SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 200-3

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Prerequisites:

25 credit hours. CMNS 110 and CMNS 130 highly recommended.

This course is recommended for Co-op students.

Overview:

In this interactive, learner-centered course, students will begin to acquire theoretical understandings and practical skills necessary for participation in any public discourse. In addition to being exposed to the process of writing for different audiences, students will have opportunities to develop interpersonal communication skills, including interviewing and active listening; management skills, including giving effective feedback; and teamwork skills, including peer evaluation. Sharing their workloads, students will work together in groups with real organizations, who will be presented with their work at the end of the semester.

Required Texts:

1. Ingre, David, Express: A Brief Guide to Technical and Business Communication.
Nelson Thomson Learning, 2001. ISBN 0-17-616758-7.
2. Guth, David W. and Charles Marsh, Public Relations: A Values-driven Approach Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon, 2000 ISBN 0-205-29574-6

(Highly) Recommended Text:

Kessler, L. and D. McDonald, When Words Collide ( 5th edition). Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2000.

1) Introduction to the course concepts
2) Interpersonal, Multicultural and Ethical Communication
3) Audience Identification
4) Interviewing, in Theory and Practice
5) Research and Writing 1
6) Research and Writing 2 / Communication Planning 1
7) Mass Audience Communication
8) Writing Collateral Material
9) Midterm
10) Communication Planning
11) Presentation Skills 1
12) Presentation Skills 2
13) Class Wrap-up

Grading:

Short Assignments 50%
Mid-term 20%
Participation 5%
Final Project 25%

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will also follow Policy T10.02 with respect to "Intellectual Honesty" and "Academic Discipline" (see the current calendar, General Regulations Section.)