Module 4 (Week 4): Summary

Summary

Upon completion of Module 4 (Week 4), you should have:

• analyzed scenarios to identify factors that contribute to miscommunication and to effective communication.
• reflected on your classroom experience and considered how you will apply what you learned to enhance your communication skills.

Takeaways

• There are multiple ways in which communication can break down leading to misunderstanding.
• Practices that can improve the effectiveness with which we communicate include making sure you have the audience's attention, being clear and specific, providing context, breaking information into chunks, providing the opportunity to ask questions, and checking the receiver's understanding.
• The receiver can also help to facilitate effective communication by engaging in active listening, taking notes, asking questions, and making checklists to follow once directions have been given.

Next Week

Module 5 (Week 5) will be conducted face-to-face. We will cover two topics: "Qualities/Characteristics of Effective Undergraduate Teaching Assistants" and "Teacher Immediacy," sometimes referred to as classroom or instructional immediacy.