COMMUNICATION 201
COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNITY
FALL 2013
Michael W. Rapp
Office: Communication 233
Email: mrapp@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00pm –3:30pm, or by appointment
Schedule Number: 20828
TEXT:
Wood, J.T. (2011, 6th ed.). Communication Mosaics: An introduction to the field of communication.
Belmont, CA: Thomas-Learning.
INTSRTUCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE:
This course will examine the discipline of Communication: its history, methods, theories, and basic
understanding of how to understand your major and professors in order to graduate in a timely manner. My
classroom philosophy is centered on respect and honesty to create a comfortable learning environment. With
a large classroom, it becomes everyone’s responsibility to ensure that all students and guests feel comfortable
to ask and answer questions and make comments to advance everyone’s learning and understanding of
communication. Class runs most effectively when we all participate and contribute to the day’s discussion.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. To think more critically about the process and study of communication.
2. To gain a better understanding of the discipline of communication.
3. To be able to identify, describe, and evaluate the various subjects of communication studies.
4. To be able to articulate what a communication scholar studies and why.
5. To appreciate the study of communication and its possible effects on our culture.
6. To understand the fundamental role that communication has in shaping our individual identity
and society as a whole.
7. To investigate more fully our own communication processes.
8. To increase our listening abilities in order to communicate effectively and appropriately.
9. To develop a better understanding of the School of Communication and our faculty at SDSU.
COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:
1. The midterms must be taken in class on the scheduled days. They will NOT be rescheduled for
any reason.
2. Participation is a must! The best grades are earned by students who attend class, participate, and
try. There is no failure if you learn from your mistakes and then correct your actions.
3. No “re-do” or “extra” assignments will be accepted due to poor grades.
4. Cell phones MUST be turned off during class. Text messaging will NOT be allowed during
class. I will ask you to leave class if this policy is violated.
5. Any written work must be typed.
6. I will not return exams nor review them in class. You are welcome to stop by my office hours to
review and discuss the exams and how you did at anytime. All exams will be destroyed at the
end of the next semester.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Midterms: Three midterms are scheduled throughout the semester to reinforce classroom discussion and the
text. Each test will contain 50 multiple choice questions worth a total of 100 points.
SEMESTER GRADES:
Midterms (3 @ 100 each)
GRADING SCALE:
A
300 - 279
A278 - 270
B+
269 - 261
B
260 - 249
= 300 TOTAL POINTS
B248 - 240
C+
239 - 231
C
230 - 219
C218 - 210
Credit= 210+
D+
D
DF
209 - 201
200 - 189
188 - 180
179 - 000
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is one of the highest forms of academic offense. It represents several ethics violations. It is theft of
intellectual property. In academe, a scholar’s words, ideas, and creative products represent essential intellectual
property, which are the primary measures of scholarly identity, status and achievement. It is fraud. Students should be
assessed on their own ideas and abilities; not the ideas and abilities of others. It is unfair. It introduces bias and
inequity in the assessment process, producing grades for fellow students based on disadvantaged standards and
expectations. It is corruption. It undermines the credibility of higher education by misrepresenting the meaning of
university grades and degrees to the rest of the public. Whether by ignorance, accident, or intent, theft is still theft, fraud
is still fraud, inequity is still inequity, and corruption is still corruption. Therefore, the offense, no matter how minor in
quantity, is still serious, and is treated as such.
The 2008-2009 SDSU Graduate Bulletin policy1 states:
Plagiarism is formal work publicly misrepresented as original; …. Work shall be deemed plagiarism:
(1) when prior work of another has been demonstrated as the accessible source; (2) when substantial or
material parts of the source have been literally or evasively appropriated (substance denoting quantity;
matter denoting qualitative format or style); and (3) when the work lacks sufficient or unequivocal
citation so as to indicate or imply that the work was neither a copy nor an imitation. This definition
comprises oral, written, and crafted pieces. In short, if one purports to present an original piece but
copies ideas word for word or by paraphrase, those ideas should be duly noted. (Lindey, 1952,
Plagiarism and Originality)
Specific exemplary infractions and consequences:
 Course failure: Reproducing a whole paper, paragraph, or large portions of unattributed materials without proper
attribution, whether represented by: (a) multiple sentences, images, or portions of images; or (b) by percentage of
assignment length, will result in assignment of an “F” in the course in which the infraction occurred, and a report
to the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities (CSRR2).
 Assignment failure: Reproducing a sentence or sentence fragment with no quotation marks, but with source
citation, or subsets of visual images without source attribution, will minimally result in an “F” on the assignment,
and may result in greater penalty, including a report to the CSRR, depending factors noted below.
 Exacerbating conditions--Amount: Evidence of infraction, even if fragmentary, is increased with a greater: (a)
number of infractions; (b) distribution of infractions across an assignment; or (c) proportion of the assignment
consisting of infractions.
 Exacerbating conditions--Intent: Evidence of foreknowledge and intent to deceive magnifies the seriousness of
the offense and the grounds for official response. Plagiarism, whether ‘by accident’ or ‘by ignorance,’ still
qualifies as plagiarism—it is all students’ responsibility to make sure their assignments are not committing the
offense.
 Exceptions: Any exceptions to these policies will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and only under
exceptional circumstances.
FALL 2013 CLASS SCHEDULE
Date
August 27
August 29
Activity
Class Orientation
A First Look at Communication
Readings
September 3
September 5
The Field of Communication in Historical and Contemporary Perspective
The Field of Communication in Historical and Contemporary Perspective
Ch. 2
September 10
September 12
Perceiving and Understanding
Perceiving and Understanding
Ch. 3
September 17
September 19
Engaging in Verbal Communication
Engaging in Verbal Communication
Ch. 4
September 24
September 26
Engaging in Nonverbal Communication
Engaging in Nonverbal Communication
Ch. 5
October 1
October 3
MIDTERM #1
Listening and Responding to Others
Ch. 6
October 8
October 10
Listening and Responding to Others
Creating Communication Climates
Ch. 7
October 15
October 17
Creating Communication Climates
Adapting Communication to Cultures and Social Communities
Ch. 8
October 22
October 24
Adapting Communication to Cultures and Social Communities
Communication and Self-Concept
Ch. 9
October 29
October 31
Communication and Self-Concept
Communication in Personal Relationships
Ch. 10
November 5
November 7
Communication in Personal Relationships
MIDTERM # 2
November 12
November 14
Communication in Groups and Teams
Communication in Groups and Teams
Ch. 11
November 19
November 21
Communication in Organizations
THANKSGIVING DAY! NO CLASS!
Ch. 12
November 26
November 28
Communication in Organizations
Mass Communication
Ch. 14
December 3
December 5
Mass Communication
Personal and Social Media
Ch. 15
December 10
December 12
Personal and Social Media
MIDTERM # 3 (8:00am-10:00am)
Ch. 1
*This schedule is tentative and subject to change at my discretion. It is your responsibility to stay current with the course
material and class schedule.