Abstract

Information-technology (IT) professionals play an important organizational role within service-oriented business environments through both their technical and their strong communication skills. However, developing communication competence as a part of IT higher education does not receive enough attention, especially since communication apprehension is a key obstacle in terms of achieving communication effectiveness. Thus, the research questions in this study are as follows: What kinds of activities applied in a classroom setting can increase students' communication competence? What are the effects of active learning strategies on students' communication apprehension? Situating the case: Understanding communication apprehension and its relationship with communication competence is necessary for designing effective communication courses for management information systems students. How the case was studied: This study implemented active learning strategies in three classes to develop students' communication competence while decreasing their communication apprehension level. Surveys were administered to students to evaluate their level of communication apprehension. About the case: Adopting psychoeducation intervention strategies from occupational therapy, this study implemented different active learning strategies to further develop students' communication competence as well as decrease their communication apprehension. The results show that the levels of communication apprehension among these classes decreased significantly following adoption of these strategies. Conclusions: Active learning strategies adopted in these classes were effective in terms of decreasing communication anxiety by increasing students' willingness to communicate, which is the prerequisite for developing effective communication.