Course Overview:

This course fulfills the basic speech requirement at the Northern Virginia Community College. It is an introductory class with a focus on interpersonal communication, public speaking and small group team work. It strives to fulfill the program requirements of the Speech Communication Program.

As you explore the content of the course modules, you will see that we will start the class in the first module with an overview of the process of communication. In module two we will examine how language and nonverbal symbol systems work. Interpersonal Relationships will be our focus for the third module. Our fourth module will be public speaking. .For that we will do a formal informative or persuasive speech. Module five winds up the semester with a group project and a group presentation. Our group work will entail viewing a film and assessing how interpersonal relationships are depicted in the film. Along with describing interpersonal communications, your group will also evaluate how effectively the characters in the film related to one another. Your assessments for the film analysis should also be supported with concepts from our textbook and from the Interpersonal Web, which is a Web page that we will use at various point throughout the semester.

To navigate through the class, I have provided two main tools. A Timeline tool provides a week by week schedule that will enable you to keep track of the various deadlines for activities. The daily designations are recommendations. However, you ought to participate frequently in the class. Don't wait until the last day of a module to do all of your postings for you will then afford no time for others to provide you with feedback. Nor will you be able to provide follow-up comments to their feedback. Feedback and follow-up represents one third of the participation in the class Discussion Board. A second tool for navigation of the class is the site index, which enables you to get anywhere in the course from a single page. Try the navigation tools by returning to the home page, or by scrolling up to the top of this page.

The textbook for this course will also serve as one of our primary learning tools. We will use Communication: Making Connections 5th ed. by William J. Seiler and Melissa L. Beall.

Return to the top

Class Assignments and Class Participation

There are three ways that you will demonstrate your knowledge of course concepts:

1. by regular participation on the class bulletin board,

2. by completing two exams (more below about the exams) and

3. by applying what you have learned to two graded oral assignments. These oral assignments include a formal speech (module four) and a group presentation. (module five)

We will conduct online interaction by way of an online bulletin board, which is located on our Blackboard Website. (A link Blackboard and the discussion area can be found on the home page.) This is also referred to as the class Discussion Board.

You will find a brief synopsis of the focus questions for each of the topics of discussion by clicking on the "Class Topics" button. (On this page, you can scroll back up to find it on your left.)

You will also need an email address that is provided by the Virginia Communicty College System. To find your username and password information for your email account, follow the directions for Step Three that are found on our class portal.

Return to the top

Online Interaction

As a Web based class, this section of SPD 110 will enable us to explore how computer mediated communication and the Internet work as channels for personal and public communication. While a typical class will meet exclusively at a designated time each week and for a fixed duration of time, we will interact in an asynchronous mode. That is, we won't all be communicating with one another at the exact same time. Yet, this is also properly labeled a hybrid distance-education class--rather than being a purely asynchronous class. We will have "real-time" face to face meetings, and there will be specified periods of time during which you should complete the various modules and activities of the class. In a unique way we will be seeing how electronic media of communication work alongside face to face interaction.

Online Classes take more time than some may realize. Plan to make between five and seven postings per week to the class discussion board. In addition to initiating messages, you will also be expected to provide useful, constructive feedback to your colleagues in the class. Further details about the weight of various grades can be found on the class syllabus.

Several computer skills will also be required to participate in the class. You will need to be able to:

There are five times that we will meet on campus. An inherent feature of any speech communication class is the use of oral discourse and face to face presence for communication. If you cannot make those meetings, you ought to consider dropping the class immediately. DO NOT ASK FOR EXCEPTIONS.

Return to the top

Exams

There are two exams. Exam # 1 covers material from the first six chapters of our textbook. Exam # 2 covers chapters thirteen through sixteen. See the class timeline for the dates for these exams.

Return to the top

Grading

Return to the top