Northeastern State University

College of Liberal Arts

 

Fall 2006 syllabus for

SPCH 5063 Group Dynamics and Conference Leadership

(last updated 12.12.06)

 

Instructor: Amy Aldridge Sanford, PhD         

Office:  Leoser Center (Tahlequah Campus)                Ext.:  2896

E-mail: aldridga@nsuok.edu (This is the best way to contact me)         Office Hours:  See Contact Info on webpage.

 

Your professor’s philosophy of education:  I am a facilitator of learning.  The participants in any given classroom enter with different paradigms and truths.  I aid in the exploration of those truths.  I do NOT believe that the instructor is THE holder of Truth; therefore we must all participate to co-construct knowledge and create synergy.  When a student starts to feel uncomfortable in his/her existing paradigm that means s/he is growing as a scholar.   My desire is that all of my students feel the joy of discomfort from time to time.

 

Grading Philosophy:  I prefer intrinsic motivations, and therefore, am not a fan of letter grades.  I believe this extrinsic reward is too often the only motivation for students to complete assignments.  A college education should be viewed as a privilege and an opportunity to become learned and scholarly.  However, until there is a better system, grades will be assigned in this class.  Work that meets the minimum requirements of an assignment, is completed on time and displays average involvement with the course content is deserving of a “C.”  Higher grades are awarded to work that goes above and beyond the minimum standards to produce papers and presentations that reflect superior intellectual effort, excellence in critical analysis and overall creativity in the approach towards any given assignment.  In other words, grades are earned in this class.  An “A” is attainable but will require more than minimal effort.

 

Required Texts:

Allison, Graham and Philip Zelikow.  (1999).  Essence of decision:  Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis.  (2nd edition). 

            Longman.  ISBN:  0-321-01349-2.

Burtis, John O. and Paul D. Turman. (2005). Group communication pitfalls:  Overcoming barriers to an effective group

            experience. Sage Publications.  ISBN:  1-4129-1535-X.

Vaughan, Diane.  (1996).  The challenger launch decision:  Risky technology, culture and deviance at NASA.  The University

of Chicago Press.  ISBN:  0-226-85176-1.

 

Recommended Additional Text:

Griffin, Em.  (2005).  A first look at communication theory.  (6th ed.)  Boston:  McGraw Hill.  ISBN:  007321518X.

Janis, Irving L.  (1989).  Crucial decisions:  Leadership in policymaking and crisis management.  The Free Press.

            ISBN:  0-02-916161-4.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). (5th ed.)(2001). American Psychological

            Association.  ISBN:  1557987912.

Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research:  Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.  ISBN:  0761925538

 

Catalogue Description of Course:    Investigates the capacity and potential of the group in terms of problem solving, fact finding, and the inherent capabilities of the group versus the individual.  Considerable time devoted to an investigation of the leadership role and its influence on leadership styles.

 

Pre-requisites:  Graduate-level course.

 

Learning Outcomes:  By the end of the course, you will have…

  • Recognized group communication pitfalls and be able to identify groups in history that suffered pitfalls.
  • Worked in groups and be able to critique you own work and that of others.
  • Read multiple scholarly articles on group communication and leadership and formulate written reading responses to those articles.
  • Written a scholarly paper based upon a case study.
  • Presented your scholarly paper to your classmates.
  • Made at least one group presentation.
  • Attended class regularly and participated in academic discussions.
  • Planned and executed a symposium.

 

Class Attendance: You are allowed three hours of unexcused absences in this course.  For every hour of unexcused absence over the three hours, there will be a 20-point deduction from your final point total. Absences will be excused only under the following circumstances:

  • Absence while under a doctor’s care (written documentation required).
  • Absence due to participation in an authorized college activity (written documentation required).
  • Absence due to attendance at legal proceedings requiring your presence (advance notification and written documentation required).
  • Absence due to the death or serious illness of an immediate family member (written documentation required).

I consider an excused absence one in which the absence is beyond your control. (For example, the time of a check up or a dental appointment CAN BE controlled).  I will not excuse an absence in which you have to take somebody else to the doctor, hospital, dentist, court, etc.  That is why I give you the three hours of unexcused absences.  Use them wisely.  I think good attendance is very important.  All written documentation is due the class period before the final.

