Select from the hyperlinks below, depending upon which section of Small Group Communication you are enrolled in:
SP 219, CRN 21882 MW 12:45-2, Des 3
Spring 2007 Jon Bouknight
Small Group Communication
3 credits
Description:
Provides theory and practice in leadership style, conflict resolution, and role taking in the small group situation. The emphasis will be on task-oriented decision making groups. (This class will also use computerized conferences to permit asynchronous group interaction.)
Objectives:
The following competencies have been established for this course and the parenthetical lists denote activities designed to achieve those goals.
Outcome 1: Students will explain the transactional model of communication and describe how messages may be sent and received at both conscious and unconscious levels. (Exams, Group Reports,)
Outcome 2: Students will describe the behaviors and attitudes used by the competent communicator who adapts appropriately to contexts, other people, and the communicator’s goals. (Exams, Class Participation)
Outcome 3: Students will explain and analyze the differences between a “me” orientation and a “we” orientation to problem solving. (Exams, Class Participation)
Outcome 4: Students will explain and analyze the systematic nature of teams. (Group Reports, Class Participation)
Outcome 5: Students will recognize the cyclical nature of team development, create appropriately negotiated norms for group maintenance and performance enhancement and adapt to the tensions of the storming stage. (Group Reports, Class Particpation)
Outcome 6: Students will recognize and describe roles necessary for task performance and team maintenance, including the role of leader. (Examination, Group Reports, Progress Statements)
Outcome 7: Students will recognize and demonstrate the behaviors which produce a positive team climate. (Examination, Class Participation)
Outcome 8: Students will recognize and analyze their own power resources and those of other team members. (Examination, Class Participation)
Outcome 9: Students will perform appropriate research tasks in the small group setting. (Group Reports)
Outcome 10: Students will analyze and report on the communication skills needed for managing conflict and tension in the small group setting. (Group Reports, Class Participation)
Office and hours:
Jefferson 116, MWR 7:45-8:40 am; MW 5-5:30 pm; T 1-1:50 pm and by appointment; phone 330-4394; e-mail jbouknight@cocc.edu. See also the course website <http://www.cocc.edu/jbouknight> for additional course information.
Text:
Rothwell, J. Dan. In Mixed Company: Small Group Communication 6th edition. New York, Harcourt, 2006.
Computer Skills:
This course uses my webpage and outlook. All students will have access to a conference through Outlook.
Group Planning Time:
Anticipate spending some time outside of class working with your group. As with any productive, decision-making group, some groups may have difficulty scheduling a meeting time for all members. These difficulties may be overcome by determination, use of the electronic conferences, or working in subgroups.
Because time for groups to work together is therefore a precious commodity, please note that the calendar has scheduled some of our class time for “Group planning.” Other class times—even though not scheduled—may be converted to “Group planning time” at my discretion. In order to encourage participation of all members, I may pass around sign up sheets during some of these scheduled or unscheduled group planning opportunities. Failure to attend class on a regular basis can affect the student’s participation grade.
Group planning time is an important component of the class, but it takes away from lecture/class-discussion time. Therefore, although you will be responsible for the material presented in the Rothwell text, not including the appendices, it is not possible for us to recap the entire body of knowledge in class. Students with particular questions about a reading assignment are encouraged to focus our attention on those areas during lecture/class-discussions. Study guides will be provided via the course conference.
Grading and Assignments:
This course will features three kinds of measurements: participation, exams and group reports. Students may choose the relative weights of these tasks within prescribed parameters. (See To Be Decided.) The points in individual assignments and the entire course may be converted into letter grades by means of the following scale: A = 100-93%, A-=92.9-90% B+ = 89.9 -87%, B=86.9-83%, B-=82.9-80%, C+ =79.9-77%, C = 76.9-70%. D, = 69.9-60% and so on.
Participation: 50 points of Final Grade:
Based on class participation and written responses to in class exercises. Class participation will also include attendance during “group planning” times and attendance at and comments on the Presentations of other groups. Comments for other groups will be on a single sheet per group and will include the other group’s name, thesis of the other group’s presentation and one strength and one area for improvement in the planning or execution of the presentation.
