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Basics of the Basics of the Communication Communication ProcessProcess

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Basics of the Communication Process

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The Communication Cycle

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The Source

- The person who initiates the message - Precommunication ,sets goals

- learning objectives

- what students are expected to learn

Encoding

- The teacher stimulates meaning in the mind of student- may be verbal or nonverbal, but verbal predominates

- The teacher encodes the message to achieve specific objectives

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Encoding

- Some examples:

- I am encoding messages as I present this slide show

- I encoded messages when I wrote and presented the syllabus

- I am also encoding messages nonverbally in how I respond to you, e.g. smiling, frowning, yawning etc.

- The first two are intentional. Sometimes the nonverbal cues are not, although in teaching they should be.

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Encoding

- Important Point: As a teacher, your encoding of messages should promote YOUR TEACHING OBJECTIVES.

The Message:

- ”Messages are verbal and nonverbal behaviors the have the potential to stimulate meaning in people’s minds.”

- Verbally, the message will be words that form a message.

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The Message:

- Nonverbally, the message may be carried in a tone of voice, a facial expression, eye contact, or the way you hold

your body. Channels

- The means by which the messages travel- Could be sound waves with voice

- Could be the print in a book

- Could be light waves in television

- Could be electrical impulses via computer

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The Receiver

- The person who receives the message

- In classroom, often the student

- When the receiver gets the message, he or she will decode it

Decoding entails:

- hearing and/or seeing the message.

- Interpreting the message. The student processes the incoming message in the brain and determines what the teacher means.

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Decoding entails:

- Evaluating the message in the context of the student’s understanding, her expectations, or background.

- NOTE: Different students will interpret and evaluate DIFFERENTLY, depending on many individual factors.

- So teachers should remember to check meaning with the students.

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Decoding entails:

- Responding to the message.

- This will depend, of course, on how they interpreted and evaluated the message they received.

Recap: Decoding Involves 4 steps:

- Receiving

- Interpreting

- Evaluating

- Responding

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Decoding entails:

- Responding to the message.

- This will depend, of course, on how they interpreted and evaluated the message they received.

Recap: Decoding Involves 4 steps:

- Receiving

- Interpreting

- Evaluating

- Responding

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After decoding the student will be affected in several ways:

Cognition - They know something new

Affect - They feel a certain way about the message they received

Behavior is changed based on the message

Example: I give a homework assignment...they now know they have homework, they don’t like it, and they cancel their soccer practice

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Other elements in the cycle: Feedback and Noise

Feedback: How the receiver overtly responds - the reply or message that comes back in response.

- Not always a response, e.g., on TV, radio, one-way communication media

- In the classroom, important to encourage feedback because it helps the sender know that the receiver indeed got the right message.

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Noise: Anything that interferes with the intended message.

- Noise is almost ALWAYS present, so plan for it.

- Teacher generated noise:

- Didn’t plan message clearly, ”fuzzy thinking”

For example, not explaining why a class is necessary in the program

- Encoding error by teacher, made poor judgements about what students know already or their psychology

For example, I assume your English is better than it is

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Noise also includes many types of environmental factors:

- Temperature

- Distracting noises, students chatting to each other

- Distracting visuals

Noise also comes in the form of:

- Attitudes

- Past experiences of the receiver

- Values

- Personal well being at the time

Communication Cycle

Instructional communication model

Prior to communication After to communication

channel

Source Message Receiver

Goals

G. Objectives

S. Objectives

noise

Encoding

Creation

Adaptation

Transmission

Feedback

noisechannel

Decoding

Hearing

Seeing

Interpretation

Evaluation

Response

noise

Comm. Effects

Cognitions

Affect

Behavioral choices

noise

feedback

noise noise

Overview of the Cycle

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Communication Cycle

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Emphasizing and Evaluating Different Kinds of Communication

- Intentional vs. accidental

- Expressive vs. rhetorical

- Content choices vs. Communication choices

Intentional.

- Type of communication behaviors that teachers CHOOSE that are likely to lead to the best learning outcomes

- Accidental: May lead to good learning outcomes but intentionally choosing communication based on research is the best way.

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Emphasizing and Evaluating Different Kinds of Communication

Expressive vs. Rhetorical

- Expressive communication is SOURCE centered

- Rhetorical commication is RECEIVER centered

- Whenever possible (not always because we are human beings) we should as teachers strive for rhetorical communication

- More goal oriented, better learning outcomes

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Emphasizing and Evaluating Different Kinds of Communication

Content Choices vs. Communication Choices

- Content - The subject matter to be learned, e.g., math, reading, computer technology

- Decided by content experts in that field

- Includes types of assignments, readings, how learning is assessed, etc.

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Content Choices vs. Communication Choices

- Communication Choices - What communication behaviors are most likely to achieve the desired learning outcomes

- So knowlege of communication is ADDITIONAL to content knowledge

- Associated with ”pedagogy”, which are models of learning that teaching follows. For example,

- Constructivism

- Behaviorism

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Any

Questions?

Communication Cycle