 

 Missed/Late Assignments:

Written Work:  For each class session that an assignment is turned in late, you will be assessed a penalty of 10 points for that particular assignment.

E-mailing assignments/computer problems:  You will need to submit most of your assignments in hard copy.  On occasion, it will be possible to submit assignments via e-mail.  Please note:  your computer breaking, printer not working, etc. will never be accepted as an excuse for late work.  It is your responsibility to begin work early enough to accommodate unforeseen circumstances.  In addition, e-mailed work is recorded as “turned in” according the time stamp in the introduction to your message.  “I got your address wrong” or “my e-mail wasn’t working” will not be accepted as reasons for late assignments.

Presentations:  If you miss an assigned speech, we may not have time to allow you to present it later.  If you know you are going to miss an assigned speech, trade speaking dates with someone in the class, and let the instructor know about the change.  Failure to make a presentation will result in a zero for that assignment.

 

Class Participation: You are expected to attend class regularly and be prepared so that you may intelligently discuss assigned material.  Proper preparation means reading the assigned chapters and completing daily assignments.  Warning:  This professor is well known for counting students absent when they are not prepared for class.

 

Classroom Climate:  The success of this course is directly related to the sense of community that we will develop in this classroom.  Participation is essential to this process.  I encourage you to share your views and listen to those of others.  Debate and discussion are an important part of the learning process.  While there will no doubt be disagreements, I expect the members of this community (including myself) to challenge ideas in a manner that reflects respect and recognition of opposing viewpoints without attacking individuals.  There is no doubt in my mind that controversial topics will come up during the course of this class.  They always do. If you are a person who is easily offended by the topics of sex, alcohol, abortion, the death penalty, racial stereotypes, and other potentially controversial topics, then it is advised that you enroll in another communication course not taught by this instructor.

 

Outline of Course:  All of the following assignments and point totals are considered tentative and may change over the course of the semester due to your progress and interests. The readings provided here are for educational purposes only.  We will use them for teaching, scholarship, research, criticism, and comment.  You cannot financially profit from these works. 

 

 

Week

Reading

Movie

Activity

Due

1

Syllabus

 

Group activity

 

2

Burtis & Turman- Ch 1

Gouran, 1988

 

 

Group presentation

Lecture:  9 Characteristics of Effective Groups

Reading Response

(see below for guidelines)

Example

3/4

Ball, 1995

Allison & Zelikow (Intro)

BT-3 and 4

“13 Days”

 

Reading Response

5/6

Vaughan (Intro & Ch 1)

Hirokawa et al., 1987

BT-5 and 6

“Challenger:  The Untold Story”

 

Reading Response

Research Proposals due

 

7/8

 Vaughan Ch 8

 

Group Work

 

9/10

Imes, 2003

BT-7 and 8

“Miss Evers’ Boys”

 

Reading Response

Outlines due

11

Aldridge, 2003 *

Rollie, 2003*

BT-9 and 10

 

 

Reading Response

12/13

Gouran, 1984

 

 

Reading Response

Paper presentations

(see below for guidelines)

14

 

 

Prepare for symposia (see link below for guidelines)

 

15

 

 

 

Final Paper

(see below for guidelines)

16

 

 

 

Symposia

in UC 222

 

These readings on Functional Theory may be helpful when reading Aldridge and Rollie: 

Gouran & Hirokawa, 1996 (functional theory & constraints)

Gouran et al., 1993 (history of functional theory)

Hirokawa, 1999 (lecture w/synopsis)

 

All students must take their final on their scheduled date.  Put this in your calendar.  The test WILL NOT be given early and CANNOT be made up. The final will be comprehensive from the quizzes, lectures, in-class activities, and reading assignments. 

 

Grading:         Class Participation (20%)

·        Students will receive a zero (no credit), 5 (half credit), or 10 (full credit) during each class to represent his/her participation during that class session.

·        Simply talking does not guarantee full credit for class participation.  Students are expected to make intelligent verbal contributions to the class.  A student’s discourse should reflect his/her knowledge of the text and his/her ability to synthesize that knowledge with further theoretical implications and application.

·        Group presentations and the symposia will be calculated in this participation grade and may be weighted more than in-class discussion.

