GROUP COMMUNICATION
Dr. Kenneth N. Cissna Fall,
2001
CIS 3050
TR 9:30 to
10:45
Phone:
974-6820 (O), 973-3332 (H) CPR
250
Internet: kcissna@luna.cas.usf.edu
Office Hours: T 11-12, 2-5; R 11-12; and by
appointment
Course Description:
"A survey of theory and research in group
communication. Group
discussions and communication exercises to increase awareness of the
dynamics of human communication in small group settings." (USF Undergraduate
Catalog)
Goals and Objectives:
1.
For you to understand better small group communication
(cognitively), to become more aware of your own and others' communicative
behavior in small group settings (affective learning--appreciation and insight),
and to become more skillful in communicating in small groups
(implementation).
2.
For you to understand more fully how small groups do good in the
world. As Margaret Mead said many
years ago, "Never underestimate the power of a small group of people to change
the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Reading:
A packet of readings is available for this
course at Pro-Copy (5209 Fowler Avenue; 988-5900).
What Will Happen in Class:
A significant portion of the class time will
be allotted to allowing you to meet with your fellow students in your "permanent
groups." We will form groups by
choosing class members--and being chosen--through a process to be described
later in the semester. Groups will
be challenged with a goal for the semester, as well as two ongoing tasks, and
also will be provided activities every week that are related to the course
content and designed to further both the development of your group and your
ability to link the conceptual and experiential modes of learning. But what goes on in the group is up to
you‑‑and to your fellow group members.
The groups will meet during class every week throughout the semester, and
no doubt, will meet outside of class as well. The challenge is how to make the most of
this unusual opportunity.
Some of you may find this form of active
learning a disturbing experience.
Some students want the instructor to tell them "what to learn" or
"what we should be doing in the group."
I can't do that. It isn't
that I won't but that I can't--as you have to work it out for
yourselves. Besides that learning
about groups comes from struggling with process of trying to become a group,
groups necessarily involve other people, who, by definition, are other
and to some extent different than you.
For many people, working together and learning to manage those
differences will be one of the most rewarding educational tasks you'll ever
face. For them, the opportunity to
examine one's needs for authority and the chance to learn openly about
communication and human relationships in such a relatively unstructured and safe
situation is a welcome one, even though some frustration necessarily will part
of this process, too.
Because of the nature of the class, regular
attendance is essential. If you do
not attend faithfully, and I mean very faithfully, you cannot hope to
accomplish the objectives of this class or complete the assignments (or receive
a good grade). Most especially,
your groups cannot function effectively unless attendance (and
participation) is very high.
Please, do not remain in this course unless you are willing to commit
yourself to the challenge and excitement of learning about communication in
groups and about your own communication behavior in groups through the active
and student-directed process described above.
In addition, each group in this class will
select a site in the greater USF area in which to complete a project of some
significance both to the agency you're working for and to yourselves and your
group. I will call this your
"service learning" assignment. Each
group member must work on this assignment on location for 2 hours a week during
October and November. The objective
here is not to agree to stuff envelopes for some non-profit organization but to
do something for an organization that it can't do already with its staff and
present volunteers, something that utilizes your unique abilities.
Please, do not remain in this class unless
you are willing to commit to working unselfishly for two hours a week with your
fellow group members at a location
in the USF area.
Requirements and Assignments:
1.
Completing the reading is important to success in this class.
Rather than have exams or quizzes
about the reading, I ask only that you write a one-page (absolute maximum)
response to each and every assigned reading and that you turn them in each
week. Each entry must do three
things: (a) summarize the assigned
reading, (b) reflect on its implications to you, to your permanent group, to
other groups you are part of, to our class, and/or to our society, and (c) raise
a question(s) about this area or topic.
For each reading that you write about (and next week there are two
readings) you can earn a maximum of 10 points. I will add the points you accumulate
during the semester, and determine your grade for this portion of your grade in
the class (15%) using the following scale:
90% of the total points or more, A; 80% to 89%, B; 70% to 79%, C; 60% to
69%, D; less than 60%, F. These are
due every Tuesday at the beginning of class. If I receive a response paper later in
the day on Tuesday, I will subtract 1 point; if on Wednesday, 2 points; if on
Thursday, 3 points; if on Friday, 4 points; if on Monday, 5 points; if on the
Tuesday a week later than it was due, I will subtract 6 points from what you
would otherwise have received. I
will not accept response papers later than this. I do not want to quibble about when they
turned in--if you don't hand one to me personally, you should get it a member of
the department office staff to write the date and time and sign it before
putting it in my mailbox. I find
email attachments an inconvenience--do not use this method without checking with
me first. Faxes are fine. Of course, the normal way to turn in an
assignment is to give it to me in class.
2.
Each student will keep group communication journal throughout this
course. The journal is an
opportunity to reflect upon the course, its topic and content, and its
relationship to your group and to your life, and to communicate directly with
the instructor about all of that.
You will write three different kinds of entries during most weeks:
a.
Almost every week--starting with the second week--I will provide you a
topic, issue, or question that I would like you to write about. Please label these kind of journal
entries with the heading that is on the journal assignment that I give you (the
first of these will be "Orientation I."
Occasionally, I will give you two of these during a week, but when I do
that, the second one will replace the next kind of journal entry.
b.
Another kind of entry will report your observations about and
interpretations of what happened during your in-class group meeting each
week. Please label these "Group
Meeting--_________" with the date of the group meeting. Of course, these won't start until after
your groups begin meeting--after that, you will write one of these each
week.
c.
