Communication Inquiry

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Develop media literacy.
• Describe a broad range of human communication theories that reflect the foundation of the communication discipline.
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of the process of theory construction including social scientific, rhetorical, interpretive, and cultural paradigms as the basis of the field.
• Evaluate various philosophical perspectives governing the study of human communication behavior in order to identify types of theory, the purpose of theory and criteria for evaluating theory.
• Understand that paradigms for studying communication behavior are deeply embedded in cultural ways of knowing and useful only to the extent that we understand the boundaries of theory construction.
• Apply a working knowledge of information literacy as a tool for scholarship in communication studies including APA style for professional writing, library search techniques, and use of primary sources (journal articles and other research publications).
• Utilize theory as a vehicle for critical thinking, reflection, reading, and writing regarding our understanding of the ways communication processes assist us to understand, predict, and transform identities, relationships, and communities.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
In class assignments	25 points
Class projects	35 points
Exams	40 points

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
92.5-100	A
90-92.4	A-
87.5-89.9	B+
82.5-87.4	B
80-82.4	B-
77.5-79.9	C+
72.5-77.4	C
70-72.4	C-
67.5-69.9	D+
62.5-67.4	D
60-62.4	D-
0-59.9	F

Attendance/Participation:

You are only allowed to miss 4 classes for the semester. On your fifth absence, you will receive an automatic zero for the class.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

Book: Postman, N (2006) Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business 20th anniversary edition, Penguin Books, New York, New York.