Syllabus for SPCH/COMM 3305.01
Communication Theory
M/W/F 11-11:50 a.m.
SCRB-101
Instructor Information:
Jeff Sorrels
Office Hours: Monday, 12-2 p.m.
Tuesday, 9-9:30 a.m. & 12:30-2 p.m.
Wednesday, 12-2 p.m.
Thursday, 9-9:30 a.m. & 12:30-2 p.m.
Friday, 12-2 p.m.
*Other times by appointment only
Office: SCBR 108 Office Phone: 903-923-2317
E-mail:
Required Text:
Griffin, E., Ledbettet, A., & Sparks, G. (2014). A First Look at Communication
Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
ISBN: 978-0073523927
Course Description:
This course is designed to provide students with an in depth understanding of the major theories supporting the discipline of communication studies. Attention is given to theories of relationship creation, interpersonal interactions, and media effects.
Course Format:
This course is a combination of lectures, discussions, and student participation. Students are expected to read the assigned chapters in the textbook and any additional handouts. Lectures are supplements to the readings.
Communication:
Your Tigermail account is your official means of communication with the university and I expect you to check it on a regular basis. I will send out occasional reminders via e-mail, as well as any important information that may come up in the course of the semester. If you need to contact me, you may do so by e-mail (preferred) or by calling my office phone. If you choose to leave me a voice mail, talk slowly, give me your name, course number and section number and a number at which I can reach you. I check both of these on a regular basis, usually return emails very quickly and am committed to returning your call or e-mail within 48 hours.
You should know that email etiquette is a very valuable skill to learn and it will be enforced in this class. Each email you send me should include a subject line that includes your course and section, which is located at the top of this syllabus. Your email should begin with a greeting (Hi Jeff or Hello Professor will work just fine). The body of your email should be polite, correctly spelled and contain complete sentences with proper capitalization and grammar. “Text Speak” is not appropriate in a professional email. Finally, you should have a closing (Thanks, Regards or something similar) followed by your name. If your email does not meet the standard of professionalism expected by those who will eventually be hiring you, I will be responding with the following:
“Because I value the ability to communicate effectively through writing, as will your future employers, you will need to resend this email once it meets the following standards: A) an appropriate subject line, B) an appropriate greeting, C) a professional body and D) a closing with your name.”
Furthermore, I expect all face-to-face communication, whether it be with me or with other students, to be respectful and kind. Any breach of this expectation will be addressed.
Most importantly, I value you and your communication. Please come see me if you have any questions, concerns, or difficulties with the course. I will be glad to try to support you, but I can't assist you if I don't hear from you! You are always welcome to visit during my office hours or we can schedule an appointment, if needed.
Attendance & Participation:
Your regular attendance is expected and will affect your grade. Quizzes cannot be made up unless you are absent for a university approved absence. In addition, absences will negatively affect your discussion grade (see below). It is your responsibility to contact me via phone or e-mail if for some reason you are unable to attend class. I will be much more understanding if contacted before class begins rather than after the fact.
I expect you to attend each class, arriving on time with assigned readings and preparations for experiential exercises completed. Please be prepared to discuss course material, pose questions, and be actively involved in experiential in-class exercises.
If you miss more than 25% of class meeting, you will fail the course in accordance with university policy S-1.
Preparation:
Come to class prepared. I expect you to read the assigned chapters and have your materials with you every day. All assignments should be stapled if more than one page, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman or Book Antigua, 12 point font, with one inch margins. It is necessary that you check your Tigermail account and Blackboard regularly. Papers & all assignments are due on the date scheduled at the beginning of class. I do not accept assignments via email. You are responsible for any material and assignments that were covered in class and will need to get those from a classmate.
Student Conduct:
It is expected that each student acts in a respectful and professional manner. Once class begins, you are expected to stop talking, cell phones should be turned off and put away, and you should be attentive and engaged. It is also expected that students show courtesy by actively listening to others who are talking whether it be instructor or classmates.
Academic Integrity:
Students enrolled at East Texas Baptist University are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity avoiding all forms of cheating, illicit possession of examination materials, unwarranted access to instructor’s solutions’ manuals, plagiarism, forgery, collusion, and submissions of the same assignment to multiple courses.
Penalties that may be applied by the faculty member to individual cases of academic dishonesty by a student include one or more of the following:
· Failure of the class in question
· Failure of particular assignments
· Requirement to redo the work in question
· Requirement to submit additional work
All incidents related to violations of academic integrity are required to be reported to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and multiple violations of academic integrity will result in further disciplinary measures which could lead to dismissal from the University.
Accommodations:
A student with a disability may request appropriate accommodations for this course by contacting the Office of Academic Success and Graduate Services, Marshall Hall, Room 301, and providing the required documentation. If accommodations are approved by the Disability Accommodations Committee, the Office of Academic Success and Graduate Services will notify you and your professor of the approved accommodations. You must then discuss these accommodations with your professor.
Assignments:
All assignments will be available on Blackboard. It will be your responsibility to follow the syllabus and retrieve the appropriate assignments in a timely fashion.
All written assignments must be typed unless otherwise specified. With all assignments, please consider self-presentation and impression formation as you put together your written and presentational assignments. Also remember that for group projects/assignments, what is turned in reflects your entire group—each group member is personally responsible for making sure the assignment to be submitted is acceptable. Specific writing requirements for each assignment will be shared later in class.
Papers are expected to reflect college-level writing quality. In other words, spelling, organizational, and grammatical errors will greatly reduce your final grade. To aid in this, I recommend you make use of the ACE Lab to get help if need be. Additionally, I can review any written work prior to the due date and provide feedback on content so you can make appropriate changes. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please visit me during my office hours or make an appointment.
