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My name is L. Jake Jacobsen and I have been teaching classes at the University of Nebraska for almost twenty years. After finishing my undergraduate degree at Chadron State College, where I graduated with honors, I then accepted placement into the Masters Program at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA from UNK and continued to take doctoral-level classes thru the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Having taught in the Communication Department for numerous years I feel fortunate to have been included in the lives of so many students. I have grown as an instructor and a person in the process of interacting with amazing young people from all walks of life and nations.
The classes I lead include the basic Speech 100 sections; I enjoy teaching public speaking and jumped at the opportunity to teach in the First Year Program. Having presented a research paper on the voices of our freshman students at a national conference, I learned to listen to the pulse of our incoming freshman and to digest what they had to say about the changes that occur in the educational journey from high school to college. Currently I teach in the Thompson Scholar Program which also addresses the challenges of the freshman students.
My Business and Professional Speaking classes are designed to help my junior and senior students obtain an internship or enter the professional working world. The students are encouraged to research a company they would like to work for and to pursue their dreams as they relate to their field of study. They also are required to interview someone who works in their chosen field. This class not only works on developing strong speaking skills, but also continually reinforces professional development in areas such as dressing for an interview, eating etiquette, cultural understanding, nonverbal business communication skills, gender differences and incorporating technology in their presentations. The students develop a resume and cover letter, practice interviewing skills and produce a web-based video in which each describes his or her career aspirations.
The Nonverbal Communication course is a hands-on, research-based class where the students re-examine the paradigms of their world and look at what the people around them are really saying though the use of proxemics, gender, culture, age, background and the sense of environment in the moment. It is an interesting look at our communication through the eyes of research. As in all my classes, the students are required to give presentations and actually teach one section of the book as a team project. The students in this class are also required to do an in-depth research paper over a specific area of nonverbal communication. I believe that what is learned in the classroom should be applied in the real world.
Both my Speaking for Business and Professional class and my Speech 100 class are taught face-to-face and online. I have diligently tried to make my online classes as close to my face-to-face classes as possible. Both venues require speeches and presentations, using a web-cam for the online classes. Both classes of students also analyze and give valuable feedback to the other students in class.
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