill separately. Readers and listeners will evaluate essays and oral presentations from both groups. To ensure objectivity, these readers and listeners will be “blind” (i.e., they will have no knowledge of which students participated in the project). “If this pilot proves to be as effective as we anticipate, we will make
the results available to interested colleagues in all departments. Some
may decide to adopt the idea in their classes,” Poulakos says. “Ideally,”
he continues, “students should speak and write in all their classes.
Competence and confidence in speaking and writing require constant and
sustained cultivation.” | |||||
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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Center for Instructional
Development & Distance Education |
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