Course Website:
All students enrolled in this course have access to the course website on Blackboard. Copies of the syllabus, assignments, readings and grades will be available through this site. Additionally, any important announcements will be posted on the site. The textbook also has a companion website, afirstlook.com which is an excellent resource for you to study, review and apply theories from class.
Course Material:
You will be responsible for all materials in the class, including the book, supplemental readings, and lectures. All of this material may be used in both application and examination.
Grading:
Your grade should be a reflection of what you demonstrated you have learned, not a reflection either of how hard you've worked or what you report you have learned after you've received your grade. You must demonstrate that you have learned the material by the work that is submitted. I must base my evaluation of your work on work that you submit and the presentations you give. I will be happy to discuss your grade with you, with the following guidelines:
· You must wait 24 hours after receiving the assignment grade to contact me to discuss or appeal it. This way, you have time to fully review the comments given as well as review the assignment guidelines.
· You have one week from the date the assignment was returned in class or was posted on Blackboard to meet with me about it. When bringing assignments in for discussion, I expect that you have thoughtful arguments to make and can point to specifics in the assignment as well as in your work. I will not discuss grades after one week has elapsed. This course moves extremely quickly and we will have moved on to several other assignments by that point.
· Extra credit is never given to individual students. If extra points are available, all members of the class will have equal opportunity to participate. I will notify you of any such opportunities.
· Waiting until the end of the semester to start caring about your grade is neither productive nor convincing. Do not e-mail me after final grades are posted and expect big changes.
Exams and Quizzes (65%):
Quizzes will be given with some frequency during the semester. Quizzes may consist of any variety of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and/or essay questions. The quizzes may be announced in advance or they may be “pop quizzes.” The quizzes are intended to help you with your identification of key terms and concepts, prepare you for the exams and provide you with motivation and reward. Points available for quizzes will be deducted from the possible points for the exam that follows the quiz.
Exams may consist of any variety of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank and essay questions. The mid-term exam will cover material from the beginning of the semester up to mid-terms. The final exam will cover material throughout the course of the semester, but will have a larger emphasis on the second half of the semester. The mid-term and associated quizzes will be worth 300 points. The final exam and associated quizzes will be worth 350 points.
Written Assignments (25%):
Throughout the semester, you will write five separate Comparing Theories papers. Each of these papers will require you to summarize two separate theories, identify and explain the philosophical assumptions, necessity, human actionality and world view of each theory and then compare the theories and their usefulness. Each of these papers are to be submitted via Blackboard and are worth 50 points each.
Discussions (10%):
All students are expected to be actively involved in class discussions during the semester. These will be guided discussions of the material assigned for that night. The quality of your contributions to discussions will be converted to a running percentage (out of 100) which you can monitor to see how your contribution is affecting your grade.
It is not appropriate to read the textbook during discussions. You are encouraged to generate your own notes when preparing for class and you are welcome to refer to those notes during discussions.
***This syllabus is not a contract and is subject to change.***
Communication Theory
Tentative Class Schedule
Meeting Objective
Monday (1/11) Introduction to course
*For our next class meeting read chapter 1
Wednesday (1/13) Ch. 1, Launching Your Study of Communication Theory
*For our next class meeting read chapter 2
Friday (1/15) Ch. 2, Talk About Theory
*For our next class meeting read chapter 3
Monday (1/18) NO CLASS
Wednesday (1/20) Ch. 3, Weighing the Words
*For our next class meeting read chapter 4
Friday (1/22) Ch. 4, Mapping the Territory
*For our next class meeting read “Interpersonal Messages” and chapter 5
Monday (1/25) Interpersonal Messages, Ch. 5, Symbolic Interactionism
*For our next class meeting read chapter 6
Wednesday (1/27) Ch. 6, Coordinated Management of Meaning
*For our next class meeting read chapter 7
Friday (1/29) Ch. 7, Expectancy Violations Theory
*For our next class meeting read “Relational Development” and chapter 8
Monday (2/1) Relational Development, Ch. 8, Social Penetration Theory
*For our next class meeting read Archive #1, Attribution Theory
Wednesday (2/3) Archive #1, Attribution Theory,
*For our next class meeting read chapter 9
Friday (2/5) Ch. 9, Uncertainty Reduction Theory
*For our next class meeting read chapter 10 and complete paper #1
Monday (2/8) Paper #1 Due, Ch. 10, Social Information Processing Theory
*For our next class meeting read Archive #2, Social Exchange Theory
Wednesday (2/10) Archive #2, Social Exchange Theory
*For our next class meeting read “Relational Maintenance” and chapter 11
Friday (2/12) Relational Maintenance, Ch. 11, Relational Dialectics
*For our next class meeting read chapter 12 and complete paper #2
Monday (2/15) Paper #2 Due, Ch. 12, Communication Privacy Management Theory
*For our next class meeting read “Influence” and chapter 14
Wednesday (2/17) Influence, Ch. 14, Social Judgment Theory
*For our next class meeting read chapter 15
Friday (2/19) Ch. 15, Elaboration Likelihood Model
*For our next class meeting read chapter 16
Monday (2/22) Ch. 16, Cognitive Dissonance Theory
*For our next class meeting read “Group Communication” and chapter 17
Wednesday (2/24) Group Communication, Ch. 17, Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making
*For our next class meeting read chapter 18
Friday (2/26) Ch. 18, Symbolic Convergence Theory
*For our next class meeting read Archive #3, Hierarchy of Needs
Monday (2/29) Archive #3, Hierarchy of Needs
*For our next class meeting complete paper #3
Wednesday (3/2) Paper #3 Due, Mid-Term Exam Review
*For our next class meeting study for the mid-term exam
Friday (3/4) Mid-Term Exam
*For our next class meeting read “Organizational Communication” and chapter 20