Pedagogical affordances for professional communication development: a mixed-methods comparison of active learning approaches

Professional communication is an important learning outcome in higher education, yet different active learning pedagogies may provide different communicative affordances for its development and enactment. This study comparatively examined how four active learning pedagogies-group discussion, role play, case study analysis, and student-led seminars-were associated with professional communication across five dimensions: clarity and precision, logical structuring, adaptability and tone, active listening, and persuasive expression. Using a mixed-methods, within-subject repeated-measures design, data were collected from 72 postgraduate management students across two cohorts. All participants experienced the four pedagogies through a Latin Square rotation. Data were drawn from pre-post self-reports, instructor-rated session-level communication performance, and qualitative reflections. Findings were examined across three analytical levels. At the aggregate level, pre-post results indicated significant gains in students’ self-perceived communication competence across both cohorts. These findings indicate perceived development rather than objective gains in demonstrated competence. At the session level, observed communication performance varied across pedagogical conditions, with group discussion and role play associated with higher performance scores than case study analysis and student-led seminars. At the dimension level, qualitative findings revealed distinct pedagogy-dimension linkages. Group discussion was associated with clarity, logical structuring, active listening, and persuasive expression, whereas role play was particularly associated with adaptability and contextual responsiveness. The findings suggest that active learning pedagogies should not be treated as interchangeable approaches to communication development. Instead, their communicative affordances may be considered in relation to specific instructional objectives and desired dimensions of professional communication. The study contributes a differentiated account of how pedagogical structures shape opportunities for communication enactment and provides an evidence-informed basis for aligning active learning design with professional communication objectives in higher education.