Chunking, priming and active learning: Toward an innovative and blended approach to teaching communication-related skills

Abstract

Possessing communication-related skills is vital to student success within and beyond college. The utilization of these skills, or being considered socially competent, has been linked to personal, relational, and occupational success. But how do we teach the necessary social skills to today's students? Building on research from education and cognitive psychology on chunking, priming, and active learning, we propose an innovative, blended teaching method (Concept Keys), the utility of which is in its capability to present complex skill sets in manageable units of information, thus allowing students time to reflect on and incorporate such information into their schema of what it means to be socially competent. A case study is presented to establish the potential for this approach and to propose a call for further research.

Acknowledgements

We thank Lois Powers who provided assistance with manuscript formatting and Scott Powers who developed and maintains the database and associated technical aspects of the Concept Keys web site. This paper is based on a manuscript that received top five paper recognition and was presented in 2005 to the Experiential Learning in Communication Division of the National Communication Association, Boston, MA.

Notes

1. Dr Will Powers, second author of this manuscript, identifies a potential conflict of interest as required by this journal and described in detail in the Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: writing and editing for biomedical publication (www.icmje.org/#conflicts). Dr Powers, a Full Professor, former Chair of the Department of Communication Studies, and Assistant Dean in the College of Communication at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, acknowledges that he created and spent five years in testing, research, and development of the online learning system discussed in this manuscript. He founded Concept Keys Inc. to provide a basis for making the online learning system available to trainers, teachers, and content experts around the world. This manuscript identifies the theoretical and research foundation underpinning and supporting various aspects of the learning system and includes a small case study application of the system as an instructional strategy in a college class during the latter segment of the developmental period. Every effort has been made to counter any bias that may have emerged during the description and interpretation of facts associated with the case study. The first and third authors have no connection in any form with the Concept Keys enterprise and were drawn to initiate and co-author this manuscript solely for standard academic purposes and reflect the highest level of academic, scholarly integrity.