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At the Rochester Institute of Technology, a course was created which took students out of the traditional classroom setting in order to teach small group communication in an experiential-adventure based format. The course was designed by a faculty member in Communications and the Coordinator of Outdoor Experiential Education. Based on a survey of 10 small group communication textbooks, 10 topics were selected for the course: communication models, group development, cohesion, norms, verbal and nonverbal communication, decision making, leadership, roles, conflict and competition, and empathy and trust. These topics were approached using assigned reading, short quizzes, brief lectures and class discussions, a research paper, and experiential activities--many of them adventure-based--taking place at a facility on campus known as the Red Barn, run by the Outdoor Experiential Education Program. Each activity was designed to reflect concepts related to small group communication. This experiential approach to teaching small group communication seemed to be effective and popular. The combination of a thorough plan, strategic sequencing of materials, clearly structured experiences, and frequent discussions relating the experiences to the subject matter is essential if these techniques are to be used successfully. This course has remained popular in its second and third offerings. (Eighteen references are attached.) (SR)

The mind as organization metaphor asserts an optimistic and multi-faceted foundation for the examination of intrapersonal communication. Definitions of intrapersonal communication have not been developed without debate and controversy. As with many other ambiguous terms and definitions in the field of communication, an operational definition of the concept in focus must be accepted, and used as a basis for investigation. Once the definition has been established, connections and relationships to other areas of study can be made. This investigation accepts Roberts, Edwards, and Barker's operational definition of intrapersonal communication: "All of the physiological and psychological processing of messages that happens within individuals at conscious and non-conscious levels as they attempt to understand themselves and the environment." The two aspects of this definition of intrapersonal communication--the processing of messages and interacting with the environment--can be interpreted in a variety of ways. The traditional approach to organizational communication is general systems theory which developed out of the field of biology and was aimed to be a covering theory for all systemic processes. The contemporary approach is the organizational culture view which allows the investigator to examine histories, values, and beliefs of an organization from an interpretive perspective. One of the goals of the culture perspective is to uncover how organizations create social realities in which people communicate. Both approaches may be fruitful in the examination of intrapersonal communication. (Twenty-seven references are attached.) (RAE)

To gain a greater understanding of both imagery and creativity, either separately or as interacting processes, several areas must be addressed from an intrapersonal communication perspective: definitions of creativity, imagery, and imaging; the relationship between creativity and imagery; and language and imagery in creativity. A useful working definition of creativity might be: creativity is the manipulation of actual perceived or synthesized sense data to form new relationships that have meaning to an environment. Mental imagery can provide for the creation of sense data. The similarities between these two terms lead many sources to accept and promote the relationship between creativity and the ability to image. The interaction of verbal communication and imagery is a necessity for higher creative abilities. Mental imagery can be taught and learned, allowing people to expand their creative abilities. (Forty-five references are appended.) (MS)