Certifying a Course as C-I
At LSU, we recognize that communication occurs in every discipline and in all future paths our graduates will take. Because of this, we also recognize the responsibility of the entire faculty to help undergraduate students improve their communication skills. This is why C-I courses are embedded across the curriculum within the disciplines, and why all C-I teachers have access to support from teaching and learning specialists who can help them customize their C-I teaching for their specific communication learning outcomes. C-I pedagogy promotes deeper learning of course content and provides advanced instruction on effective, discipline-specific communication. In the interest of protecting the quality of teaching and faculty workload balance, we recommend C-I courses have a student/faculty ratio no greater than 35:1 (TAs count toward the faculty ratio).
"Teaching a C-I Course has impacted my teaching by helping me focus and reflect. When you’ve been teaching the same courses for a number of years, you might feel positioned to run the course the same way. But by integrating the Communication-Intensive process, it’s really given me a chance to shake things up and to try things in new and curious ways."
—Architecture Faculty Member
Requirements for Certified C-I Courses
- Engage students in hands-on, applied learning opportunities to practice and explore processes of communication, as well as culminating activities and projects that position students to demonstrate their increased skills in that communication mode
- Transparently teach and provide meaningful assessment on proper communication techniques
throughout the course
Focus on genres and audiences appropriate to the discipline or profession - Use feedback loops to advance communication skills
- Uphold ethical and professional standards for all class work
- Ensure that your communication learning outcomes are aligned with your overall course
learning goals, including allocating a substantive % of the course grade to communication-related
teaching and learning activities
- For 3-5 credit hour courses, this means allocating at least 40% of the course grade to communication-based work and emphasizing 2 of the 4 C-I modes (written, spoken, visual, or technological)
- For 1-2 credit hour courses, this means allocating at least 20% of the course grade to communication-based work and emphasizing 1 of the 4 C-I modes (written, spoken, visual, or technological)
"Prior to having C-I aspects in my courses, students would memorize something or do an activity and then forget about it. The C-I process of staying with projects and topics through the process of feedback enhances retention dramatically."
—Renewable Natural Resources Faculty Member
Common Concerns and Myths about Teaching C-I
Yes, absolutely. You can guide students even without formal communication training. In fact, most C-I Faculty don’t have what would be considered traditional expertise in communication. What you do have is expertise in your discipline and an understanding of how to best communicate that research/knowledge to your audience. Your role as a C-I teacher is to help students understand the conventions of sharing information effectively for your discipline. Think of it like this: Faculty expertise in their discipline + strong communication skills = effective C-I teaching.
While attending a C-I Teaching Lab can be helpful for faculty preparing their courses, this is not a pre-requisite to teaching a C-I Course. If you’re interested and ready to see if your course works as C-I, reach out to the C-I Faculty Development & Support representative for your college to get started.
Not necessarily. You may already be doing all the work of a C-I course without realizing it, or you may need to make a few minor adjustments to your assignments. Schedule a time to chat with the C-I Faculty Development & Support representative for your college to discuss your course and learn about the options that still align with your overall course goals.
How much time do you have? We get really excited about C-I teaching and its impact on faculty and students.
Communication-Intensive teaching at LSU is a forward-thinking expansion of Writing Across/Within the Disciplines (WAC/WID). When CxC launched in 2005, then-director Lillian Bridwell-Bowles proposed that expansion, insisting that multimodal communication is a priority for students’ success. This holistic approach to communication has been the foundation for C-I teaching at LSU ever since.
In addition to being multimodal, C-I pedagogy blends content with communication-based activities, emphasizing active learning, critical thinking, and student engagement. It aligns with all eight key elements of many of the American Association of Colleges and Universities’ (AACU) High-Impact Practices and the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) Career Readiness Competencies.
The impact of C-I Courses on students success here at LSU is part of ongoing research for a few faculty members.
- CxC Director Dr. Rebecca Burdette and Dr. Ashley Clayton in the School of Education continue to update a longitudinal study how C-I Courses impact graduation rates.
- Dr. Erin McKinley in Nutrition & Food Sciences has data showing post-grad acceptance rates for students who engage in C-I Courses.
You can also check out the CxC CV for additional peer-reviewed articles about C-I pedagogy from the CxC Team if you’re excited about this topic, too.
This depends. When we talk about the 35:1 student to faculty ratio, the “faculty” component could be represented in a few ways (i.e. your TA could count toward that number). The ratio is a recommendation to help you protect your time and to ensure the student is able to get substantive feedback on their assignments.
To get the quickest answer about your unique situation, reach out to the C-I Faculty Development & Support representative for your college.
CxC has a team of teachers dedicated to C-I Faculty Development & Support for each undergraduate college.
Right now, only undergraduate courses can be certified as C-I.
As long as your GTA is listed as the Instructor of Record, they can certify the course as C-I. Check in with your C-I Faculty Support contact to learn more or get specific guidance about teacher training for GTAs.
All teachers at LSU who are listed as the Instructor of Record for a course are eligible to teach C-I. The C-I faculty community encompasses every faculty classification including graduate teaching assistants, instructors, adjuncts, tenured professors, tenure-track professors, and non-tenure track professors.
Absolutely! More than 450 faculty teach C-I Courses annually across all disciplines.
As soon as you start teaching a C-I Course or engage with C-I Faculty programming, you’re part of the C-I Faculty community of more than 450 LSU teachers. Not only can you receive direct support from the CxC Faculty Development & Support team, you have opportunities to engage with continued professional development and resources to help you as a teacher. Here are a few examples:
- Participate in a special topic C-I Teaching Lab
- Consult with a C-I Faculty Support team member representing your college
- Collaborate with fellow C-I faculty across disciplines
- Meet with CxC’s Communication Coaches to get feedback on your C-I Course