Advancing Instructional Communication: Integrating a Biosocial Approach

Abstract

Celebrating 100 years of the National Communication Association necessitates that, as we commemorate our past, we also look toward our future. As part of a larger conversation about the future of instructional communication, this essay reinvestigates the importance of integrating biosocial approaches into instructional communication research. In so doing, a biosocial approach is defined, and the benefits of such an approach are discussed. We then set an agenda for how biosocial research can be conducted in instructional communication, focusing largely on salivary hormone studies examining stress. Examples are offered surrounding student-based outcomes, teachers' roles in affecting student outcomes, and instructional communication processes in nontraditional classrooms. The essay concludes with suggestions for additional resources and the encouragement of cross-disciplinary research.

Keywords:

• Biosocial
• Physiological
• Communibiological
• Emotion
• Justice
• Cortisol
• Oxytocin
• Heart Rate
• Blood Pressure