Efficacy Study for Co-Teaching in Practices in Rhetoric and Natural Sciences

Abstract

Abstract: This study examines the effectiveness of the co-teaching practices for Scientific Presentations in the study programmes physics and material science at the Centre for Competence Development (ZfbK) at the Justus Liebig University Giessen. These practices focus on the link between subject-specific and speech science teaching content. The 40 students were required to investigate a current research topic in the field of physics or material science and then hold two presentations on this topic that had been recorded on video. In addition to the supervision provided by researchers from the natural sciences, the students participated in rhetorical training in which the focus was on the importance of self-perception and external perception when giving presentations. Each student received feedback on their speaking skills and the content they presented, as well as feedback on their video recordings. On the basis of questionnaires on speaking skills and a fear of speaking in public, as well as evaluations of the presentations completed by internal and external examiners (researchers from the natural sciences and speech scientists), it was possible to show in a pre- and post-comparison that students significantly improved their presentation skills (self-assessment: p = 0.01; external evaluation: p < 0.05). The results of the questionnaire of Speech anxiety was´nt significant (p = 0.07). Keywords: rhetoric, natural sciences, teaching practices, co-teaching, effectiveness. Rhetoric and Communications Journal, issue 58, January 2024