SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 200-3

 

Silva Tenenbein                                                                                                Spring 2005

RCB 6234; 604-291-4788 (after Jan. 10/04)                                                Burnaby Day

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 and different mediums, 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 as well as non-academic writing skills.

 

Sharing (heavy) workloads, students work together in groups, developing communications plans and creating media kits for real non-profit organizations. Students are expected to present their kits to their clients at the end of the semester. Group work is an integral part of CMNS 200.

 

Please look up the website for CMNS 200 at www.sfu.ca/cmns200 before making the decision to register for this course.

 

Required Text:

Wilcox, Dennis L., Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques 5th Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.  2005 ISBN 020541849X

 

Highly Recommended Text:

Kessler/McDonald  When Words Collide - A Media Writer's Guide to Grammar and Style (with InfoTrac) 6th Edition.  Nelson/Thomson Canada 2003   ISBN 053456206X

 

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.)