COURSES TAUGHT
University of Kansas
Communication Studies 210: Introduction to Organizational & Professional Communication (undergraduate)
o Designed introductory organizational communication course in both online (8-week) and in-person (16 week) formats
o Facilitated a learning environment around introductory organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding and applying communication behaviors in a variety of different organizational formats including for-profit, non-profit, formal, and informal contexts
Communication Studies 410: Micro-Level Organizational Communication (undergraduate)
o Designed course about interpersonal relational development and maintenance within organizational contexts primarily regarding workplace
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding and applying successful communication behaviors regarding the following organizational relationships: supervisor and subordinates, peer coworker, workplace friendships, romantic workplace relationships, customer and client, workplace relationships and society
o Facilitated a learning environment focusing on issues of difference and inclusion through an organizational communication perspective addressing the following types of social identities: gender, race, social class, sexuality, ability, and age
Communication Studies 496: Capstone Seminar in Communication & Organizational Culture (undergraduate)
o Designed course about the communicative development, maintenance, and transformation of organizational culture
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically participating in organizational culture
Communication Studies 548: Theories of the Interview (undergraduate)
o Designed (undergraduate & graduate bridge) course about theory and practice of interviewing communication
o Facilitated a learning environment around the concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding and applying successful communication behaviors in the following types of interviewing contexts: recruitment, employment, focus groups, informational, survey, persuasive, performance, counseling, and healthcare
o Provided assessment on communication performance in dual roles as both interviewer and interviewee
Communication Studies 910 Seminar in Speech: Organizing Identity, Identification, and Stigma (graduate)
o Designed graduate seminar structured around communication theory, research, practices, and experiences related to identity, identification, and stigma in organized contexts
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically evaluating our own identities, identification, and stigma
Communication Studies 930 Seminar in Speech: Communication and Organizational Culture (graduate)
o Designed graduate seminar structured around communication theory, research, practices, and experiences related to organizational culture from an interdisciplinary perspective
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically evaluating our own participation in organizational cultures
Communication Studies 930 Seminar in Speech: Dark Side of Organizational Communication (graduate)
o Designed graduate seminar structured around communication theory, research, practices, and experiences related to toxic organizational behaviors including, but not limited to workplace bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination, gossip, offensive humor, and incivility.
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically evaluating our own participation in organizational cultures
Communication Studies 930 Seminar in Speech: Ethnography and Social Interaction (graduate)
o Designed graduate seminar about ethnography of communication structured around methodological theory, research design, data collection and analysis practices, research ethics, reflexivity, positionality, and ethnographic writing.
o Facilitated a learning environment around qualitative research concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically evaluating our own participation as ethnographers
University of Missouri
Communication 1200: Public Speaking
o Served as graduate instructor of record
o Taught traditional, business, and honors sections
o Facilitates learning environment around the basic concepts, principles, and theories for understanding and executing ethical public speaking
Communication 3050: Survey of Communication
o Served as teaching assistant for large lecture, writing intensive course
o Worked with students to promote a better understanding communication theories and research in the areas of interpersonal, organizational, political, and mass media.
o Coached students in their development of analytical writing skills
Communication 3575: Business and Professional Communication
o Served as graduate instructor of record
o Conducted an applied course that fosters professional development in upper class students
o Taught students written, verbal, and nonverbal communication skills in the following areas: résumé development, cover letter construction, interviewing, professional presentations, small group communication, conflict management
Communication 4476: Organizational Communication
o Served as graduate instructor of record
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles, and theories necessary for understanding and applying successful communication within organizational contexts
2013 Summer Institute on Communication and Culture: A First Look at Organizational Communication
o Served as graduate instructor on teaching team in collaboration with Shanghai Normal University, MU Asian Affairs Center & Missouri International Training Institute, MU Office of the Provost & International Programs, and the MU Department of Communication.
o Developed course curriculum and facilitated student learning for a 2-week intensive course on organizational communication concepts, principles, and theories necessary for understanding and applying successful interactions within organizational contexts
*Syllabi available upon request.
