Teaching social influence: Resources and exercises from the field of communication

Abstract

Effective teachers know that when students are engaged in active learning, they learn more, retain it longer, apply it better, and continue to learn (Weimer, 1993). One way to promote such learning is through the use of innovative classroom activities that lead students to understand, interpret, and/or apply information. In that spirit, educators in the field of communication have developed an array of activities and demonstrations for promoting active learning in students of social influence. To facilitate the use of such activities, this article uses an annotated bibliography format to review over 30 published articles designed by communication teachers to help instructors, especially new instructors, teach their students persuasion principles and practices including the Extended Parallel Process Model, Inoculation Theory, persuasive language, Monroe's Motivated Sequence, persuasive campaigns, credibility, deception, audience analysis and adaptation, power, and compliance gaining.