Social Media in Everyday Life
COMM 3820
Fall 2017 Tu Th 2-3:20pm
WH 210
Prof. Zuoming Wang Phone: 565-4283
309E GAB E-mail:
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 11 am-noon, or by appointment
Course Overview
This course examines online communication through principles derived from cognitive and social psychology. The focus is on how psychological processes (impression formation and management, deception and trust, attraction and relationship formation, group dynamics, social support and networking, community-building, addiction) occur in technologically-mediated environments (email, instant messaging, blogs, online dating websites, social networking websites, video games). Emphasis will be placed on how psychological principles can help us better understand online communication, but also on how online communication and its novel features can shed light on traditional psychological principles.
Course Goals
The overall goal for the course is to connect current thinking in psychology with human behavior on the Internet. There are multiple objectives intended for a wide variety of student background and goals including:
· Understanding how current theories and models of human behavior can explain and anticipate social dynamics over the Internet
· Evaluating theories critically, with an emphasis on how humans adapt to technology and use it for social purposes
· Forming an awareness of research methods that are used to study social behavior on the Internet
Required Readings
Each week's required reading will usually consist of a chapter from the course textbook and a related journal article.
· Textbook: Kevin B. Wright & Lynne M. Webb (eds). (2011). Computer-mediated communication in personal relationships. Peter Lang Publishing.
· Individual articles or Internet postings are available through the course Blackboard website or will be provided by the instructor via email.
Evaluation & Grading
Evaluations of student performance will be based on the following criteria:
Exams: (3 X 20 points = 60 points)
Assignment 1: 5 points
Selected Topic Presentation/Discussion Leading: 10 points
Final Paper: 20 points
Presentation of the final paper in class: 5 points
Attendance
Regular attendance is required for this course. Beyond two absences, 2 points will be deducted off your final grade per absence. Absences need never be discussed with the instructor unless you are providing a documented note.
Students who do not attend on the first day class may be dropped, so that students who are not enrolled but attend the first day of class can be added to the class.
Exams
The three exams each consist of some multiple-choice questions. You are responsible for all material covered in the text and all material covered in lecture.
Assignment 1
In assignment , you will need to complete the “Protecting Human Research Participants” training at http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php
This training can be completed in approximately one and a half hours. The course consists of seven modules, four of which are followed by quizzes. Upon successful completion of the course, you will receive a “certificate of completion.” Please print out this certificate and submit to the professor before the due date as the proof that you have successfully finished this assignment. Meanwhile, you should also email this certificate to the professor before the due date.
Selected Topic Presentation/Discussion Leading
Each student will sign up to serve as a discussion leader for one class period during the course of the semester. Each student will present one empirical article in the assigned reading. A list of topics for you to select from will be provided in class. You should list your top three choices. The professor will try to give everyone his/her preference, but there is no guarantee. Presentations should be 15-20 minutes in length and may include a question-and-answer session. More details about this assignment will be provided later in the semester. If necessary, the discussion leader may meet with the professor outside of class to discuss the content and to clarify issues he or she was unable to resolve after extensive reading.
As part of this presentation/discussion leading, the discussion leader needs to prepare an in-class activity for the topic they are assigned to, which is 5 points. The activity needs to be relevant to the topic being discussed, and is usually conducted at the beginning of the discussion as an ice breaker. This is the time for your creativity. Feel free to come up with cool ideas that make the class fun! You will be evaluated based on how fun and creative the activity is, and how well you administer it.
In order to structure the discussion in the class, discussion leaders should develop a number of questions – and for him or herself, the answers to those questions – that will serve as the fodder for class discussion. Early questions should probe basic issues from the class readings, while later questions should probe complicated issues of the given theory or area of research (e.g., weakness and avenues for improvement in future work). Discussion leaders will be evaluated by the professor based on the quality of their preparation for this task.
Final Paper
The topic of the final paper is quite flexible, as long as it is CMC-related. Generally speaking, the final paper should be in the 5 page range (not counting the title page and reference page) and follow APA guidelines. The paper should have at least 8 academic sources. The final paper is due on April 27 no later than midnight through turnitin.com.
The final paper would essentially be the introduction and literature review. It will require a thorough understanding of the literature in an area in order to succinctly summarize it.
Punctuality
It is really important that class begins on time every day to guarantee that all of the scheduled information and activities are completed. For every two times you are late, it counts as one absence. It is your responsibility to make sure I know you were late and not absent.
Distractions
Make sure you turn the ringers off on your cell phones prior to the start of class. It is best to shut them off completely. Please do not text message during class.
Academic Integrity
All persons shall adhere to the Code of Student Conduct regarding academic dishonesty, including acts of cheating and plagiarism.
Cheating: The willful giving or receiving of information in an unauthorized manner during an examination, illicitly obtaining examination questions in advance, using someone else’s work or written assignments as if they were your own, or any other dishonest means of attempting to fulfill a requirement of this course.
Plagiarism: The use of an author’s words or ideas as if they were your own without giving proper credit to the source, including but not limited to failure to acknowledge a direct quotation.
