Communication Studies students present panel at Iowa Communication Association Conference
Author: Troy Rutter
On Friday, September 30th, four Communication Studies Students (Mitch Recker, Cora Benker, Eric Swart, and Gracie Johnson) and Dr. Tina Coffelt presented a panel at the Iowa Communication Association Conference. The group presentation, “Igniting Interest in Undergraduate Research Methods,” examined the importance of research methods for Communication Studies Majors. Recker is a 2022 Communication Studies graduate who is now seeking an MA in Higher Education at Iowa State. Benker, Swart, and Johnson are all current Communication Studies Majors at Iowa State. The panel students took COMST 203: Research Methods in the Spring of 2022.
During the panel, Dr. Coffelt laid out how the course is situated in the Communication Studies curriculum and described the semester-long case study assignment that students work on during their research methods course. Each student then detailed how their group approached the case study, described their methods, and shared their results. The panel helped point out the value of an assignment like this, and the students helped provide feedback to teachers considering this type of assignment in their classes.’