Exams: 150 points of Final Grade
Exam 1—50
Exam 2—50
Exam 3—50
Exams will be based on the text, class discussion and the experiences in group dynamics. Exams will be done cooperatively, in groups, and then a second part of the exam will be done individually. The second part of the exam will not be as long as the first part of the exam; it will cover the same material but will be used to evaluate each individual’s accountability toward the cooperative part of the exam. Students scoring 80% and above on the second or individual part will receive the full score that the group earned on the cooperative portion of the exam. Individuals scoring less will have the score their group earned adjusted according to the following scale:
70-79%=3 points off of the cooperative score
60-69%=6 points off of the cooperative score
50-59%=9 points off of the cooperative score
Below 50=12 points off of the cooperative score
Note: The cooperative portion of the exam will take about 25 to 30 minutes. Any individual missing the cooperative exam or arriving more than 5 minutes late for the exam must take the cooperative exam separately from the group.
Group Presentations: 100 or 200 points
Reports will be judged according to the clarity of the presentation, strength of the examples used, relevance to course material, and involvement by all members in the preparation and presentation. A more specific list of evaluative criteria can be put together during class time.
Chaps 1-5 Presentation—50 or 100 points
Small student groups will report on some focused element of the theoretical material from the text and how it operates in a real or fictional group setting. (Preliminary criteria for selecting such real or fictional groups are (1) that the subject demonstrate some aspects of group dynamics, and (2) that there be enough information written or shown to support and develop the group's report.) See also, criteria and spreadsheet checklists for reports on course conference.
Chaps 6-11 OR Debatable Issue Presentation—50 or 100 points
Small student groups will report on some new aspect of textbook theory (now from chaps 6-11) and how it operates in a real or fictional group setting. Alternatively, groups may report on some debatable issue and give their best answer to this issue using research, the standard agenda, and the group decision making process. (Preliminary criteria for such report subjects are (1) timeliness and relevance to the audience, and (2) enough information to develop the group’s report.)
Some example theory presentation subjects:
Charlie Manson's "Family" as described in Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter.
John F. Kennedy's decision-making team that resulted in the Bay of Pigs as described in Irving Janis' Groupthink. (This text features a number of chapters on other governmental groups' fiascoes and successes).
The Eight-Trays Set (a CRIPS gang), as described in Sanyika Shakur's Monster: Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member.
Heaven’s Gate Cult as described in newspaper accts and elsewhere.
Mountain Climbing Teams--from a variety of sources, for example Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air.
A Marine unit as shown in Full Metal Jacket.
North Vietnamese "Cells" as described in Frances Fitzgerald's Fire in the Lake.
The group of women who seize power in Aristophanes' Lysistrata.
Here are some debatable issues presentations from the past:
Alternatives to funding Education in Oregon
Revising the national tax system
US Foreign Policy in Iraq (or with Iran, Venezuela, Bolivia, Korea)?
Methods of supporting Daycare at COCC
Contrails or Chemtrails?
Urban Growth in Bend—What sort of controls, fees?
What’s the most effective single technique for quitting smoking?
Riot Suppression Techniques: What’s the best choice?
Overweight American Youth: What’s the cause?
Citing Sources:
Some of your work may not have outside sources, but most shall. Plan to learn and use proper citation methods with your group presentations and notes, so that you can refer interested listeners to all sources that you use, including texts assigned for this course. See the links in our College website for proper citing using MLA, APA or Chicago styles (follow these links: “Library”; “Research Tools”; “Online Reference Sources”; “Citation Style Guides.”)
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s ideas or words as though they are your own. Because plagiarism is a breach of academic ethics and a theft of intellectual property, students who plagiarize on any Sp219 assignment should expect to receive a zero for the assignment.
Withdraws and Grade “W”:
Students may drop any full-term course they choose by the end of the seventh week of classes. A “drop” made before this deadline will leave no grade on the transcript and requires no instructor’s signature.
