Syllabus CMST&101

BINTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION

 

                                                                                    

Instructor: Gaia Hawkin                        Course Website: http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/Artshum/materials/

Office Hours: To Be Announced                                   

Phone: 564-4185        

Email: ghawkin@bcc.ctc.edu I try to answer w/in 24 hours

Arts & Humanities: Student Procedures and Expectations: http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/Artshum/policy.html

 

Required Textbook:  Communication Principles for a Lifetime: Beebe and Ivy

 Course Description:  This course presents a sample of different offerings in the Communication Studies Department. You will get practice in Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communications and Group Dynamics. The first weeks will be spent on Public Speaking in the form of “Meet and Greet” and Demonstration Speeches for thirty percent of your grade. The next unit will be spent on Interpersonal communication, including the Interpersonal Project, and will also be worth thirty percent of your grade. The Final will be in Group Dynamics this activity will earn you thirty percent of your grade. Attendance makes up the additional ten percent.  After this class, you will be better able to decide which more advanced class attracts you.

 

You will be offered a chance to sample how you can improve and enjoy making presentations to a group. Next come ways to discover how to expand your success with interpersonal relationships, this includes family, friends, personal relationships and getting ahead in business relationships. Employers beg us to help prospective workers be masters of group dynamics. This class can give you tools to use for your benefit for the rest of your life.

 

 This is a very “Hands On” class your prompt attendance and your participation is VITAL to your success in this class. You will be taking part in Learning Groups, partnered discussion and solo discussion every day. You will need to bring the textbook to class at every meeting.

 

The major assignment in the Public Speaking segment is based on a form we have all watched on television for years. You will show us how to DO something we may not have thought we could do before. Remember that you cannot complete the whole task in the ten minutes allowed. That means you have to plan your presentation, prepare completed segments to show us clearly what each step of the way looks like. If you are preparing a food, make enough of the final product to share with the rest of the class. A description of this assignment will be posted on my website, as well as a copy of the sign-up sheet so that you can always check and see the date you chose.

 

The Second unit will be spent in lecture/discussion about Interpersonal Communications. Culminating in an exciting project. Plan to get to know at least one partner very well; this will help when it is time to form a group. I find that having a study buddy, someone that you can do review with, someone that can give you detailed information of what went on during any class, or portion thereof you might have missed is VERY helpful.

 

The group portion expects you to read about positive group dynamics and then, you and a group will attempt to solve a problem. I will make-up the membership in a group, but will take your requests for partners into consideration. A description of this assignment will be posted on my website, as well as a copy of the sign-up sheet so that you can always check and see the date you chose.

 

College-level reading comprehension and speed as well as English writing

Ability is essential to success in this course. If you have concerns about your proficiency in any of these areas please see me as soon as possible.

 

Methods of Evaluation: 

            PUBLIC SPEAKING                          35%

            INTERPERSONAL                             35%

            GROUP PROJECT                             20%

            ATTENDANCE                                  10%

                                                                        100%

Late work must be submitted within two weeks, with a loss of grade to be determined, but not less than one letter grade per late session. I will not accept work more than two weeks after your return to class.  Speeches missed because of absence may not be able to be completed in the time remaining. So plan to be there when you said that you would.

 

Because this is a participation class, there will not be written examinations. However, I reserve the right to give “pop quizzes” at any time I feel people are not maintaining their reading schedule.

                                                                                               

POLICIES

 

Assignments: All written assignments will be typed, using standard margins and double spacing. Handwritten assignments will not be accepted and late penalties will apply while they are redone. All assignments of more than one page must be stapled or clipped together to insure full credit. All references must be cited in either APA or MLA styles. More about this will be discussed in class. An online version of these style manuals is available through the following sites: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html

 

Copies of all course assignments and evaluation documents are available on your MyBCC site page.

 

Grading Criteria: Every grade you receive on an assignment in this class will be rendered as a letter grade. To ensure that you understand what these scores mean in this class, you should consider the following evaluative scale. For purposes of qualitative expression,

A = Outstanding, little to no room for improvement; B = Good, high achievement; C = Satisfactory; D = Poor achievement, but passing; F = Unsatisfactory, not passing.

 

A         94 - 100                       A -       90 - 93.9                      B +      87 - 89.9                      B          83 - 86.9

B -       80 - 82.9                      C +      77 - 79.9                      C         73 - 76.9                      C -       70 - 72.9

D +      67 - 69.9                      D         60 - 66.9                      F          < 60

 

 

Attendance [Part A]: It is the Division’s policy that students who miss 2 weeks or more of classes will receive an “F”. In addition, all students begin with 100 points in their Attendance file. 10 points are deducted from your 100 Attendance points every time you are absent. [5 points if you are tardy.] This becomes your grade in Attendance worth 10% of your over-all grade. I do not see your absence as grounds for duplicating lectures that I have given or extending privileges that are not shared by those who attend daily. You will be informed before you have reached this fatal total number of absences. [Remember, in classes meeting only twice weekly, four absences is two weeks worth of non-attendance.] You will be asked to cease attending class when you have had this amount of absence. Arriving late to class is disruptive and appears inconsiderate of those who are on time. Chronic tardiness will be treated as absence. See  http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/Artshum/policy.html for more detail.

 

·         If you know you will not be able to make it to class on a day when you are scheduled to speak, you can demonstrate your ability to adapt to the rhetorical situation by making arrangements with a classmate to trade speaking dates with you. You must also inform me of this change to avoid penalty.

·         if illness or an emergency keeps you from meeting your commitments, you should do everything you can to contact me as soon as possible. E-mail me (within 24 hours) and document the reason for an unavoidable absence (e.g. a note from your doctor, a copy of the accident report, etc.) . See  http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/Artshum/policy.html for more detail.

 

 

Speaking assignment sign up sheets will be posted on my website as they are filled out. Please feel free to e-mail me at ghawkin@bcc.ctc.edu any time that you need help. I usually respond within twenty-four hours, sometimes even sooner.

·         Demonstration Speeches must be given on the date you signed for. You MAY switch dates with another student. Switching a date for another will result in bonus point for the “helper”, no loss of points for the “helped”.

 

 

Late Written Assignments: In the interests of equity and fairness, you will be given a reasonable amount of time to complete all written assignments. In the event you do not turn in your assignment in class on the day it is due, the following academic penalty will be assessed:  late written assignments will receive a 10% reduction [e.g., A to a B, etc.] for every full day they are late. [Down to a maximum of a D+] Assignments will be considered late if they are not turned in by the end of class on their due date. You may e-mail me an assignment to assure that it is turned in on time. Please send me the assignment open, and not an enclosure as the firewall tends to put enclosures into junk mail and deletes them. Bonus points for early submission are accrued for doing this as well as for handing in hard copy.

 

Students with Disability: Disability Support Services provides classroom accommodations and advocacy for eligible students who have disabilities. Contact DSS at (425) 564-2498; TTY line, (425) 564-4110 for authorization and assistance.

 

Academic Integrity & Classroom Conduct:  You should know that plagiarism is a serious violation of your contract as a student and will be treated severely. It is important for you to understand that plagiarism is any representation of another person’s words or ideas in a manner that makes it seem as if they were your own.  Obviously, this means that you may not copy another person’s outlines, papers, or speeches. But it also means that you should not use another person’s unique phrases or organizational schemes without making it clear to your audience where those words or ideas originated. For more on plagiarism, classroom conduct, and all other issues of student behavior and responsibilities see:  http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/Artshum/policy.html and http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/stupro/handbook_cd/catalog/2003-04.pdf .