Communication Studies 210: Introduction to Organizational & Professional Communication (undergraduate)
o Designed introductory organizational communication course in both online (8-week) and in-person (16 week) formats
o Facilitated a learning environment around introductory organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding and applying communication behaviors in a variety of different organizational formats including for-profit, non-profit, formal, and informal contexts
Communication Studies 410: Micro-Level Organizational Communication (undergraduate)
o Designed course about interpersonal relational development and maintenance within organizational contexts primarily regarding workplace
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding and applying successful communication behaviors regarding the following organizational relationships: supervisor and subordinates, peer coworker, workplace friendships, romantic workplace relationships, customer and client, workplace relationships and society
o Facilitated a learning environment focusing on issues of difference and inclusion through an organizational communication perspective addressing the following types of social identities: gender, race, social class, sexuality, ability, and age
Communication Studies 496: Capstone Seminar in Communication & Organizational Culture (undergraduate)
o Designed course about the communicative development, maintenance, and transformation of organizational culture
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically participating in organizational culture
Communication Studies 548: Theories of the Interview (undergraduate)
o Designed (undergraduate & graduate bridge) course about theory and practice of interviewing communication
o Facilitated a learning environment around the concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding and applying successful communication behaviors in the following types of interviewing contexts: recruitment, employment, focus groups, informational, survey, persuasive, performance, counseling, and healthcare
o Provided assessment on communication performance in dual roles as both interviewer and interviewee
Communication Studies 910 Seminar in Speech: Organizing Identity, Identification, and Stigma (graduate)
o Designed graduate seminar structured around communication theory, research, practices, and experiences related to identity, identification, and stigma in organized contexts
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically evaluating our own identities, identification, and stigma
Communication Studies 930 Seminar in Speech: Communication and Organizational Culture (graduate)
o Designed graduate seminar structured around communication theory, research, practices, and experiences related to organizational culture from an interdisciplinary perspective
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically evaluating our own participation in organizational cultures
Communication Studies 930 Seminar in Speech: Dark Side of Organizational Communication (graduate)
o Designed graduate seminar structured around communication theory, research, practices, and experiences related to toxic organizational behaviors including, but not limited to workplace bullying, sexual harassment, discrimination, gossip, offensive humor, and incivility.
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically evaluating our own participation in organizational cultures
Communication Studies 930 Seminar in Speech: Ethnography and Social Interaction (graduate)
o Designed graduate seminar about ethnography of communication structured around methodological theory, research design, data collection and analysis practices, research ethics, reflexivity, positionality, and ethnographic writing.
o Facilitated a learning environment around qualitative research concepts, principles and theories necessary for understanding, studying, and ethically evaluating our own participation as ethnographers
University of Missouri
Communication 1200: Public Speaking
o Served as graduate instructor of record
o Taught traditional, business, and honors sections
o Facilitates learning environment around the basic concepts, principles, and theories for understanding and executing ethical public speaking
Communication 3050: Survey of Communication
o Served as teaching assistant for large lecture, writing intensive course
o Worked with students to promote a better understanding communication theories and research in the areas of interpersonal, organizational, political, and mass media.
o Coached students in their development of analytical writing skills
Communication 3575: Business and Professional Communication
o Served as graduate instructor of record
o Conducted an applied course that fosters professional development in upper class students
o Taught students written, verbal, and nonverbal communication skills in the following areas: résumé development, cover letter construction, interviewing, professional presentations, small group communication, conflict management
Communication 4476: Organizational Communication
o Served as graduate instructor of record
o Facilitated a learning environment around the organizational communication concepts, principles, and theories necessary for understanding and applying successful communication within organizational contexts
2013 Summer Institute on Communication and Culture: A First Look at Organizational Communication
o Served as graduate instructor on teaching team in collaboration with Shanghai Normal University, MU Asian Affairs Center & Missouri International Training Institute, MU Office of the Provost & International Programs, and the MU Department of Communication.
o Developed course curriculum and facilitated student learning for a 2-week intensive course on organizational communication concepts, principles, and theories necessary for understanding and applying successful interactions within organizational contexts
*Syllabi available upon request.
teaching philosophy
I view teaching as an honor, and as a result, I have a strong commitment to quality education and excellence in my role as an educator. My teaching is inspired by the following words spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” As a result of my reflection on education, my teaching philosophy can be outlined into three interrelated parts: (a) critical thinking, (b) character development, and (c) applied learning. This philosophy has allowed me to succeed in the classroom and is exemplified in the Donn W. Parson Mentor of the Year award received in 2016 at the University of Kansas and the iCOM TA of the Year Award I received in 2011 from the University of Missouri undergraduate student organization, and the 2011 Loren Reid Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award granted to me by my colleagues and faculty in Department of Communication at the University of Missouri. Below I describe my commitment to each of these aspects of teaching and then close with a general philosophy about my classroom approach.