The College also allows students to drop after the seventh week and up to the Wednesday of the final week of classes. However, these drops require the instructor’s signature and will yield a “W” on the student’s transcript. This liberal drop policy was designed to help students who--although performing adequately during the quarter--find themselves in emergency situations and unable to complete the coursework satisfactorily. Any student who has kept up with the course and is in such an emergency situation should ask for my signature. Nevertheless, I do not wish to see this policy abused. Therefore, students who have not kept up with the course, who have allowed the seventh week to slip by and who solicit my signature to escape their own neglect will be refused.
Four Issues to Be Decided:
The following issues are to be decided by parliamentary procedure during first class meetings.
A) How will groups be assigned?
1) Randomly: My computer will put you into groups.
2) Autonomously: Students will prepare one side of one 8.5 X 11” sheet Group Participation Resumes in advance, spend 20 minutes presenting their own resumes and reading those of other students (They can be taped to the wall or affixed to a bulletin board). Students then divide into groups, the number of members of which will be specified by the instructor. Process is complete when all students are in equivalent sized groups. Students missing this date must appeal before one half of the class groups at a later date. Note: Whether the class chooses this method or not, Group Participation Resumes will be due at the beginning second class meeting. They will become part of your class participation score.
B) Should the group projects be worth 50 points each or 100 points each?
C) Can members be "fired" from groups? If the class chooses to do so, the instructor has the following minimum requirements for such procedures:
1) Group members must unanimously agree to behaviors worthy of firing as first order of group's business.
2) Group members must provide a system of fair warning to someone in danger of being fired.
3) Group members must inform instructor when a warning has taken place.
4) Before firing, group members must individually state grievances. Such statements should be as specific as possible, typed, and connected to the behaviors agreed upon in section 1.
5) Individuals threatened with firing shall have the opportunity to respond to group observations.
6) Any individual fired may join another group, providing the new group agrees to "hiring." Working independently on group projects will earn--at best--a C.
D) Should group members be “auto-fired” if they are missing for two weeks from class and the group meetings (without any contact or warning).
E) Should the group project scores contain a self-graded portion in which the students in a group evaluate their own and their colleague’s contributions and effort? Such a process would take the points awarded on an assignment and allow group members to redistribute those points according to the sum of the group’s evaluations. For more detail see the website. The evaluations would be due on the day of the final presentation.
Calendar
Do readings before class on day of assignment.
Apr. 2: Parliamentary Procedure or Consensus
Apr. 4: Practice of Parliamentary Procedure; Bring Group Participant Resumes for credit Settling of three issues of syllabus; Rothwell, 1-36, Communication Competence
Apr. 9: Rothwell, 37-67; Groups as Systems; Groups as Systems, Group planning time;
Apr. 11: Rothwell, 68-107; Group Development
Apr. 16: Group Development; Movie Spots;Group planning time;
Apr. 18: Group Development
Apr. 23: Exam 1 covering Rothwell, 1-107; and Parliamentary Procedure; Group planning time;
Apr. 25: Rothwell, 108-137, Group Climate
Apr 30: Rothwell, 138-175, Roles and Leadership; Group planning time
May 2: Rothwell, 176-209, Developing Effective Teams
May 7: Chap 1-5 Presentations
May 9: Chap 1-5 Presentations
May 14: Developing Effective Teams;
May 16: Exam 2 covering Rothwell, 108-209;
May 21: Rothwell, 210-247, Defective Decision Making
May 23: Rothwell, 248-290, Effective decision making and problem solving; Group planning time
May 28: (Memorial Day)
May 30: Read Rothwell, 291-336, Power in Groups
June 5: Chap 6-11 Presentations /Debatable Issue Presentations: Rothwell, 337-369, Conflict management
June 7: Chap 6-11 Presentations /Debatable Issue Presentations Rothwell, 370-390, Technology and Virtual Groups;
Final exam: Tues., June 12, 10:15 am -12:15 pm, Exam 3 covering Rothwell, 209-390, Turn in group and self evaluations (if the class so chooses in Parliamentary Procedure).
