Preparing for College: The Effects of High School Speech Experience on Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, Communication Apprehension, and College Preparedness

摘要

The effects of the college-level basic communication course are well documented. However, a stand-alone, high school communication course is becoming a rare sight across the United States. This study seeks to examine educational outcomes of learning communication skills at the high school level on college freshman. Students enrolled in a college-level basic communication course were surveyed on factors such as critical thinking, information literacy, fake news identification, communication apprehension, and preparedness for college through speech preparation as well as grit. While few significant findings were found, implications for the study of communication at the high school level are examined.