The third kind of entry will concern your service learning/volunteer
experience from that week. These
are more "field notes" that will be helpful to you both in understanding your
service-learning experience and also in writing the short papers noted
below. These should be labeled
"Service Learning--________" with the date that you complete writing the
entry. In the entry you should
include the date that the service work actually occurred.
I am expecting that each entry will be at
least 300 to 500 words. You MUST
bring your journal to every class session; I will collect them
(unannounced) several times during the semester--and for the final time on the
day indicated in the class schedule below.
The journal will constitute 25% of your semester grade.
3.
You will also write three, short papers in which you reflect on
your service-learning (first and second are to be 1-2 pages; the third, 2-3
pages). These papers are due on the
days indicated in the class schedule below. The papers contribute 10%, 10%, and 15%
of your semester grade. I will
provide you a series of questions or issues from which you can choose one to
address in each paper.
4.
The quality of your permanent group and what it has accomplished
(the extent to which it has honestly fulfilled the requirements described in the
"primary task" and the two "secondary tasks") and the quality of your
contributions to it, will count for 15% of your final grade. My evaluation of these issues is
necessarily highly subjective, and I will be looking for evidence of your
group's development and its accomplishments, and of your contribution to
the group.
5.
Attendance is vital and will count for 10% of your final
grade. The following chart shows
how absences will be converted to a grade for attendance:
0 or 1 absences A
1 or 2 absences B
3 or 4 absences C
5 or 6 absences D
7 or more absences F
Almost everyone is going to miss class once
in a while‑‑and when something else is more important to you than class, I hope
you'll be doing whatever that is.
No one's final grade will suffer from receiving a B for 10% of his or her
grade. If, however, you miss more
than one meeting of your group, you are harming not only yourself but your
group, and your grade will reflect that.
Groups will meet every Thursday from the 3rd week through the final exam
period.
To me, attending class means being present
for the whole class period.
I will take role at least once each class period. If you arrive after I have taken role,
please come in and join the class, but do not make a point of coming to tell me
that you are here. Although I will
be glad for your arrival, it will influence my attendance list only if I take
role a second time. The reason for
your absence (or lateness) is also not going to influence my attendance
sheet. (If someone ends up
hospitalized for three weeks, I am going to make an exception to this policy;
but don't waste your absences. If
you want to keep an advising appointment or go to the dentist or even stay home
with a cold the last week of class, I hope you saved the absence.)
Although attendance "counts" for only 10% of
your semester grade, I have found over the years that students who miss class
with some frequency are also falling behind on the reading, are not able to
write current and thoughtful journal entries, aren't contributing much to their
groups, and have little of substance to say in their
papers.
Hence, in reality attendance influences course grades much more than it
might seem when attendance counts for "only" 10%. Conversely, students who attend
faithfully, complete each of the assignments on time, and make an honest effort
to help their groups succeed, virtually always do very well (grade-wise--and
learn a lot, too).
Notes:
Assignments must be completed on time. I take off for late work, including
journals that aren't turned in--or aren't in class--when I ask for them.
Assignments that are not completed (e.g., a
journal that is only half done) is much worse than one that is completed but
done poorly. A substantially
incomplete assignment or one that isn't done at all, or an even worse attendance
record than anticipated above, will result in my lowering the student's semester
grade in addition to giving that assignment an F.
In accordance with USF policy, students who
anticipate the necessity of being absent from class due to a major religious
observance must provide notice of the date(s) to the instructor, in which case
the student will be given an opportunity to make up any missed work without
penalty to his or her grade. If you
participate in a faith that has a major religious observance that coincides with
our class meetings and that will cause you to miss class, you must notify me, in
writing, by the second week of class.
I will use the +/- grading system when
assigning final grades for this class.
Cissna
SPC 3425
Fall 2001 Schedule
of Classes, Readings, and Assignments
Date Topic and Assignment Reading
Aug. 28, 30 Orientation to Class and to Groups No reading
Sept. 4, 6 Orientation Continued Schultz; Luft, ch. 3
Sept. 11, 13 Group Formation Keyton, ch. 12, pp. 351-356
Sept. 18, 20 Group Development Keyton, ch. 12, pp. 356-374
Sept. 25, 27 Group Interaction Luft, ch. 10
Sept. 28 Groups' Project Paragraphs Due
Oct. 2, 4 Apathy and Flight Jones et al., ch. 7
Oct. 9, 11 Conflict Jones et al., 8
Oct. 16, 18 Group Norms and Roles Keyton, ch. 3, pp. 59-80
Oct.
18 First
Service Learning Paper Due
Oct.
23, 25
Leadership I Jones et
al., 11
Oct. 30, Nov. 1 Leadership II Bormann & Bormann, ch. 8, pp. 168-181
Nov. 6, 8 Cohesiveness Bormann & Bormann, ch. 4, pp. 94-101
Nov.
8 Second
Service Learning Paper Due
Nov. 13, 15 Problem Solving and Decision Making Engleberg & Wynn, ch. 9
Nov. 20 No formal class--available for group No reading
meetings and consultation with instructor
Nov. 27, 29 Group Performance Beebe and Masterson, ch. 12
Nov. 27 Third Service Learning Paper Due
Dec. 4, 6 Group Separation Sinclair-James & Stohl
Dec.
6 Completed
Journal Due
Dec. 13 (10:30am) Final Class Period (scheduled final No reading
exam period)