Reading Responses (20%)

·        Reading responses are reflections you have on the reading.  They should be one to two pages and thoroughly thought out.  Mark up your book/articles while you are reading and discuss the most interesting things to you in your reading response for that chapter. 

·        Reading responses should include brief summaries of the text (be sure to use page numbers when directly quoting from the readings), your analysis of the material, and examples when appropriate.  This will add depth to your responses.

·        At the end of your response, write some possible discussion questions.  Students will be chosen at random to share their responses and lead the class in discussion.  This will also affect your participation grade.

Final Research Paper (40%)

·        Graduate students’ papers should be at least 14 pages in length (not including cover pages and reference pages). 

·        They should be formatted in MLA or APA style (i.e., double spaced, 12 point TNR font, 1” margins).

·        Ideally I’d like to see some of your papers submitted to a scholarly conference.

·        Focus on faulty decision making in groups (see papers by Imes, Rollie, or Aldridge for guidance).

·        Please pay attention to deadlines throughout the semester pertaining to this paper.

Presentation of Final Paper (10%)

Symposium (10%)

 

 

"A grade (is) an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite amount of material." (Author Unknown)

 

Class Grievances:

I am willing to meet with you to discuss our class and/or particular assignments.  I ask that you please wait 24 hours after you have received a graded assignment to come see me.  Before we discuss your work, you are required to type out a document detailing what particular elements of your work you feel merit discussion. 

 

Students with Disabilities: If any member of the class feels that he or she has a disability and requires special accommodations, of any nature whatsoever, I will work with you to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to perform in this class.  Please advise me of such disability and the desired accommodations at the close of the first class period.  Students with disabilities who need accommodations to achieve course objectives should visit the Office of Student Affairs, Ext. 2120.

 

Plagiarism:  According to Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary (1983, 2nd Ed.), to plagiarize is “to steal or pass of ideas or words of another as one’s own…to use created productions without crediting the source…to commit literary theft…to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source” (p.1371).  Students in this course will be responsible for authenticating any assignment submitted to the instructor.  If asked, you must be able to produce proof that the assignment you submitted is in fact your own work.  Therefore, it is recommended that you engage in a verifiable working process on assignments.  Keep copies of all drafts of your work, make photocopies of research materials, write summaries of research materials, keep logs or journals of your work on assignments and papers, learn to save drafts or versions of assignments under individual file names on computer diskettes, etc.  In addition to requiring a student to authenticate his/her work, the instructor may employ various other means of ascertaining authenticity—such as engaging in internet searches, creating quizzes based on student work, requiring students to explain their work and/or process orally, etc.

 

NSU’s policy on Academic Misconduct (from http://www.nsuok.edu/policies/academic/misconduct.html): Academic misconduct includes cheating (using unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise), plagiarism, falsification of records, unauthorized possession of examinations, intimidation, and any and all other actions that may improperly affect the evaluation of a student’s academic performance or achievement, or assisting others in any such act or attempts to engage in such acts. Academic misconduct in any form is inimical to the purposes and functions of the University and therefore is unacceptable and prohibited.  Any faculty member, administrator or staff member may identify an act of academic misconduct and should report that act to the department head/college dean, Vice President for Academic Affairs or administrative supervisor.  Students violating the standards of academic honesty are subject to disciplinary action including reduction of a grade(s) in a specific course, assignment, paper, or project; a formal or informal reprimand at the professorial, dean, or academic vice president level; expulsion from the class in which the violation occurred; expulsion from a program; or expulsion from the University.

 

Inclement Weather/Disaster Policy:  The following are basic premises for the inclement weather policy at Northeastern State University:

1. Classes are expected to be held if at all possible.
2. It is the student's responsibility to receive the information when weather is questionable.
3. Neither students nor faculty are expected to risk life or limb.
4. Faculty members are obligated to hold classes if the University is not closed, unless the faculty member is unable to get to campus.

Policy: During times of inclement weather, decisions concerning day classes will be made by 6:00 a.m. in order for the media to be notified and for students to receive the announcement before they leave home. Decisions concerning night classes will be made by 3:00 p.m.

The following media will be notified regarding closing of the campus:


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