SP 219, CRN 22578 MW 5:45-7, Des 3
Spring 2007 Jon Bouknight
Small Group Communication
3 credits
Description:
Provides theory and practice in leadership style, conflict resolution, and role taking in the small group situation. The emphasis will be on task-oriented decision making groups. (This class will also use computerized conferences to permit asynchronous group interaction.)
Objectives:
The following competencies have been established for this course and the parenthetical lists denote activities designed to achieve those goals.
Outcome 1: Students will explain the transactional model of communication and describe how messages may be sent and received at both conscious and unconscious levels. (Exams, Group Reports,)
Outcome 2: Students will describe the behaviors and attitudes used by the competent communicator who adapts appropriately to contexts, other people, and the communicator’s goals. (Exams, Class Participation)
Outcome 3: Students will explain and analyze the differences between a “me” orientation and a “we” orientation to problem solving. (Exams, Class Participation)
Outcome 4: Students will explain and analyze the systematic nature of teams. (Group Reports, Class Participation)
Outcome 5: Students will recognize the cyclical nature of team development, create appropriately negotiated norms for group maintenance and performance enhancement and adapt to the tensions of the storming stage. (Group Reports, Class Particpation)
Outcome 6: Students will recognize and describe roles necessary for task performance and team maintenance, including the role of leader. (Examination, Group Reports, Progress Statements)
Outcome 7: Students will recognize and demonstrate the behaviors which produce a positive team climate. (Examination, Class Participation)
Outcome 8: Students will recognize and analyze their own power resources and those of other team members. (Examination, Class Participation)
Outcome 9: Students will perform appropriate research tasks in the small group setting. (Group Reports)
Outcome 10: Students will analyze and report on the communication skills needed for managing conflict and tension in the small group setting. (Group Reports, Class Participation)
Office and hours:
Jefferson 116, MWR 7:45-8:40 am; MW 5-5:30 pm; T 1-1:50 pm and by appointment; phone 330-4394; e-mail jbouknight@cocc.edu. See also the course website <http://www.cocc.edu/jbouknight> for additional course information.
Text:
Rothwell, J. Dan. In Mixed Company: Small Group Communication 6th edition. New York, Harcourt, 2006.
Computer Skills:
This course uses my webpage and outlook. All students will have access to a conference through Outlook.
Group Planning Time:
Anticipate spending some time outside of class working with your group. As with any productive, decision-making group, some groups may have difficulty scheduling a meeting time for all members. These difficulties may be overcome by determination, use of the electronic conferences, or working in subgroups.
Because time for groups to work together is therefore a precious commodity, please note that the calendar has scheduled some of our class time for “Group planning.” Other class times—even though not scheduled—may be converted to “Group planning time” at my discretion. In order to encourage participation of all members, I may pass around sign up sheets during some of these scheduled or unscheduled group planning opportunities. Failure to attend class on a regular basis can affect the student’s participation grade.
Group planning time is an important component of the class, but it takes away from lecture/class-discussion time. Therefore, although you will be responsible for the material presented in the Rothwell text, not including the appendices, it is not possible for us to recap the entire body of knowledge in class. Students with particular questions about a reading assignment are encouraged to focus our attention on those areas during lecture/class-discussions. Study guides will be provided via the course conference.
Grading and Assignments:
This course will features three kinds of measurements: participation, exams and group reports. Students may choose the relative weights of these tasks within prescribed parameters. (See To Be Decided.) The points in individual assignments and the entire course may be converted into letter grades by means of the following scale: A = 100-93%, A-=92.9-90% B+ = 89.9 -87%, B=86.9-83%, B-=82.9-80%, C+ =79.9-77%, C = 76.9-70%. D, = 69.9-60% and so on.
Participation: 50 points of Final Grade:
Based on class participation and written responses to in class exercises. Class participation will also include attendance during “group planning” times and attendance at and comments on the Presentations of other groups. Comments for other groups will be on a single sheet per group and will include the other group’s name, thesis of the other group’s presentation and one strength and one area for improvement in the planning or execution of the presentation.
