Instructor's Guide

Quizzes, Reflective Questions, and Activities

The following are the assignments embedded in the Active Listening tutorial:

• Activity 1: Quiz
• Activity 2: Quiz
  

Relationship to Other iStudy Tutorials

This tutorial is related to other iStudy tutorials on personal effectiveness, including note-taking, active reading, interview skills, conflict management, and peer tutoring. Therefore, it is recommended that instructors introduce this tutorial to students in conjunction with other personal effectiveness tutorials.

 

Suggested In-class Methods of Presentation

Lecture

• Explain the purpose/intent of the session. Refer to the Purpose section for more detail.

• Provide an introduction and overview of active listening, starting with a definition of the term:

• Active listening is a communication skill that involves both the sender and the receiver in the communication process. Some people would say that communication doesn't exist without the involvement of at least one active sender and one active receiver.

• Once a message is "sent," a receiver tries to understand what the sender's message or expression of feelings means. After receiving a message, an active receiver puts his or her understanding of the message into his or her own words (paraphrases) and feeds it back for the sender's verification - he or she feeds back how they understood the communication.

Discussion

Have students reflect in pairs about their listening skills. Plan an activity in which students take turns talking about themselves (an introduction, or perhaps their best and worst communication experiences). After the activity, ask students to recall as much as possible about what the other person said. Use this activity to make the following point:

• When you really listen to someone it is important to concentrate on the content of that message and the individual who is speaking. If you are thinking about the message in terms of "I think...," "I feel...," you are not focusing on what is being said. Instead you are reacting to the message.

Note: This is an excellent opportunity to utilize and reinforce the cooperative learning techniques found in the iStudy Cooperative Learning tutorial.

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Key Points

These points are covered in the iStudy tutorial, but should be emphasized in any discussions.

Feedback is a key component of active listening. The instructor may want to stress the following:

• "Feedback" helps another person to consider changing behavior or altering a message. It is communication to a person (group) which gives that person information about how he or she affects others. Feedback helps an individual stay "on target" and thus better achieve a goal or purpose.
• Feedback is a corrective mechanism for helping an individual to learn how well his or her behavior matches the original intention.
• An active listener must be solicited for a response by the sender and must refrain from imposing uninvited responses. Feedback is most useful when the receiver has formulated the kind of question a listener can answer.
• Giving feedback involves responding to what the other person has said. The instructor may want to review some tips for how to respond effectively, and in a manner which promotes good interpersonal communication:
• Use language that objectively describes another person's message, behavior, or situation. The feedback must be specific rather than general.
• Describe how the other person's behavior, message, or situation concretely affects your life. Feedback must be directed toward something the receiver can do something about. Frustration results when a person is reminded of a short-coming over which he or she has no control.
• Describe your own feelings and avoid evaluative language. By describing your own reactions, an individual is free to use the feedback; or not as he or she sees fit. Avoiding evaluative language reduces the likelihood that an individual will react defensively. Feedback must take into account the needs of both the giver and the receiver.
• Describe what you want the other person to do. For example, provide an explanation, a suggested change of behavior, and/or offer suggestions for solving the problem.
• The instructor may want to review some tips for making effective statements:
• Use "I want" statements such as, "I want you to do this."
• Use "I feel" statements such as, "I feel X when you do Y."
• Use "mixed feeling" statements
• Use "empathic feeling" statements
• Use "confrontational" statements

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Assessment Criteria

Through observing both the group's and the individual's activities, the instructor may assess student performance. Assessment criteria are as follows (instructors supply the percentage weights):

 

Assessment Criteria

Where	Domain	Activities	%
iStudy Tutorial	Knowledge	The student can define active listening by using and referring to its components.
iStudy Tutorial	Comprehension	The student can describe active listening skills by relating its components to communication.
In-Class	Application	The student can engage in active listening by participating in (group) discussion as listener and speaker.
iStudy Tutorial	Synthesis	The student can model active listening by giving examples or experiences (as well as by creating new problem situation and solution related to active listening.)
			100%

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