Critical Thinking
My primary object in teaching is to promote critical thought. I strongly believe that higher education is a privilege and opportunity for me to motivate my students to spend quality time with meaningful ideas. I strive to promote intellectual development through the classroom experience by providing personal motivation and constructive evaluation. The elements of my courses, which include reading, lecture, discussion, assignments, activities, quizzes and exams are all strategically developed with the goal of encouraging students to think critically about communication. I want all of my students to become more critically and intellectually knowledgeable, aware, and engaged with communication throughout their lives.
Character Development
Enhancing my students’ intellectual capacity is an essential component to their character development. I take the ethical responsibility of pedagogy very seriously. I see it as my duty to contribute to the personal development of students as intellectually developed citizens. I also conceive of their future organizational memberships as a vital component in their growth as students. Our lives are cultivated through organizations and we encounter countless people through organizational interaction. Thus, in my classes I try to show my students the impact they have on others through communication. During each of my classes I spend a significant amount of time discussing ethics, ethical codes of conduct, personal and professional values, respect, inclusion, tolerance, and the experience of people on the margins. For example, in Organizational Communication courses I have used Allen’s (2011) text titled Difference Matters, which is centered on the manifestation of social identity, difference, and organizational communication. My goal is to empower students to ethically communicate with others and to promote compassion and collaboration. It is my hope that their education in communication will serve as a catalyst for their general goodwill in society and more specifically through their organizational memberships.
Experiential Learning
From my experience, one of the best ways to learn is by doing. Not only do I share my own previous professional experience as a way to bring narrative life to the course theories and concepts, but I also encourage my students to connect their course material to lived experience. I strategically incorporate assignments in my course that encourage my students to move their learning outside the classroom and within the context of organizations. I used applied learning in my instruction as ways to make the course content come alive for my students. Arguably, this approach promotes critical thinking skills and character development. You will notice that many of my assignments require my students to step off campus and into organizations with an analytical and reflective aim. I use journal assignments, reflection papers, in-class discussion, and personal evaluation as some of the tools to promote critical thinking and character development through applied learning. In my experience, students are able to better connect with the ideas and understand the concepts when they have personal exposure at the intersection of theory and practice.
For example, in the Organizational Communication capstone class, I created a service-learning assignment that uses organizational ethnography; there is a full description of this assignment on page 24 of my teaching portfolio. Through ethnographic research students conduct weekly participant observation, interpretation and theoretical analysis in an organization. In the Business and Professional Communication class I am currently teaching, I assign an off campus interview. In this assignment students use interviewing concepts from course material, develop interviewing skills, make a new business contact, and conduct an audio-recorded, informational interview with a professional in their chosen career field. After this experience the student reviews their audio recording and completes a self-evaluation based on their perception of the interview. In addition they are also evaluated by the professional they interviewed. To close this assignment each student gives an in-class presentation where they share audio clips of their strengths, areas of improvement, and their overall take away from the experience. This allows for a real interview experience outside the academy that promotes networking and multilevel evaluation and reflection. The class members are able to learn from each other and through applied personal experience. A full description of this assignment titled, Career Exploration Interview, is enclosed on page 37 of my teaching portfolio. As you can see in the qualitative feedback from my students I have received positive input about the courses. My students have expressed their appreciation for experiences outside the classroom. Despite the fact that these assignments can be more time intensive and demanding on student resources, my students have communicated that the advantages have long term benefits.
Classroom Approach
Every classroom has a unique culture and students have different learning styles. In order to foster a student-centered approach to learning, I solicit anonymous feedback from my students at different times during the semester. I ask my students to explain what is helping and hindering their ability to learn the course material. This allows my students to have voice in the learning process and allows me to adapt to their educational needs. This practice maintains my teaching effectiveness and allows me to grow and improve as an instructor. I use student input to become a more agile teacher and as a way to empower and motivate my students to engage and learn.
Teaching is also an extremely reflexive process for me. I am continually documenting pedagogical successes and areas of improvement in the classroom. These notes allow me to tailor my approach and to assess my ability to teach. I continually cross-reference student performance, assignment descriptions, content delivery, and course objectives. This type of reflexivity is systematic, continual and an integral part of my growth as an educator in higher education.
I learn so much from my students each semester. Their involvement in my life has provided me with the chance to think critically about my role in their education, but also to further enhance my personal character. I have a strong dedication to my role as a teacher and feel compelled to continually contribute to student development through committed hard work, development of inclusive and positive classroom cultures, and a standard of excellence in higher education.
© 2023 All Rights Reserved - Dr. Angela Gist-Mackey