Public Speaking Introduction and Overcoming Anxiety Learning Assessment Samuel Levinson

Introduction to The Learning Assessment My course that focuses on an introduction to public speaking and overcoming public speaking anxiety must have the proper learning assessments so that I !ill kno! !hether or not participants are learning and making progress" Through participant assessments I seek to kno! of student strengths and !eaknesses as I !ould like to help students to improve in any areas of public speaking difficulty" Specifically for this course participants !ill need to develop confidence in public speaking be able to address a diverse audience publicly through speech and to overcome any anxiety related to public speaking" #y the conclusion of the course participants should demonstrate that they have improved in their public speaking abilities" The learning assessments !ill be explained as they relate to specific ob$ectives for a course goal and one of the ob$ectives !ill be completely detailed in regards to the learning assessment for the ob$ective"

Ob$ective % &iven one day of !orking time students !ill !rite an introduction assignment ans!ering specific 'uestions about themselves !ith complete information"

This ob$ective !ill be assessed based on submitting the introduction assignment to the instructor" This !ill allo! the instructor to kno! if the assignment has been properly completed" As this introduction is based on student responses about themselves there !ould not be a correct or incorrect ans!er" (o!ever any areas of the introduction that remain unans!ered may be brought to the attention of the student allo!ing them another opportunity to complete the form" Areas that have ans!ers may receive 'uestions

on clarification from the instructor or suggestions on ho! something may be stated more clearly or ho! to format the information into a speech" Therefore the introduction assignment !ill be returned to the student !ith comments from the teacher" )or this assignment it is important for the student to not focus on this assignment as the main goal as the introduction assignment is simply a method of helping the student to have a speech !riting topic they are familiar !ith" The introduction assignment !ill be formatted into a speech for a future ob$ective" This method of assessment !as chosen as it allo!s the student to ans!er 'uestions about themselves in the form of an introduction assignment" It provides students !ith a topic that !ill be used for a speech" The information does not have to be personal as the student does not have to ans!er any 'uestions about themselves that they do not feel comfortable ans!ering" #y providing instructor comments and returning the assignments to the students they !ill have insight into areas that need to be modified before pursing speech !riting" This matches the ob$ective because it is a simple !riting assignment of introducing oneself" The goal of the assignment is to have information about oneself that may be modified into a speech that !ill be presented in the format of a public speech later in the course"

Ob$ective * &iven their completed introduction assignment students !ill use the information they provided about themselves in the assignment to !rite a speech !ith the proper flo! and clarity"

)or this ob$ective students !ill submit their completed !ritten speech to the instructor" The speech !ill be assessed by the instructor and based on ho! !ell the speech is !ritten positive or constructive criticism comments !ill be offered" There is specific criteria that the speech must follo! criteria that the students !ill have been provided !ith" This speech !ill be assessed by the instructor as a text version of the speech that students !ill deliver publicly" It is not a graded assignment because this assignment is part of the preparation for the graded public speech that students !ill deliver to the instructor and their peers" The students may use teacher comments on their paper to make improvements before they deliver their !ritten speech publicly to the class" This assessment !as chosen because it builds upon the goal of delivering a public speech" +omments from the instructor are valuable to the students in that they have a previe! of !hat is considered acceptable by the instructor and also kno!ledge of !hat needs improvement" ,sing instructor feedback to improve their !ritten speech students !ill be progressing as it relates to the content of their speech"

Ob$ective &iven their completed revised speech and a !ebcam students !ill record a three to five minute self.introduction speech video of themselves !ithout exceeding the time limit"

The ob$ective !ill be assessed by providing a recorded three to five minute introduction speech video to the instructor" The speech could be recorded to a /0/" Students !ill need to upload their video to a video sharing !ebsite as a future ob$ective1 as for this course the !ebsite !ould be 2ouTube" #efore moving on to this ob$ective of uploading the video online the recorded speech !ill be vie!ed by the instructor first" The instructor !ill have a check list of criteria for the content of the recorded speech" The instructor !ill complete a check list telling of areas of strengths and !eaknesses" )or example one check box on the list may include a 3yes4 or 3no4 ans!er regarding the student5s proper tone of voice" Another area of focus may involve eye contact !ith the camera !hen speaking" +omments !ill be !ritten on the check list and the completed check list !ill be returned to the student" This is helpful to the student because it allo!s the student to have a previe! of ho! they !ill be graded for their final self introduction speech for the course" It also assists the student in preparing for a topic speech that !ill be researched later in the course" This provides the student !ith more information on !hat is considered acceptable and unacceptable for a public speech" #y allo!ing only the teacher to vie! this first recorded introduction speech the student does not feel any anxiety of giving a live speech to the class because at this point in the course only the instructor !ill be vie!ing the speech via a recording" Students can learn from their first

recorded speech after receiving instructor feedback and they may make modifications for their next ob$ective to complete"

