RIFTS: Constructivism Gone Bad: Communicating Negative Performance Feedback

• In Event: GIFTS & RIFTS Extended Session: Great and (New this Year) Reprehensible Ideas for Teaching Students

Abstract

In the RIFTS presentation, I will focus on a role-play exercise that involved a supervisor addressing an employee's body odor problem. The exercise was designed to illustrate key tenets of Constructivism. However, it failed badly. Instead, I should have first introduced students to Speech Act Theory and Rapport Management Theory. Then, I could have had students apply this material as they decided how best to communicate this information to their employee. Instead of just laughing the exercise off, students could have used different rhetorical tactics that were designed to change the employee's behavior while simultaneously allowing the employee to "save face" during the conversation.

Author

• Joe Downing, Penn State York