Com 110: Communication As Critical Inquiry

Com 123: Interpersonal Communication

Summer 2015

Instructor: Anna Wright Email: or Through Reggie Net

Office: Fell 402 (ReggieNet)Office Hours:Through Reggie Net or by appointment

REQUIRED TEXT:

Adler, R. B., Rosenfeld, L. B., & Proctor, R. F. (2015). Interplay: The process of interpersonal communication (13th ed.) New York: Oxford University Press.

COURSE MATERIALS:

• Working e-mail account to be checked regularly
• Access to Reggie Net
• Access to Netflix (Or have access to Season 1 of How I Met Your Mother and the movies Crash and The Graduate)

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION (COM 123) COURSE GOALS:

• Students will become more competent interpersonal communicators (using knowledge, skill, motivation and judgment).
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the interpersonal communication process.
• Students will demonstrate the ability to apply interpersonal communication concepts such as active listening, perception, self-concept, and message systems (verbal and nonverbal) to everyday communication situations.
• Students will become more competent in communicating in small group discussions and in class activities (articulating and defending their own ideas as well as listening to and considering the ideas of others).
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the differences in interpersonal communication contexts
• Students will identify their own patterns of functional and dysfunctional interpersonal communication habits.

ASSIGNMENTS:

EXAMS (3):There will be three (3) unit exams covering information from the text, Power Points, and discussions. The 3rd exam will not be comprehensive. Exams will be made up of multiple choice and true/false questions.

CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS/ HIMYM DISCUSSIONS:

(largely taken from:

Some assignments will require you to participate in an online discussion. You will either be given a chapter prompt to respond to and/or asked to watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother and engage in a discussion regarding how chapter concepts can be applied. Discussion requirements and expectations are outlined below.

Participation in the discussion forums is critical for maximizing your learning in this course. You are required to be a part of an online community of learners who collectively interact, through discussion, to enhance and support the professional performance of each other.

As the instructor, I may help facilitate student discussions, but I will not address every post. In most cases, I might share a related idea, intervene when the discussion goes off-track, or tie student comments together to help deepen student learning. Consequently, I will not directly answer questions in the discussion area unless they are addressed to me. I will check the discussions daily during the week.

A “full” posting is one original contribution in a discussion, and then at leasttwo (2) responses either to that post or to another post.

Some characteristics I consider to be part of excellent discussion contributions are outlined below. I will consider these characteristics when assessing the quality and level of your participation.

• Submit initial post(s) early in the week and subsequent responses to the posts of other learners at timely intervals throughout the week. The goal is to have a dynamic discussion around the topic that lasts throughout the entire session. Regularly posting at the end of the week will adversely impact your grade.
• Posts and responses should be thorough and thoughtful. Just posting “I agree” or “Good ideas!” will not be considered adequate. Support statements with examples, experiences, or references. Generally, posts should be within a range of 75-150 words. Get your point across, but don’t be too lengthy. Keep in mind that fellow learners will be reading and responding to you, too.
• Make sure that all of your posts and responses address the questions, problems, or situation as presented for discussion. This doesn’t mean you shouldn't extend the topic; just don’t stray away from the topic.
• Discussions occur when there is dialogue; therefore, you need to build upon the posts and responses of other learners to create discussion threads. Make sure to revisit the discussion forum and respond (if necessary) to what other learners have posted to your initial contributions. Feel free to pose questions to classmates to enhance the conversation, as well.
• When relevant, add to the discussion by including prior knowledge, work experiences, references, websites, resources, etc. (giving credit when appropriate).
• Contributions to the discussions (posts and responses) should be complete and free of grammatical or structural errors.
• Never attack someone in a post. Instead, discuss ideas. Remember, you are communicating with other humans.

A grading criteria rubric is available in Appendix A.

JOURNALS:Journal assignments will require you to respond to a prompt. You will have to write and reflect on some experience related to the reading. A journal may have multiple response prompts. You should respond to each part. You should use chapter concepts in your response to illustrate that you read and understood the chapter. Journal responses should be 1- 2 pages, double spaced.

A grading criteria rubric is available in Appendix B.

MOVIE ANALYSIS: The movie analysis assignment requires you to watch a movie and write an analysis of the movie applying concepts from the corresponding chapter. Your paper should be 3-5 pages and should discuss what chapter concepts you saw in the movie and explain how those concepts are present. Make sure that your analysis clearly indicates your understanding of chapter concepts by being thorough in your descriptions and applications. The analysis should be organized and well-written. Feel free to cite the book and offer page numbers of where concepts come from.

A grading criteria rubric is available in Appendix C.

QUIZZES: You will take one quiz to test your knowledge of the syllabus – the purpose of this is to ensure you understand the important components of this class as they are laid out in the syllabus.

EVALUATION:

Exam I 100 pts.

Exam II 100 pts.

Exam III 100 pts.

Chapter Discussions 60 pts.

Journals 50 pts.

HIMYM Discussions 100 pts.

Movie Analysis 40 pts.

Quizzes 15 pts.

Total 565 pts

The grading scale is a standard ten percentage point scale:

90-100% = A; 80%-89% = B; 70%-79% = C; 60-69% = D; below 60% = F

COURSE POLICIES:

QUESTIONS: If you have questions that more than one person might have (for example, anything that does not pertain to your specific grade or assignment) please get on the Questions! Discussion Board and post your question. You should also visit this board regularly to see any questions that I, or one of your classmates, have answered for others. Additionally, if you see a question without an answer and you know the answer, please, chime in! This will allow everyone’s questions to get answered in the timeliest fashion possible.

ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES: All assignmentsmust be completed by the assigned due date. All assignments are due the Saturday of the week they are assigned by 9:00 pm. If an assignment is not turned in at the appropriate time, you will receive a “0” for that assignment. If you experience technical difficulties, please let me know ASAP; however, waiting until the last minute and then having issues will warrant less consideration on my part.

CHEATING/PLAGIARISM: Students are expected to be honest in all academic work, consistent with the academic integrity policy as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct. All work is to be appropriately cited when it is borrowed, directly or indirectly, from another source. Unauthorized and unacknowledged collaboration on speech topics and/or the presentation of someone else’s work warrants plagiarism.

Students found to inadvertently commit acts of dishonesty will receive appropriate penalties specific to the assignment in question. Students found to commit intentional acts of dishonesty will receive a failing grade in the course and will be referred for appropriate disciplinary action through Community Rights and Responsibilities.

SPECIAL NEEDS: Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability should contact Disability Concerns at 350 Fell Hall, 438-5853 (voice), 438-8620 (TDD).

MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES:

Students sometimes feel overwhelmed, lost, experience anxiety or depression, struggle with relationship difficulties or diminished self-esteem. However, many of these issues can be effectively addressed with a little help. Student Counseling Services (SCS) helps students cope with difficult emotions and life stressors. The services are FREE and completely confidential. Find out more at Counseling.IllinoisState.edu or by calling (309) 438-3655.

Appendix A – Discussion Grading Criteria

General Rubric for Grading Discussions

Appendix B – Journal Grading Criteria

General Criteria for Grading Journals

Appendix C – Movie Analysis Grading Criteria

(Taken largely from

General Grading Criteria for Movie Analysis

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