Ob$ective 6 &iven an internet connection students !ill create a 2ouTube channel and upload an unlisted video of their self.introduction speech including a discussion board link to allo! their peers to vie! the video"

)or this ob$ective both the instructor and the student5s peers !ill be vie!ing the introduction speech videos via an online video sharing !ebsite" The recorded speech !ill be assessed based on the 'uality of the speech and if the speaker meets all of the assigned criteria for a good speech" All students !ill be given a survey !ith a check list and they !ill be !atching the videos and completing the survey and check lists" 7ach area of the speech !ill be given feedback" This feedback on the survey and check list may vary from 3yes4 or 3no4 ans!ers a scale of one to five and comments" Peer participation is important in the assessment in that it allo!s every student to receive peer feedback prior to the actual live public speech" Students may communicate !ith each other via the class discussion board and offer their comments on the speech in the discussion as !ell" This assessment is similar to the assessment for the ob$ective that involved the instructor vie!ing a recorded public speech" The difference for this ob$ective is that the students !ill be sharing their public speaking videos !ith their peers therefore students no! have a larger audience" Students !ould have benefited from the previous assessment

of using instructor feedback to make improvements to their introduction speech video in order to present a more suitable recording for this ob$ective" All of the ob$ectives are helping the students to improve their speech and students should have more confidence for future speaking ob$ectives" Students learn from feedback and continue to make positive changes" This matches the ob$ective in that the posted videos online !ill be vie!ed by student peers and the instructor as the point of posting the videos is to receive feedback and to also prepare for the live introduction speech"

Ob$ective 8 &iven a meeting time students !ill attend a &oogle (angout meeting !ith their peers and deliver their live video self.introduction speech follo!ing criteria including speaking !ith the proper tone of voice keeping eye contact via the camera limited speaking errors and !ithout exceeding the time limit"

This ob$ective is a demonstration of !hat all of the previous ob$ectives at this point of the course have been leading to" This live speech via an internet service such as &oogle (angout !ill be assessed in a similar manner to the recorded speeches" The student5s peers and the instructor !ill vie! the speaker giving the online public speech and a check list and survey !ill be used to assess the 'uality" This !ill be a grading sheet in that one5s peers and the instructor !ill assess if the speaker is meeting the guidelines" Students !ill be re'uired to use the check list !hen !atching the speech and they !ill also need to complete the survey on each speech" This allo!s every student to have a fair

opportunity to give their self introduction speech live via video and receive feedback" Therefore students !ill be graded based on the check list and survey input from their peers and the instructor" In the event that one5s peers do not understand the proper criteria for a speech the instructor !ill evaluate the completed student check lists to ensure that the proper grade !ill be given to each student based on their live public speech" #y using the feedback provided after each previous ob$ective the students should have the confidence and experience to give a public speech live via a !ebcam" The assessment is conducted !hen the student is giving their introduction speech" 7ach student is evaluated based on criteria met during the speech such as the speaker5s tone of voice their eye contact !ith the audience via the !ebcam the amount of speaking errors and staying !ithin the time limit" This matches the ob$ective as the audience of the student5s peers and the instructor !ill be evaluating the speech and providing feedback for improvement" This may be similar to any audience vie!ing a public speech in that the audience must have an understanding of a proper speech in order to receive the intended message from the speaker" The success of the speaker may depend on their use of the feedback from the previous ob$ectives and also their confidence in speaking live to an audience"

+omplete Learning Assessment )or Ob$ective 6 (ere is a complete learning assessment for ob$ective 69 Please use the follo!ing check list and survey form to evaluate a classmate5s self introduction video"

2our name9 :ame of classmate observed9

;uestion

2es

:o

Scale of % to 8 <% representing poor performance 8 representing high 'uality performance"=

+omments

/oes the speaker keep eye contact !ith the camera> /oes the speaker speak !ith the proper tone of voice> /oes the speaker produce any errors <such as 3ums4= during the speech> /oes the speaker !ear proper attire> Is the content of the speech appropriate for the audience> <This may include the individuals !ho are !atching the speech video"=

/oes the speaker use proper grammar> /oes the speaker stay !ithin the acceptable three to five minute speaking time limit>

Please share any other comments that you may have about the speaker5s video presentation9

,pon completion of this check list and survey please submit this form to your instructor and use another ne! check list and survey form to evaluate another classmate5s video presentation" Thank you for your input"