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COMM 245: Interpersonal Communication
Professor
Office
Office Hours
Office Phone
Dr. Brian H. Spitzberg
COMM Bldg 201
TTh 10-11:30, Th 1-2, & by Appt.
619.594.7097 (email preferred)
Semester
Schedule #
Classroom
Mailbox in:
FALL 2013
20831
AH-2108
COMM BLDG. 236/237
E-mail
REQUIRED
TEXTS
spitz@mail.sdsu.edu
Class Time
T-Th 2-3:15
INFORMATION
AVAILABILITY
GENERAL
EDUCATION
FULFILLMENT
Floyd, K. (2011). Interpersonal communication (2nd edition). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. ISBN: 978-0-07-340675-6.
 Note: This title is available as EITHER a bound textbook OR a loose-leaf packet for
which you can supply your own binder. The content in these titles is identical.
 In addition to the textbook, you will also need to have access to an i>clicker
classroom response device that you can use over the course of the semester.
Students are encouraged to make use of the syllabus for information about assignment
guidelines and due dates as well as testing procedures and exam dates. Although I
welcome questions about class material, questions about procedures and scheduling
will likely be answered by information provided in the syllabus. Any student question
regarding information explicitly detailed in the syllabus will receive no reply.
Statement of General Education Fulfillment:
The Social and Behavioral Sciences focus on human behavior, cognition, and
organization from anthropological, economic, geographic, linguistic, political,
psychological and sociological perspectives. Students gain an understanding of society
and culture, as well as individual and social interaction processes. Disciplines within the
Social and Behavioral Sciences employ the scientific method and utilize both
quantitative and qualitative techniques to analyze the diversity and complexity of
human experience. Through interdisciplinary learning, students explore the
relationships between human societies and the physical environment.
Goals for GE Courses in the Social and Behavioral Sciences include: (1) Explore and
recognize basic terms, concepts, and domains of the social and behavioral sciences. (2)
Comprehend diverse theories and methods of the social and behavioral sciences. (3)
Identify human behavioral patterns across space and time and discuss their
interrelatedness and distinctiveness. (4) Enhance understanding of the social world
through the application of conceptual frameworks from the social and behavioral
sciences to first-hand engagement with contemporary issues (statement from the
SDSU Course Catalog).
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COMM 245: Interpersonal Communication
COURSE
OBJECTIVES
OVERVIEW:
This course seeks to both refresh and assess knowledge competencies in regard to the
Theory and practice of interpersonal communication focuses on role of communication
in initiating, developing, and transitioning through everyday relationships. Emphasis on
verbal and nonverbal messages, contexts, and challenges of managing interpersonal
communication (description from the SDSU Course Catalog).
TOPIC-SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
This is an introductory-level course in the study of interpersonal communication. This
class will explore the foundations that guide our underlying assumptions and behavior
in relationships (things like language use, culture, and perceptions) before exploring
the specific channels through which people convey and create meaning in their
personal and professional associations. By the conclusion of the semester, students
should be able to:
 grasp basic concepts related to interpersonal communication.
 understand the major theories, models, research, and processes accounting for
relationship initiation, development, maintenance, and termination.
 demonstrate expertise in the research literature regarding one particular process,
function, or theory of relational communication.
 understand the basic trajectory of relationships from initial introductions to
termination.
 develop a theoretical framework of interpersonal relationships.
 increase listening abilities in order to communicate effectively and appropriately.
 become more competent communicators.
COMMUNICATION MAJOR CORE COMPETENCIES:
CORE PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES: Demonstrate the following competencies.
 ABILITY TO WRITE: Demonstrates proficiency in grammar, syntax, semantics,
academic voice, application of APA style guidelines.
 ABILITY TO FORMULATE CLAIMS: Demonstrates ability to articulate researchable
claims specifying the interrelationship among variables.
 ABILITY TO ARGUE COMPETENTLY: Demonstrates ability to articulate
comprehensive arguments that include relevant and appropriate claims, warrants,
and evidence, and argue ethically (i.e., originality/avoiding plagiarism).
 ABILITY TO CONDUCT SCHOLARLY RESEARCH: Demonstrates ability to locate and
appropriately cite and list recent, relevant, and reasonable scholarly research,
consisting mostly of peer-reviewed journal sources.
 ABILITY TO SELECT RESEARCH TOPICS RELEVANT TO THE COURSE: Content
demonstrates relevance to the assignment and to the communication-based focus
expected of the assignment.
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COMM 245: CAPSTONE SCHEDULE*
Week
1
2
Date
S:13
08-27
08-29
09-03
09-05
09-10
09-12
09-17
09-19
09-24
09-26
SPRING 2013
Readings
FUNDAMENTALS: Course Introduction
FUNDAMENTALS: About Communication
Ch. 1
FUNDAMENTALS: Culture & Gender
Ch. 2
FUNDAMENTALS: Communication & the Self
Ch. 3
Guest Lecturer
FUNDAMENTALS: Interpersonal Perception
Ch. 4
10-01
10-03
10-08
10-10
SKILLS: Language
Ch. 5
SKILLS: Nonverbal Communication
Ch. 6
10-15
10-17
SKILLS: Listening
Ch. 7
9
10-22
10-24
SKILLS: Emotion
Ch. 8
10
10-29
10-31
DYNAMICS: Professional & Friendships
Ch. 9
11
11-05
11-07
DYNAMICS: Romantic & Familial
Ch. 10
11-12
11-14
11-19
11-21
THE DARK SIDE: Functional Ambivalence
3
4
5
6
7
8
12
13
14
15
16
*
**
***
11-26
11-28
Assignments
PC vs. Science Analysis #1
Exam #1
PC vs. Science Analysis #2
Exam #2
PC vs. Science Analysis #3
NCA—No class this Thursday
THANKSGIVING BREAK—No class this Thursday
12-03
12-05
DYNAMICS: Conflict
12-10
12-12
12-17
DYNAMICS: Deception
Ch. 11
PC vs. Science Analysis #4
FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, Dec. 17 @ 1300-1500
Ch. 12
Exam #3
This Schedule may be revised as the semester ensues. Fair notice will be announced in class and
Blackboard, and students are responsible for abiding by the most recent version of the schedule.
Paper submission is due (through Blackboard Turnitin, by the beginning of class)
NOTE: This is the final exam date! Inform family, friends, and the people who are getting married that
travel during this time on this date is not possible because it is scheduled as of the first day of class!
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COMM 245: Assignments & Assessment
ASSIGNMENT
OVERVIEW
The points are accumulated from the following assignments:

Pop-Culture vs. Science Analysis (PCSA): A 2-page version of the final
proposition paper, with 2-3 hypotheses, and 5 relevant scholarly journal
citations. A Pop-Culture Advice vs. Science (PCAS) analysis paper is a 2-page,
double-spaced, critical assessment of interpersonal communication
recommendations in popular articles intended for the lay audience. Over the
course of the semester, students have the opportunity to complete ANY 2 OF 4
POSSIBLE analyses related to current relationship advice given within the
popular media. The possible sources for analysis are pre-selected by the
instructor (see assignment instructions). Please note: Students will only be able
to complete TWO of these assignments. You cannot complete more than two
for extra course credit. If you complete more than two, your scores on the first
two completed assignments (as determined by assignment due date) will count
for credit. Submitted online to course Blackboard Turnitin assignment site.
Detailed instructions provided (50 points each = 100 points).

Exam #1: objective/multiple-choice, on lecture/text (50 points).

Exam #2: objective, multiple-choice, covering lecture/text (50 points).

Exam #3: objective, multiple-choice, covering lecture/text, which may or may
not be cumulative (50 points).

Clicker Participation: Through clickers, students receive 1 point for “clicking in”
during a class, and up to 2 points per class based on correctly answering clicker
items, up to but not exceeding a total possible of 50 points for the semester.
Thus, given 30 class periods, students may miss several classes, and miss
numerous questions, and still achieve the full 50 points possible, although
clearly, the more reading and studying ahead, and the better the attendance,
the more assured the points are. (50 points).

Extra credit: Up to 10 extra credit points may be available through participation in
School of Communication sponsored research projects. These points are added
into the total accumulation of points, not to exceed the potential points for the
course total indicated in the grade scale below. Further explanation of extra credit
procedures follows. These points are simply “added onto” the running total. See
“Extra Credit” section later in this syllabus for additional detail. (< 10 points).