Exams: 150 points of Final Grade
Exam 1—50
Exam 2—50
Exam 3—50
Exams will be based on the text, class discussion and the experiences in group dynamics. Exams will be done cooperatively, in groups, and then a second part of the exam will be done individually. The second part of the exam will not be as long as the first part of the exam; it will cover the same material but will be used to evaluate each individual’s accountability toward the cooperative part of the exam. Students scoring 80% and above on the second or individual part will receive the full score that the group earned on the cooperative portion of the exam. Individuals scoring less will have the score their group earned adjusted according to the following scale:
70-79%=3 points off of the cooperative score
60-69%=6 points off of the cooperative score
50-59%=9 points off of the cooperative score
Below 50=12 points off of the cooperative score
Note: The cooperative portion of the exam will take about 25 to 30 minutes. Any individual missing the cooperative exam or arriving more than 5 minutes late for the exam must take the cooperative exam separately from the group.
Group Presentations: 100 or 200 points
Reports will be judged according to the clarity of the presentation, strength of the examples used, relevance to course material, and involvement by all members in the preparation and presentation. A more specific list of evaluative criteria can be put together during class time.
Chaps 1-5 Presentation—50 or 100 points
Small student groups will report on some focused element of the theoretical material from the text and how it operates in a real or fictional group setting. (Preliminary criteria for selecting such real or fictional groups are (1) that the subject demonstrate some aspects of group dynamics, and (2) that there be enough information written or shown to support and develop the group's report.) See also, criteria and spreadsheet checklists for reports on course conference.
Chaps 6-11 OR Debatable Issue Presentation—50 or 100 points
Small student groups will report on some new aspect of textbook theory (now from chaps 6-11) and how it operates in a real or fictional group setting. Alternatively, groups may report on some debatable issue and give their best answer to this issue using research, the standard agenda, and the group decision making process. (Preliminary criteria for such report subjects are (1) timeliness and relevance to the audience, and (2) enough information to develop the group’s report.)
Some example theory presentation subjects:
Charlie Manson's "Family" as described in Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter.
John F. Kennedy's decision-making team that resulted in the Bay of Pigs as described in Irving Janis' Groupthink. (This text features a number of chapters on other governmental groups' fiascoes and successes).
The Eight-Trays Set (a CRIPS gang), as described in Sanyika Shakur's Monster: Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member.
Heaven’s Gate Cult as described in newspaper accts and elsewhere.
Mountain Climbing Teams--from a variety of sources, for example Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air.
A Marine unit as shown in Full Metal Jacket.
North Vietnamese "Cells" as described in Frances Fitzgerald's Fire in the Lake.
The group of women who seize power in Aristophanes' Lysistrata.
Here are some debatable issues presentations from the past:
Alternatives to funding Education in Oregon
Revising the national tax system
US Foreign Policy in Iraq (or with Iran, Venezuela, Bolivia, Korea)?
Methods of supporting Daycare at COCC
Contrails or Chemtrails?
Urban Growth in Bend—What sort of controls, fees?
What’s the most effective single technique for quitting smoking?
Riot Suppression Techniques: What’s the best choice?
Overweight American Youth: What’s the cause?
Citing Sources:
Some of your work may not have outside sources, but most shall. Plan to learn and use proper citation methods with your group presentations and notes, so that you can refer interested listeners to all sources that you use, including texts assigned for this course. See the links in our College website for proper citing using MLA, APA or Chicago styles (follow these links: “Library”; “Research Tools”; “Online Reference Sources”; “Citation Style Guides.”)
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s ideas or words as though they are your own. Because plagiarism is a breach of academic ethics and a theft of intellectual property, students who plagiarize on any Sp219 assignment should expect to receive a zero for the assignment.
Withdraws and Grade “W”:
Students may drop any full-term course they choose by the end of the seventh week of classes. A “drop” made before this deadline will leave no grade on the transcript and requires no instructor’s signature.
