COM 205 Syllabus
Meeting Time:
- Thursday evenings, 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. . . . March 19 to May 14, 1998
Textbook:
Course Description and Objectives:
This course will provide a broad overview of oral communication as it occurs in personal relationships, group activities and public speaking situations. Emphasis will primarily be given to verbal aspects with non-verbal aspects of communication discussed concomitantly. This class will serve to combine both theoretical and practical applications of communication. By the end of this class you should be able to:
- 1. define basic concepts from the field of oral communication.
- 2. be a contributing member of a problem-solving group.
- 3. research and arrange information in the form of a speaking outline.
- 4. recognize and deliver the major types of public speeches.
- 5. apply interpersonal communication theory in a personal relationship.
- 6. be better consumers of the messages that you hear every day.
Course Policies:
1. Attendance: Attendance is required at each class meeting. Since we have so few
opportunities to meet, your attendance and participation are crucial each week. Since
the class meets nine times, you will receive 10 points for each class session you are
present. An additional 10 points will be given for in-class participation. Thus your
grade for attendance and participation will be 100 points.
2. Late Work: The speaking round will begin and end on the same date of class.
If you must be absent on a day that the class will be delivering speeches, your speech
will be penalized 10 points. If you do not notify me before your absence, it will be
viewed as an irreparable loss and you will forfeit all the points for that assignment. View your speaking date as an unbreakable commitment. No late work (assignments and quizzes) will be accepted unless you either notify me in advance of an absence or make arrangements with me for make-up work before the next class session. With a total point system, any missed assignments have the potential to significantly affect your grade.
3. Academic dishonesty: All scholastic dishonesty is unacceptable. Scholastic dishonesty
includes cheating on exams, turning in reports and term papers as one's own when they
are not, lying, stealing exams and other work, allowing other students to copy one's
work in order to meet a grade requirement for a course, and plagiarism. Plagiarism is
defined as passing off another's ideas as your own. Copying or summarizing another's
ideas in written or oral report must be correctly attributed to the source. Any of these
aforementioned offenses warrant academic discipline, including the revocation of a
grade or the most severe penalty allowed by the college for a repeat offense.
Grading Procedure:
Your final grade will be composed of the following assignments:
- Quizzes-100
- Impromptu speech-25
- Informative speech-100
- Persuasive speech-100
- Group presentation-200
- Speaking outlines-20
- Presentation report-30
- Interpersonal "journal"-25
- Final Exam-100
- Attendance & participation-100
- Total possible points=800
A = 720 to 800 points
B = 640 to 719 points
C = 560 to 639 points
D = 480 to 559 points
Assignment Descriptions:
- 1. Quizzes: Over the course of our meetings, there will be five quizzes over the assigned
chapters for each class session. These quizzes will take various written forms and will be
worth 20 points each. Your grasp of the concepts of this class will be practically
evidenced in your "public performances," but your theoretical grasp of the material will
be evidenced in your ability to reproduce the ideas in the form of a quiz.
- 2. Impromptu speech: Your first speech will be delivered "impromptu," or with minimal
preparation time and absence of notes. This speech is an exercise in reducing
communication apprehension more than an exercise in formal preparation and delivery
of public speeches. This speech will be worth 25 points, which you will receive as long
as you just give it your best shot.
- 3. Informative speech: The first of the two major speeches will be 2 to 4 minutes in
length. This speech will serve to inform the audience about a topic by either
defining an idea for the purpose of understanding or demonstrating a concept or
process for the purpose of duplication. This speech is worth 100 points.
- 4. Persuasive speech: The second major speech will be 3 to 5 minutes in length. The
focus for this speech will be to change the attitudes and/or beliefs of your audience on
a particular topic. You will accomplish this by persuading the audience on a question of
fact or value, which will be discussed in detail at the appropriate time. This speech is
also worth 100 points.
- 5. Group presentation: Each group will be organized as a problem solving group. The
presentation of your thoughts and research will be conducted by each member of the
group and will be at least 5 minutes in length. Your focus should be the status of the
problem as it exists now, the extent of the problem, and finally solutions for the
problem. The model on page 246 of the text will be used as an exemplar. This
assignment will be judged on each aspect of the class: interpersonal, group dynamics
and public speaking. This cumulative assignment is worth 200 points.
- 6. Speaking outlines and presentation report: Your research for each speech should be
placed in the form of a speaking outline. The outlines for the two major speeches
will be worth an additional one tenth of the assignment grade. The presentation will
also require an outline as well as additional paperwork designed to facilitate a means
of assessing group cohesion and performance. The total points for these will be 50.
- 7. Interpersonal "journal": During the week after the lecture and class discussion on
interpersonal communication, you will be keeping a journal for one week that
describes your interpersonal contacts from the week in light of the principals and
ideas presented in class. This is worth 25 points.
- 8. Final Exam: This will be a written, cumulative final covering the concepts presented
in the textbook chapters and the lecture notes worth 100 points.
Course Schedule:
- 3/19-Introduction to class; Communication basics - 1, 2
- 3/26-Interpersonal communication; Listening - 3, 6, 7
- 4/2-Group and team communication - 8, 9
- 4/9-Verbal and nonverbal communication - 4, 5
- 4/16-Public speaking - 10, 11, 12
- 4/23-Public speaking cont.; Informative speaking - 13, 14
- 4/30-Deliver informative speeches; Persuasion - 15
- 5/7-Deliver persuasive speeches; group work
- 5/14-Deliver group presentations, Final exam
Click here For a short list of references in speech communication.
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Email: stucker@email.kcc.edu