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Joshua Westwick

Josh Westwick

Title

Director

Office Building

Yeager Hall

Office

213

Mailing Address

Yeager Hall 213
School of Communication & Journalism-Box 2235
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Biography

Dr. Westwick is an award-winning educator, scholar and administrator. He is the director of the School of Communication and Journalism and previously served as the associate director of the School of Communication and Journalism and director of the Introductory Communication course. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and remains active in research, scholarship and creative activity. His research has appeared in journals such as the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Communication Education and the Basic Communication Course Annual, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Don Yoder Distinguished Faculty Award and the Outstanding Service Award, both from the National Communication Association’s Basic Course Division. He also received SDSU's Edward Patrick Hogan Award for Teaching Excellence.

Education

  • Ed.D. in adult and higher education administration | University of South Dakota | 2012
  • M.S. in communication studies | South Dakota State University | 2003
  • B.S. in communication studies and theatre | South Dakota State University | 2001

Academic Responsibilities

  • CMST 434: Small Group Communication

Committees and Professional Memberships

  • Speech Communication Association of South Dakota
  • Central States Communication Association
  • National Communication Association
  • Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
  • Association for Communication Administration 

Awards and Honors

  • Don Yoder Distinguished Faculty Award, Basic Course Division, National Communication Association, 2020
  • Edward Patrick Hogan Award for Teaching Excellence, South Dakota State University, 2019
  • Outstanding Experiential Learning Educator, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 2018
  • Honors Advocate Award, Fishback Honors College, 2017
  • Outstanding Service Award, National Communication Association Basic Course Division, 2017
  • Top Three Paper in the Basic Course Division, National Communication Association Annual Conference, 2016
  • Douglas M. Trank Award for Top Paper in the in Basic Course Division, Central States Communication Association Annual Conference, 2016
  • Manuscript of the Year presented by the Communication Apprehension and Competency Division of the National Communication Association, 2014
  • Basic Course of Excellence Award presented by the Basic Course Division of the National Communication Association, 2013
  • Outstanding Young Speech Teacher Award presented by the Speech Communication Association of South Dakota, 2009

Grants

  1. Westwick, J. N. (PI), Simonds, C. and Joyce Kaufmann, J. (2021). Developing best-practices for accommodations in the introductory course and beyond. National Communication Association Advancing the Discipline Grant. Awarded $5,000.00.
  2.  Koromyslova, E., Sadovnikova, A. and Westwick, J. N. (Project Advisor). (2020). Transforming curriculum to improve STEM learning and advance career readiness. Funded by South Dakota State University Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Challenge Grant. Awarded $14,978.00.
  3. Westwick, J. N. (2011). Griffith Foundation Award for Faculty Development. Funded by the Griffith Foundation. Awarded $1,900.00.

Areas of Research

My overarching research question is: how do we improve the human experience through communication education and instruction? I have strategically engaged in relevant research which impacts my teaching, my students and my assigned professional service.

Publications

  1. Morreale, S. P., Broeckelman-Post, M. A., Anderson, L. B., Ledford, V. A. and Westwick, J. N. (2023). The importance, significance and relevance of communication: A fourth study of the criticality of the discipline’s content and pedagogy. Communication Education. 
  2. Morreale, S. P., Myers, S. A., Wang, T. R. and Westwick, J. N. (2023). Study X of the basic communication course at two- and four-year U.S. colleges and universities: Revisiting trends and considering new challenges. Communication Education.
  3. Morreale, S. P., Thorpe, J. and Westwick, J. N. (2021). Online teaching: Challenge or expanded opportunity for communication education scholars. Communication Education, 70, 117-119.
  4. Alvey, A. [graduate student] and Westwick, J. N. (2020). How do speeches stack up? Examining arrangement through Jenga®. Carolinas Communication Annual, 36, 98-102.\
  5. Hunter, K. M., Westwick, J. N. and Chromey, K. (2020). Best practice for fostering student-development in online courses with dually-enrolled students. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 31, 61-84.
  6. Broeckelman-Post, M. A., Hunter, K. M., Westwick, J. N., Hosek, A., Ruiz-Mesa, K., Hooker, J. and Anderson, L. B. (2020). Measuring essential learning outcomes for public speaking. Basic Communication Course Annual, 32, 2-29.

Department(s)

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