The College also allows students to drop after the seventh week and up to the Wednesday of the final week of classes. However, these drops require the instructor’s signature and will yield a “W” on the student’s transcript. This liberal drop policy was designed to help students who--although performing adequately during the quarter--find themselves in emergency situations and unable to complete the coursework satisfactorily. Any student who has kept up with the course and is in such an emergency situation should ask for my signature. Nevertheless, I do not wish to see this policy abused. Therefore, students who have not kept up with the course, who have allowed the seventh week to slip by and who solicit my signature to escape their own neglect will be refused.
Four Issues to Be Decided:
The following issues are to be decided by parliamentary procedure during first class meetings.
A) How will groups be assigned?
1) Randomly: My computer will put you into groups.
2) Autonomously: Students will prepare one side of one 8.5 X 11” sheet Group Participation Resumes in advance, spend 20 minutes presenting their own resumes and reading those of other students (They can be taped to the wall or affixed to a bulletin board). Students then divide into groups, the number of members of which will be specified by the instructor. Process is complete when all students are in equivalent sized groups. Students missing this date must appeal before one half of the class groups at a later date. Note: Whether the class chooses this method or not, Group Participation Resumes will be due at the beginning second class meeting. They will become part of your class participation score.
B) Should the group projects be worth 50 points each or 100 points each?
C) Can members be "fired" from groups? If the class chooses to do so, the instructor has the following minimum requirements for such procedures:
1) Group members must unanimously agree to behaviors worthy of firing as first order of group's business.
2) Group members must provide a system of fair warning to someone in danger of being fired.
3) Group members must inform instructor when a warning has taken place.
4) Before firing, group members must individually state grievances. Such statements should be as specific as possible, typed, and connected to the behaviors agreed upon in section 1.
5) Individuals threatened with firing shall have the opportunity to respond to group observations.
6) Any individual fired may join another group, providing the new group agrees to "hiring." Working independently on group projects will earn--at best--a C.
D) Should group members be “auto-fired” if they are missing for two weeks from class and the group meetings (without any contact or warning).
E) Should the group project scores contain a self-graded portion in which the students in a group evaluate their own and their colleague’s contributions and effort? Such a process would take the points awarded on an assignment and allow group members to redistribute those points according to the sum of the group’s evaluations. For more detail see the website. The evaluations would be due on the day of the final presentation.
Calendar
Do readings before class on day of assignment.
Apr. 2: Parliamentary Procedure or Consensus
Apr. 4: Practice of Parliamentary Procedure; Bring Group Participant Resumes for credit Settling of three issues of syllabus; Rothwell, 1-36, Communication Competence
Apr. 9: Rothwell, 37-67; Groups as Systems; Groups as Systems, Group planning time;
Apr. 11: Rothwell, 68-107; Group Development
Apr. 16: Group Development; Movie Spots;Group planning time;
Apr. 18: Group Development
Apr. 23: Exam 1 covering Rothwell, 1-107; and Parliamentary Procedure; Group planning time;
Apr. 25: Rothwell, 108-137, Group Climate
Apr 30: Rothwell, 138-175, Roles and Leadership; Group planning time
May 2: Rothwell, 176-209, Developing Effective Teams
May 7: Chap 1-5 Presentations
May 9: Chap 1-5 Presentations
May 14: Developing Effective Teams;
May 16: Exam 2 covering Rothwell, 108-209;
May 21: Rothwell, 210-247, Defective Decision Making
May 23: Rothwell, 248-290, Effective decision making and problem solving; Group planning time
May 28: (Memorial Day)
May 30: Read Rothwell, 291-336, Power in Groups
June 5: Chap 6-11 Presentations /Debatable Issue Presentations: Rothwell, 337-369, Conflict management
June 7: Chap 6-11 Presentations /Debatable Issue Presentations Rothwell, 370-390, Technology and Virtual Groups;
Final exam: Mon. June 11, 5:30 – 7:30 pm, Exam 3 covering Rothwell, 209-390, Turn in group and self evaluations (if the class so chooses in Parliamentary Procedure).