Dr. Marcia Dixson's Home Page

 

 

 

Who I am

 

My "credentials"

EDUCATION

1993 PhD., Communication Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

1983 MA English Education, Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, MO

1979 BSE English, Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, MO


TEACHING CAREER

January 2006 - present

Chair and Associate Professor of the Department of Communication at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN.

September 2002 - August 2006

Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Communication at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN.

May, 2000 - May, 2003

Associate Professor of the Department of Communication and Director of the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN.

May, 2000 - December, 2002
Associate Professor of the Department of Communication and Director of the Communication Basic Course at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN.

Aug 1993 - May, 2000
Assistant Professor (Associate Professor as of July 1, 1998) and Basic Course Director. Department of Communication, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN.
Undergraduate courses taught: : Fundamentals of Speech Communication, Group Communication, Organizational Communication, Interpersonal Communication; Family Communication; Communicating Peace, Gender Roles and Communication, Freshman seminar: Critical Thinking and Communication
Graduate/Undergraduate courses taught: Nonverbal Communication, Theories of Interpersonal Communication, Theories of Small Group Communication, Communication in Personal Relationships; Communication in the Classroom, Experimental and Observational Communication Research Methods, Inequlity seminar.

Aug 1991 - Aug 1993
Graduate instructor. Communication Studies Dept, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Undergraduate courses taught: Interpersonal Communication, Business and Professional Speaking, Advertising; Graduate/Undergraduate courses taught: Family Communication, Methods of Communication.
University supervisor of Communication student teachers.

Aug 1989 - 1991
Graduate instructor. Rhetoric Department, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Undergradute courses taught: Rhetoric (oral and written communication skills course).

Aug 1983 - Aug 1989
Part-time Communication Instructor. Language and Literature Division, Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, MO. Undergraduate courses taught: Speech Communication, Public Relations, Advertising.

Aug 1979 - May 1982
Instructor. Knox County R-I High School, Edina, MO. Courses taught: English, Speech and Drama.


PUBLICATIONS

2006, July Teaching Family Communication Concepts through Family Stories: An Analysis of Stories and Rituals in David Bradley's Harvest Home. Communication Teacher

2006 Creating effective online discussions: Instructor and student roles. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 10 (3) with Michelle Kuhlhorst, MA and Amber Reiff, MA

2001 “Teaching Social Construction in the Basic Course: Opening Minds and Integrating Contexts” in Basic Course Annual, 13, pp. 151-173

1999 Distance makes the heart grow fonder: Managing long-distance and commuter relationships. In Braithwaite, D.O. & Wood, J.T. (Eds.) Case studies in interpersonal communication: Process and problems. ITP/Wadsworth Publishing.


1996 "The social construction of marital reality: A lesson plan" Personal Relationships Issues, 3(2), pp. 15-16.

1996 “Directing associate faculty: A rich resource for the basic course” Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 3, pp. 187-204.

1995 Book review of Stepfamilies - Who benefits? Who does not? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 13(1), pp. 153-154.

1995 Models and perspectives of parent-child communication. In Socha, T.J. & Stamp, G.(Eds.). Parents, children and communication: Frontiers of theory and research (pp. 43-62). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

1993 with Steve Duck. Understanding relationship processes: Uncovering the human search for meaning. In Duck, S. (Ed.) Individuals in relationships. Vol. 1. London: Sage.

1993 Single mothers and their sons: Everyday communication as a foundation for relationships and children's coping with divorce. Iowa Journal of Speech Communication, 26(1), pp. 45-59.

RECENT AWARDS

2007 MACK Fellowship

2007 IPFW Friends of the University Outstanding Teacher

2006 FACET Membership

RECENT CONVENTION PRESENTATIONS

2009 Creating effective student engagement in online courses: What do students find engaging? Accepted as a Top Panel Paper, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Division, National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.

2007 Connecting the wired generation with each other:  Effectively using small group discussion forums in online courses.  Presented at FACET Retreat, Indianapolis, IN. 

Effective Cooperative Learning via Discussion Forums: An Online Application of Team Principles a 45 minutes interactive workshop presented at Lilly Conference – West in Pomono, CA, March, 2007.

Online or in class discussion:  A comparison of products and students’ perceptions of process a round table discussion presented at Lilly Conference in Traverse City, MI, October, 2007.

It’s not what you say, it’s that you say it!: No difference between teacher messages poster presentation at Lilly Conference in Traverse City, MI, October, 2007.

Are We in Sync?  Instructor and Student Communication Priorities in Online and Traditional Courses 45 minute interactive session presented at Lilly Conference in Oxford, OH November, 2007.

2004 Creating Effective Online Discussions: Instructor and student roles. with Amber Reiff and Michelle Kuhlhorst presented at National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.

An instrument to investigate the expectations of and experiencess with the parent-child relationship: The parent-child relationship inventory with Suze Fair and Emily Bermes presented at National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.

Panel member for Roundtable for the Terminal MA in Communication at National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.

2001 Panel member for "I dream of a world where students actually graduate!" to discuss advising as an interpersonal communication activity. Central States Communication Association Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.

"What do you want?: Teens unmet expectations about the parent-child relationship" with Suze Fair presented at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Atlanta, GA.

"The role of communication in meeting adolescents' relational expectations about the parent-child relationship: Satisfying teenagers" with Jackie Fisher presented at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Atlanta, GA.

1999 with Al Pugh, Process Mapping and Teams. Presented at Annual Conference of Computers and Industrial Engineering in New Orleans, LA.

Researching difficult topics with private people. Panel presented at Joint Annual Conference of International Network of Personal Relationships and International Society of Social and Personal Relationships. Louisville, KY.
with Jeanne Barone. Team Testing. Presented to FACET Associate Faculty Conference, Indianapolis, IN.

with Al Pugh. Process Mapping as a Tool for Quality. Presented to Asmerican Society for Quality 50th Annual All-Davy Quality Conference at Fort Wayne, IN.

1997 "The role of communication in meeting young adults' relational expectations about the parent-child relationship: Satisfaction in launching families" with Ava Stein presented at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, Il.

"Centralizing communication in the Basic Course: Deemphasizing Context" accepted for presentation at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, Il.

"Generalized communicative suspiciousness (GCS) and personal relationships: A reciprocal effects perspective" accepted for presentation at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, Il.

with Ava Stein. "Children's models of the parent-child relationship: What do young children expect?" presented at International Network of Personal Relationships Annual Conference, Oxford, Ohio.

with Ava Stein "Models of the parent-child relationship: What do college students expect?" poster presented at International Network of Personal Relationships Annual Conference, Oxford, Ohio.