Bridging the communication gap: Integrating communication skills with subject matter

Effective communication is an important skill that all agronomists need. Techniques to enhance communication skills can be incorporated into an agronomic curriculum via assignments that require student utilization of these skills in ways that lead to a better understanding of agronomic subject matter. Three such techniques for classroom use include critiques of refereed journal articles, oral summaries of previous lectures, and interpretations of analytical problems. These techniques were utilized in an upper‐level crop physiology course and were evaluated by students who enrolled in the course from spring 1983 through spring 1987. Responses were obtained from 31% of the 118 students who enrolled prior to spring 1987 (previous students) and from 82% of the 17 students enrolled during spring 1987 (current students). A greater percentage of previous than current students perceived that they had benefited from the speaking and writing assignments, and three‐fourths of all previous students wished their college coursework had included more opportunities for public speaking. In all instances, previous‐student perceptions were more positive after than during the course.