(1317) STUDENT ORAL PRESENTATIONS: DEVELOPING THE SKILLS AND REDUCING THE APPREHENSION

摘要

For many students it is important that they develop good oral presentation skills [1] since the ability todemonstrate oral communication competence is highly valued in many professions [2] while there hasalso been a rise in the use of oral presentations in university classrooms [3]. Despite this, there isdoubt cast over whether it is possible to support the development of the required skills and addressthe fear that many students experience regarding oral presentations as part of the same intervention[4]. Furthermore, despite being a widely researched topic, there is much in the area of communicationapprehension that remains unclear [5]. In order to determine suitable interventions, research isrequired to identify pedagogy that might successfully help apprehensive presenters develop their skillsand confidence [4].This paper reports on an intervention which seeks to help students develop oral presentation skills andat the same time help apprehensive presenters reduce their fear of delivering oral presentations. Theintervention, which takes place with foundation level undergraduate Accounting students, isunderpinned by problem-based learning and contributing student pedagogy and focuses on thedevelopment of self-efficacy which has been identified to be a key area for the reduction of oralcommunication apprehension in public speaking contexts [6]. The paper will introduce the concept ofcommunication apprehension in oral presentations and discuss causes and possible interventions. Itdetails the progress that has been made in the study which uses qualitative data in the form ofresearch conversations and student reflections. Such an approach is taken in order to gain insightsinto the “lived experiences” of students, which has been absent in much of the previous researchconducted in the area [5].