Shaking in Their Digital Boots: Anxiety and Competence in the Online Basic Public Speaking Course

Basic Communication Course Annual Volume 27 Article 10 2015 Shaking in Their Digital Boots: Anxiety and Competence in the Online Basic Public Speaking Course Joshua N. Westwick South Dakota State University Karla M. Hunter South Dakota State University Laurie L. Haleta South Dakota State University Follow this and additional works at: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/bcca Part of the Higher Education Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Other Communication Commons, and the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Westwick, Joshua N.; Hunter, Karla M.; and Haleta, Laurie L. (2015) "Shaking in Their Digital Boots: Anxiety and Competence in the Online Basic Public Speaking Course," Basic Communication Course Annual: Vol. 27 , Article 10. Available at: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/bcca/vol27/iss1/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Basic Communication Course Annual by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact , . Westwick et al.: Shaking in Their Digital Boots: Anxiety and Competence in the Onl 43 Articles Shaking in Their Digital Boots: Anxiety and Competence in the Online Basic Public Speaking Course Joshua N. Westwick Karla M. Hunter Laurie L. Haleta Although once unimaginable, online courses have entered into higher education and the popularity and frequency of this type of course continues to rise (Hugenberg & Hugenberg, 2007). In 2013, an all-time high of 7.1 million college students (33.5%) took at least one online course, up 6.1% from 2012 (Allen & Seaman, 2014). This increase in online course offerings is also visible within the introductory public speaking course. The 2006 survey of the basic communication course specifically asked about the number of institutions that offered the course online and showed that 62 of 306 (20.8%) responding institutions offered an online basic course (Morreale, Hugenberg, & Worley, 2006). Moreover, Allen and Seaman (2008) found that 50 percent of university faculty accept the value and legitimacy of online courses. In the face of this educational transformation, however, some communication faculty have expressed concern with this instructional context. Helvie-Mason (2010) suggested that many public speaking instructors continue to be cynical of teaching public speaking online. Miller (2010) advocated that “What appears to Volume 27, 2015 Published by eCommons, 2015 1 Basic Communication Course Annual, Vol. 27 [2015], Art. 10 44 Shaking in Their Digital Boots be the critics’ collective driving force are concerns over the educational quality of an online course” (p. 153). Concerns regarding educational quality in the online context, especially within the basic communication course, have prompted a call for additional research to test the effectiveness of achieving student learning outcomes in the online course (Vanhorn, Pearson, & Child, 2008). In response to that call, this study assessed two key-components of an online public speaking course: speaker anxiety and self-perceived communication competence. One of the primary goals of most basic public speaking communication courses is the reduction of speaking anxiety (Kinnick, Holler, & Bell, 2011). Communication instructors’ resistance to teaching public speaking online exists based on concerns regarding the inability of the online classroom to provide skill development and student growth (i.e., reduce apprehension and increase competency) (Vanhorn et al., 2008). Based on the importance of these student learning outcomes in the basic public speaking course, this study extended previous research (Ellis, 1995; Hunter, Westwick, & Haleta, 2014; and Rubin, Rubin, & Jordan, 1997) by examining pre and posttest levels of public speaking anxiety (PSA) and self-perceived communication competence (SPCC) for students enrolled in online sections of the basic public speaking course. The purpose of this study was three-fold. First, we tested the effectiveness of an online basic public speaking course that treated speaking anxiety. Second, we tested whether the course was effective in increasing those students’ self-perceived communication competence. Third, we explored the changes in PSA and SPCC based on gender. BASIC COMMUNICATION COURSE ANNUAL http://ecommons.udayton.edu/bcca/vol27/iss1/10 2 Westwick et al.: Shaking in Their Digital Boots: Anxiety and Competence in the Onl Shaking in Their Digital Boots 45 To frame the importance of this study, we explored the relevant literature on speaking anxiety, communication competency, and online public speaking instruction. Next, we proposed two hypotheses based on the relevant literature. The methods section examines the course design and treatment plan for the course under investigation, then delineates the study design. We conclude with the results and discussion of the significant findings. PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY PSA has been defined as “a situation-specific social anxiety that arises from the real or anticipated enactment of an oral presentation” (Bodie, 2010, p. 72). The speaking anxiety construct extends from research on communication apprehension (CA). Research indicates that PSA is the most common component of CA (McCourt, 2007; Richmond, Wrench, & McCroskey, 2013), affecting a large portion of the population to a degree that impairs their ability and willingness to speak publicly (McCroskey, 1984; Richmond et al., 2013). These findings further demonstrate that such fears may hinder career aspirations, personal relationships, and self-image. Practically all speakers experience PSA as a temporary psychological state that passes after the speaking event has concluded, but others have trait-like PSA that extends across many public speaking situations. For these individuals, PSA may manifest itself when no specific speaking event is planned. Therefore, state anxiety is a more “transitory state or condition of the organism which fluctuates over time,” while trait anxiety is more enduring—a “unitary, relatively permanent personality Volume 27, 2015 Published by eCommons, 2015 3 Basic Communication Course Annual, Vol. 27 [2015], Art. 10 46 Shaking in Their Digital Boots characteristic” (Spielberger, 1966, p. 13). Identifying these differences allows basic course directors and instructors an opportunity to design course curricula based around treatments that will enact genuine change within the trait of individual levels of PSA. We believe that students in the online course will decrease their trait-like speaking anxiety over the course of the semester. Historically, research has found small but significant PSA differences based upon self-identified gender, with females having consistently reported higher PSA (Friedrich, 1970; McCroskey, Simpson, & Richmond, 1982), and higher CA in general (Behnke & Sawyer, 2000; McCroske (...truncated)