PST 311 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONSAssignments
PST 311 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONSFall 2006
Required:
Textbook: Ronald B. Adler, Russell F. Proctor II, and Neil Towne, Looking Out/Looking In, 11th Edition, Thomson/Wadsworth.
Student Activities Manual for Adler, Proctor, and Towne’s Looking Out/Looking In, 11th Edition, Thomson/Wadsworth
Assignments:
Introduction:
August 30 –
September 8: Welcome to the class. Check-in by email and submit your proctor’s name, telephone number, and email address to me and the IEP office. Your proctor must have an email address for me to be able to send the tests to him/her. Be sure to read the Policies (button on class website) and follow the given criteria for your proctor selection.
Check in on the discussion board.
Getting acquainted: Tell us about yourself; for example, your name, where you live and work, what hobbies you have, etc. Tell us anything that you think we should know about you. You have the freedom to use a nickname or “handle” on the discussion board if you don’t want to use your real name. Just be sure to let me know by email what your nickname is, so I can award the credit for the participation questions to you.
Week 1:
Sept. 11 – 15: Read Chapter 1.
Email assignments:
1.1 Communication Skills Inventory
1.2 Expanding your communication effectiveness
1.6 Dear Professor—Relational Responses
Discussion Board questions:
1. What will you do if you can’t remember someone’s name the next time you see him or her? Is it better to pretend you remember a person’s name or come right out and tell the person you forgot? Just how valuable is “tact” in social and work situations?
2. How do the needs for relational messages of affection, respect, and control vary in relationships?
Week 2:
Sept. 18 – 22: Read Chapter 2.
Email assignments:
2.1 Who do you think you are?
2.2 Ego boosters and busters
Discussion Board questions:
1. What are the advantages of high self-monitoring? The disadvantages?
2. How can we balance paying attention to our own behavior without focusing on that of others?
Week 3:
Sept. 25 – 29: Read Chapter 3.
Email assignments:
STUDY GUIDE:
True-False
Completion
Multiple Choice: Recognizing Perception-Checking Elements
Discussion Board questions:
1. What aspects of perception checking are most/least useful? How can you use perception checking most effectively in your life?
2. How do constructs limit our perception of others?
SEPTEMBER 29: Test 1: This test covers chapters 1-3. It will consist of twenty-five multiple choice and twenty-five true-false questions. (Each question is worth two points.) Deadline for submission will be midnight, CST, Tuesday, October 3 , 2006. NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Week 4:
Oct. 2 – 6: Read Chapter 4.
Email assignments:
4.3 Stating emotions effectively
4.4 Disputing irrational thoughts
Discussion Board questions:
1. How does expression of feelings vary from situation to situation? From receiver to receiver?
2. What are some reasons for/for not expressing true feelings in each situation with each receiver?
Week 5:
Oct. 9 - 13 Read Chapter 5
Email assignments:
5.2 Behavioral Language
5.3 Responsible Language
Discussion Board questions:
1. Do biases involve irrational thinking based on common fallacies?
2. What is meant by higher-level abstraction?
3. What is meant by lower-level abstraction?
Week 6:
Oct. 16 – 20: (Second part of chapter 5)
Email assignments:
1. Learn the abbreviated terms for TTY devices.
2. Write two letters (one personal and one job-related) using as many abbreviations from the list as possible.
Discussion Board question:
1. How often do you encounter calls from deaf, hearing or speech-impaired persons?
From non-English speakers? How do you handle the calls? What is your agency’s procedure for calls of this nature?
2. Do you often encounter problems with language based on gender or culture? How do you handle this?
3. Do you try to adjust your language to that of a caller? Does it help or hinder?
OCTOBER 20: Midterm Exam (this exam covers chapters 4, and 5. The exam will consist of twenty-five multiple choice and twenty true-false questions at two points each. You will also be required to write a short essay, which will be worth 20 points of the exam grade. Deadline for submission will be Tuesday, October 24, 2006, midnight, CST. NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Week 7:
Oct. 23 - 27: Read Chapter 6.
Email assignments:
6.3 Evaluation Ambiguity
Study Guide:
True-False
Completion
Multiple Choice
Discussion Board question:
Do you use perception-checking statements?
Give at least two examples.
Week 8:
Oct. 30 – Nov 3: Read Chapter 7 (about one half):
Email assignments:
7.2 Effective Questioning
7.3 Listening Choices
Discussion Board Question:
1. Media influences our listening and nonlistening (the brief segments that we have become accustomed to on radio and television discourage focused listening). Describe ineffective listening styles that you think are more predominant in media contexts.
Week 9:
Nov. 6 – 10: Finish reading Chapter 7:
Email assignments:
Study Guide
True-False
Multiple Choice
Discussion Board question:
1. Are your communications one-way or two-way? Explain in detail.
Week 10:
Nov. 13 – 17: Read Chapter 8.
Email assignments:
8.3 Reasons for non-disclosure
8.4 Degrees of self-disclosure
Discussion Board question:
1. What level of self-disclosure is appropriate at the workplace?
2. How can you prevent self-disclosure from backfiring?
NOVEMBER 17: Test 2
(This test will cover chapters 6, 7, and 8. It consists of twenty-five multiple choice questions and twenty-five true/false questions. Each answer is worth 2 points.)
Deadline for submission is midnight, CST, November 21, 2006. NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Week 11:
Nov. 20 – 24: Read Chapter 9.
Email assignments:
9.1 Understanding your defensive responses
9.2 Defensive and supportive language
Discussion Board question:
1. How well do you handle criticism? From your boss? From your family? From a special person? From a co-worker. Give examples.
2. At the end of your shift, when you are tired, you get a caller who uses obscene, vulgar, or derogatory language. How do you handle this call?
Week 12:
Nov. 27 – Dec. 1: Read Chapter 10.
Email assignments:
10.5 Win-win problem solving
Discussion Board question:
1. After having read the chapter and applied the concepts, how well is conflict resolution working for you?
DECEMBER 6: FINAL EXAM
The exam consists of twenty-five multiple choice and twenty-five true-false questions worth two points each. Remember that the final is comprehensive and covers all ten chapters of the textbook. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS midnight, CST, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2006.
NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.