Communication Center Journal - Vol. 6 - Recommendations for Communication Centers based on Student and Tutor Reflections

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

Communication Center Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2020 presents recommendations for communication centers using students’ and tutors’ reflections from a large Midwestern university. The paper examines why students visit introductory public speaking communication centers, what they perceive they gain, and what they value in tutoring approaches and tutor characteristics. It integrates empirical analysis of reflection forms with existing scholarship and the authors’ professional experience to inform service design, tutoring processes, and justification of communication centers’ usefulness.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Recommendations for Communication Centers based on Student and Tutor Reflections

Communication Centers: Purpose, Scope, and Challenges

Research Goal and Review of Literature

Methods: Analyzing Student Reflections and Professional Insights

Recommendations and Conclusion

Communication Center Journal Vol. 6, No. 1, 2020 Recommendations for Communication Centers based on Student and Tutor Reflections: Insights about Students’Reasons for Visiting, Session Outcomes, and Characteristics of the Tutoring Approach Bailey C. Benedict Purdue University Maureen Wieland Missouri Southern State University Ashleigh N. Shields Purdue University Jennifer Hall Purdue University Communication centers exist to help students enrolled in the introductory public speaking course develop their presentational skills (LeFebvre & LeFebvre, 2014) . Based on the model of writing centers, communication centers provide support in the form of one-on-one tutoring. Previous studies have looked at services offered by communication centers, along with the impact of communication centers on student confidence, communication apprehension, and overall public speaking ability (e.g., Jones et al., 2004) . The scholarly community needs to continue exploring the utility of communication centers from the perspective of students, and sharing thoughts from experienced communication tutors, to enhance communication centers. In particular, understanding why students come to communication centers, what they gain, and what they like about the tutoring approaches can help communication centers pinpoint their perceived usefulness to students. These three areas of inquiry can also help communication centers determine the types of services they should consider offering, ways they can consider marketing their services, and approaches they could consider taking to the tutoring process. Therefore, the topics we explore include the purposes for students’ visits to a communication center, the outcomes oftheir appointment, and the attributes of the tutoring and characteristics of the tutor that students appreciate. This paper addresses students’ and tutors’ experiences in a communication center at a large Midwestern university to offer recommendations for new and improving communication centers. We integrate empirical research conducted on student reflection forms with existing literature and insights from our own professional experiences with communication centers and as past introductory public speaking course instructors. The first three authors of this paper are former and current tutors in the communication center, while the fourth author is the director of the communication center. Our goal is to bring awareness to the experiences of students who attended tutoring sessions in a communication center and offer commentary rooted in knowledge from the academy and from our time serving as tutors to help improve and expand the services available to students in communication centers. The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of students’experiences in a communication center and offer recommendations for new and growing communication centers about serving students in the introductory public speaking course. To begin, we briefly review literature on communication centers to provide a working conceptualization of what Communication Center Journal Vol. 6 , No. 1 , 2020 a communication center is and describe both the introductory public speaking course and the communication center at our university. Then, we outline our methods, including an explanation of how we analyzed students’reflections and a justification for offering our professional insights. Then, we describe recommendations for communication centers, which include evidence from our empirical research and suggestions based on our professional experience. Finally, we offer a conclusion that summarizes the students’ reflections and recommendations. Communication Centers Communication centers offer students instructional experiences that enhance their education. The goal of communication centers is experiential learning (Brann-Barrett & Rolls, 2004) . A survey of communication centers at almost 50 institutions found that most were housed within the Communic

FAQs

Why do students visit communication centers in the introductory public speaking course?

The paper focuses on students’ reasons for seeking tutoring at communication centers, using students’ reflections to identify the motivations behind their visits.

What outcomes does the study examine from students’ tutoring appointments?

It evaluates session outcomes by analyzing students’ experiences and perceived gains after appointments, grounded in their reflection forms and related literature.

How do the authors use research and tutor experience to form recommendations?

They integrate empirical research from student reflections with existing scholarship and commentary drawn from the authors’ professional experiences as tutors and instructors to propose recommendations for improving communication center services.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore