Kromka, Stephen

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Education

2014 University of Pittsburgh, B.A.  
2017 West Virginia University, M.A.
2020 West Virginia University, Ph.D.

View CV (PDF)

Courses Taught

Speech for Business and the Professions
Oral Communication

Career Specialties

Stephen Kromka's academic interests involve examining effective teaching behaviors in the college classroom, the power of storytelling to make sense of difficult life events and family communication conflict strategies. He has training in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to efficiently investigate these communication phenomena.

Professional and Community Activities

Kromka's recent research activity in instructional communication has examined relational instructor behaviors: storytelling and self-disclosure. Kromka along with his co-authors have recently published three journal articles in Communication Education examining classroom storytelling. They found that instructor storytelling may be an effective teaching behavior because it increases student affect, sustained attention and cognitive learning. Moreover, his research on instructional and family communication has been published in journals such as the Journal of Family Communication, Communication Research Reports and Behavioral Sciences. 

In the past, he has enjoyed engaging with the community by volunteering as the Communication Merit Badge instructor for the Boy Scouts of America. At the present, he is partnering with the University of Tampa Office of Career Services to create workshops that will hone student communication skills and help them excel in the current job market.

Honors and Awards

Renee Kisner Peer Collegiality Award, Department of Communication Studies, West Virginia
University (2020) 
Judee K. Burgoon Research Award, Department of Communication Studies, West Virginia
University (2020) 
Top 4 Paper, Instructional Development Division, National Communication Association (2020)
Top 4 Paper, Instructional Communication, Eastern Communication Association (2020) 
The Top Paper, Instructional Communication, Eastern Communication Association (2019) 
Top 4 Paper, Instructional Communication, Eastern Communication Association (2019)