The minimum sanction for a violation of the code is a grade of zero for the assignment; a second act of plagiarism warrants a failing grade in the course. The code is available in the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities.
Access Policy
“The University of North Texas makes reasonable academic accommodation for students with disabilities. Students seeking accommodation must first register with the Office of Disability Accommodation(ODA) to verify their eligibility. If a disability is verified, the ODA will provide you with an accommodation letter to be delivered to faculty to begin a private discussion regarding your specific needs in acourse. You may request accommodations at any time, however, ODA notices of accommodation should be provided as early as possible in the semester to avoid any delay in implementation. Note thatstudents must obtain a new letter of accommodation for every semester and must meet with each faculty member prior to implementation in each class. Students are strongly encouraged to deliver letters ofaccommodation during faculty office hours or by appointment. Faculty members have the authority to ask students to discuss such letters during their designated office hours to protect the privacy of thestudent. For additional information see the Office of Disability Accommodation website athttp://www.unt.edu/oda. You may also contact them by phone at 940-565-4323..”
Extra Credit Opportunity
There is no planned extra credit for this course. On occasion, however, graduate students or faculty may provide the opportunity for students to participate in research. IF such opportunities are offered this semester, students are encouraged to take advantage of any extra credit offered. IF offered, each opportunity will count up to 1% of a student's final grade. Note, however, students must be at class when these opportunities are provided. Makeup of extra credit will not be allowed.
Acceptable Student Behavior:
Student behavior that interferes with an instructor’s ability to conduct a class or other students' opportunity to learn is unacceptable and disruptive and will not be tolerated in any instructional forum at UNT. Students engaging in unacceptable behavior will be directed to leave the classroom and the instructor may refer the student to the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities to consider whether the student's conduct violated the Code of Student Conduct. The university's expectations for student conduct apply to all instructional forums, including university and electronic classroom, labs, discussion groups, field trips, etc. The Code of Student Conduct can be found at www.unt.edu/csrr
Policy on Incompletes
We will award grades of “Incomplete” only in cases where a student has completed 75% of the coursework AND the grade is warranted by a medical or military excuse. Inability to complete coursework in a timely fashion does not constitute an acceptable reason for requesting or receiving an incomplete.
APA Style
Students are expected to produce written work that conforms to APA style and the “Writing Guidelines” that appear on the department website in the “Important Documents” section of both the Undergraduate Program and Graduate Program tabs.
Crisis Contingency
In the event of the university closing for weather-related reasons or illness outbreak, e.g. flu, please visit the course website on Blackboard. I will provide instructions on how to turn in assignments and how the class will proceed utilizing Blackboard's Announcements function.
SPOT Course Evaluation
The SPOT course evaluation period is from April 17 to May 4. Once the completion rate is above 90%, students will receive 1 extra credit point for the final grade as reward.
Copier Use Statement
Students conducting research in the Communication Studies Library associated with departmental coursework have access to a printer/photocopier located in the office adjacent to the library. We encourage students to make use of this resource to print research accessed online in the library or to copy essays from any of the department’s holdings. Students may not use this resource for other purposes, such as printing courses assignments, class notes, scripts, etc. Students who use the copier for uses other than those outlined above will lose copying privileges.
Disclaimer
This syllabus should not be construed as a binding contract on the part of the instructor or teaching assistants. We reserve the right to change any aspect of the course without notice.
Schedule of Topics and Readings
Jan 17: Course Introduction and Overview
Jan 19, 24: Impression formation
Jan 26: Impression management
· Hancock, J. T.,& Dunham, P. T. (2001). Impression formation in computer-mediated communication revisited: An analysis of the breadth and intensity of impressions.Communication Research, 28, 325-347.
Jan 31: research day to complete assignment 1 at http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php
Then email the completion certificate by the end of the class time 3:30pm to the instructor at
Feb 2: guest speaker, TBA
Feb 7: impression management (cont’d)
Feb 9, Feb 14: Deception & Trust
· Chapter 17 of the textbook
· Hancock, J. T. (2007). Digital deception: why, when and how people lie online. In A. Joinson, K. McKenna, T. Postmes, U. Reips (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology. Oxford: University Press.
Feb 21: Exam1
Feb 23, 28: Relationships and interpersonal attraction
Chapter 6 from the textbook
March 2, 7: Online communities and social networks
Chapter 1 of the textbook
March 9, 21: Online social support
Chapter 7 of the textbook
March 23: Exam 2
March 28, 30: Internet addiction
Chapter 18, 19 of the textbook
April 4, 6: Gender & Identity
Chapter 16 of the textbook
April 11, 13: Virtual Self/Self-presentation
Chapter 9 of the textbook
April 18: Exam 3
April 20: Review final paper topic with instructor
April 25: Guest lecture (library search)
April 27: Answer late minute question about final paper in class; Final Paper due no later than midnight through turnitin.com
May 2 & May 4: Class presentation of the final paper, PPT format