SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 200-3

Silva Tenenbein	Fall 2002
RCB 6234; 604-291-4788 (after Sept.)	Burnaby Eve.
Email: stenenbe@sfu.ca

 

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-centred 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 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 (heavy) workloads, students work together in groups with real organizations, who will be presented with their work at the end of the semester.

Required Texts:

Ingre, David, Express: A Brief Guide to Technical and Business Communication.
Nelson Thomson Learning, 2001. ISBN 0-17-616758-7.
Wilcox, Dennis L. PUBLIC RELATIONS Writing and Media Techniques (4th edition)
Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 2001. ISBN 0-321-0714-3

(Highly) Recommended Text:

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

Week 1 Introduction to the course concepts
Week 2 Interpersonal and Multicultural Communication
Week 3 Group Process, Conflict Resolution , and Audience Identification,
Week 4 Interviewing, in Theory and Practice
Week 5 Research and Writing 1
Week 6 Research and Writing 2 / Communication Planning 1
Week 7 Mass Audience Communication
Week 8 Writing Collateral Material
Week 9 Midterm
Week 10 Communication Planning 2 and Ethical Behaviour
Week 11 Presentation Skills 1
Week 12 Presentation Skills 2 and Communication Consulting
Week 13 Group Presentations

Grading:

Short Assignments 45%
Mid-term 15%
Participation 10%
Final Project 30%

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.)