Introduction to Communication I

Communication 201

Professor: David Domke

Office: Communications 102

Office Hours:

Mondays 9:00 - 10:15am; and by appointment

Office Phone: 543-2662
E-mail: domke@uw.edu

Autumn 2011

Mondays and Wednesdays , 10:30-12:20, Kane 120

Discussion/small group sessions in sections on Fridays

Syllabus

Full Syllabus (MS Word): 201-CourseSyllabus_2011.doc

Grading System

The course grade will consist of several components, added together and converted into a decimal grade through a scale that begins with the average of the five highest scores in the class. Course points are spread over two writing assignments, three exams, and various forms of participation in the discussion sections on Fridays. In this class, you will be challenged to think clearly and critically and to express this thinking through exams, written papers, and small-group discussions. Incompletes for the course are not given except in highly unusual circumstances.

Examinations

There are three examinations: exam #1 during class time on Monday, October 24; exam #2 during class time on Wednesday, November 16; and exam #3 on Monday, December 12, at 8:30 a.m. All exams will cover assigned readings and lectures. Early exams or make-up exams rarely will be given, and only to students who have unavoidable conflicts (that can be documented) with the exam time. The exams will consist of multiple-choice and short-answer questions. Approximately one week before each exam students will be given a study guide.

Class Attendance

Studies have shown that attending class is the most influential factor in learning course material. We will spend most of the class periods discussing material not covered directly in the readings; rather, we will use the readings as a jumping-off point for further learning. In particular, many of the key concepts for the course assignments are not contained in the readings and will be discussed only in lectures or sections. If you miss lectures, you should get (1) notes from another student and (2) copies of the overheads from the course Web page. Then you are welcome to talk to the professor or a TA to clarify the concepts.

Discussion Sections on Fridays

This course meets Mondays and Wednesdays for lectures, and Fridays for discussion sections in much smaller groups. Teaching Assistants will lead these sections, and will provide students with a section syllabus on the first Friday of the quarter.

C.L.U.E. Study Sessions

The Center for Learning and Undergraduate Enrichment is run by the Office of Undergraduate Education, and its goal is to provide students with study opportunities in evenings. For this class, a Teaching Assistant will lead study/review sessions prior to each of the three exams. The TA will be available to answer questions and clarify ideas. Information on each review session will be announced as we get close to each exam.

Extra Credit

During the quarter, you will be given a chance to earn extra credit. Each opportunity will be worth 2 points of class credit. These points will be assigned after the course scale is developed, so that anyone who chooses not to do these things will not be disadvantaged.

1. Opportunity 1: Participate in a research study conducted by a graduate student or faculty member. Such participation, if it becomes available, will involve 30-60 minutes of your time, and will be something you can fit into your schedule. More information on this opportunity if and when it develops. So, to be clear, this opportunity may happen.

2. Opportunity 2: Participate in The Hope Covenant project, in which you apply something learned in class this quarter to make the world a better place. It could be creating a new media message, choosing to stand against some damaging cultural ideologies, being more thoughtful about how you consume media messages, and so on. You will need to write a one-page, single-spaced paper talking about what you did, and reflecting on the experience. This can be turned in to your TA sometime between 9 am on Dec. 5, and 12 noon on Dec. 9. Nothing early or late will be accepted. So, to be clear, this is a for-sure opportunity to earn extra credit.

Course Grading Scale

Course grades will be calculated according to the following procedure.

1. Students’ points from the (a) three exams, (b) two essays, and (3) participation in TA-led sections will be added together. The total possible points is 400.

2. The actual top five scores among students in the class will be identified and averaged together. Just as a point of reference, in fall 2010 quarter, the average of the top five scores was 381; in fall 2009 quarter, the average of the top five scores was 387. It is likely that the average of the top five scores for the course this quarter will be in the area of these two examples.

3. The score that is the average of the top five scores in the class will be assigned a grade of 4.0 on the UW grading scale.

4. Next, a calculation will be done to determine the score point total that is 60 percent of the top score. Whatever this point total is will become the lowest passing grade on the UW grading scale — that is, a 0.7. For the fall 2010 course, that point total was 228; for the fall 2009 course, that point total was 232.

5. These calculations, then, identify the number of COM 201 course points that are equivalent to a 4.0 and 0.7 on the UW grading system. From here it is basic mathematics to determine where a student’s specific course point totals falls on this range.

6. A few examples from fall 2010:
- Students with 360-364 points received a 3.6 course grade.
- Students with 333-336 points received a 3.0 course grade.
- Students with 314-318 points received a 2.6 course grade.
- Students with 272-276 points received a 1.7 course grade.