Deduction points: Any written assignments that have not been downloaded by
the student within a week of the graded assignments being available in Turnitin
to examine feedback will result in a deduction of 5 points from the assignment.
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GRADE SCALE
Grades are based on a total point system, in which ‘a point is a point, is a point’.
Letter grades are assigned based on .60, .70, .80, .90 main cuts, with .x3, and .x7
mid-grade cuts. There is no normative curving.
279-300 = A
258-269= B+
228-239= C+
198-209= D+
270-278= A-
LATE WORK
INCOMPLETES
COMPORTMENT
WITH PROFESSOR
ATTENDANCE &
PARTICIPATION
249-257= B
219-227= C
189-197= D
240-248= B-
210-218= C-
180-188= D-
000-179= F
Any paper turned in late will be reduced 10 points per weekday that passes beyond
the scheduled due date, excepted only for university or professor recognized excuses.
The credibility of excuse will depend in part on diligence in apprising the instructor of
the situation. In all instances in which an assignment is late, an email should be sent to
the instructor as soon as possible, with a Word version of the assignment attached.
An “I” grade is assigned when a faculty member concludes that a student cannot meet
a clearly identifiable portion of course requirements within the academic term for
unforeseen reasons. An incomplete is not provided because a course or schedule is
too difficult or because time was not managed sufficiently.
Communication Etiquette. Should you need to contact me at any point during the
semester, the best alternative is to see me in person. I have regularly scheduled office
hours and am frequently available on campus outside of these scheduled times (it is
best to make an appointment to see me in this case). The next best alternative is to
send an email. I check email very often during weekdays and periodically on
weekends. When contacting your instructor, you will be expected to maintain a
professional and respectful tone in your email. Violations of this expectation include,
but are not limited to, all of the following: typing messages in ALL CAPS, beginning
messages with a subject line of “Read Immediately” (or similar), and writing in textmessaging shorthand. Also, please exercise patience when sending emails. The lack of
an immediate reply to your message does not mean that you will not receive a
response, and resending multiple emails in the span of a few hours is not acceptable.
If you have not received a reply within 48 hours (during regular weekdays), you can
assume that one of two things happened: (1) your message did not go through, or (2)
your message contained a question about information outlined in the syllabus.
Attendance is counted as participation in clicker activities. Any unexcused absence on
exam day will result in a letter grade reduction per school day starting from the day of
absence. Excuses are recognized for personal illness serious enough to see a physician
(thus, warranting an appointment slip), family crisis, or participation in school-related
activities (thus, warranting an official notification from the activity coordinator). The
latter requires that prior arrangements be made. The former two are more credible
with calls on the day of absence, and personal conference as soon as possible
thereafter. Exams will not be given early for any reason. Record the dates of your final
exam NOW, and plan travel schedules accordingly. In particular, the final exam date is
set. DO NOT SCHEDULE ANYTHING AGAINST THIS DATE! Please be on time for class
and stay for the entire period. If you should need to excuse yourself early from a class
session, please let me know ahead of time. People walking in and out of the room are
very distracting. Should you need to miss class for any reason, it is your responsibility
to find out what you missed. You should get the notes from a classmate – the
instructors will not “share” their notes with a student for any reason. Afterward, you
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can come to an instructor’s office hours to discuss the material covered in class.
CLASSROOM
COMPORTMENT
The School of Communication, as a representative of SDSU and higher education,
expects students to engage in behaviors enhancing classroom learning environments.
The Instructor is responsible for optimizing learning not only for individual students,
but for all students comprising a class. Behaviors disruptive to the classroom
instruction are thus not tolerated. Among the actions that are considered disruptive
to the learning environment are:
 The use of cell phones, and/or computers/laptops/tablets, not directly related to
the course and its instructional objectives, materials, or contents (e.g., using
social media or Facebook for conversation, correspondence, emailing, texting,
tweeting, or other activities).
 Conversations with other students, during class lectures and related activities,
that are distracting to shared attention and collaborative learning.
 Reading, sleeping, harassing, bullying, or related activities exhibiting disrespect
to the instructor or fellow students.
 Consistently entering late, leaving early, or leaving often from class.
 Activities that are grossly inappropriate, threatening or dangerous, including the
use of language that is racist, sexist, homophobic, or contains other forms of
personal insults.
 When students’ actions distract from learning objectives, instructors may be
required to intervene to minimize disruptive conduct. For example, if a student is
observed texting in class, Instructor may request that the cell phone be turned in
for the remainder of class. Or if a student is using a laptop to access Facebook or
e-mail, Instructor may ask the student to close the technology until the end of
class.
Certain other activities may be acceptable, but only with permission or by direction of
the Instructor, who retains the authority to specify relevant restrictions. Such
activities include:
 Filming, taping, or otherwise recording the class;
 Accessing the Internet during class;
 Use of computers/laptops/tablets may be permitted, but only if the students are
seated in the front row(s) of the classroom.
The Instructor reserves the right to establish additional reasonable expectations
deemed necessary to maintain optimal learning conduct in the classroom. Each
faculty member is the primary arbiter of classroom comportment. The faculty
member has the authority to enforce this policy in a manner deemed suitable to the
particular class in question. For example
 a student texting in class may be requested to turn the phone in to the instructor
for the remainder of the class, or
 a student using a laptop or IPAD to access Facebook may be asked to close and
shut down the technology for the remainder of the period.
Should repeat offenses occur, with fair warning, each faculty member will determine
fair and appropriate consequences for these behaviors. Should an emergency occur or
require monitoring, or if students observe violations of this policy, they are
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encouraged to inform the instructor as soon as possible.
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SENSITIVE
SUBJECTS
STUDENTS
REQUIRING
SPECIAL
ASSISTANCE:
Throughout the course of this semester, we will be touching on a number of very
sensitive issues including violence, sexuality, family, and loss. Our goal this semester
is to create an open dialogue where we can discuss how the theories and concepts
analyzed in research become real through lived experience; therefore, I ask that you
keep the information shared in class privileged. Please be respectful of your
classmates by treating their stories with care and sensitivity.
Issues of personal violence and loss can be particularly difficult to manage. If you
find yourself in need of extra care, counseling, or support this semester, please feel
free to take advantage of one or more of the services listed below:
 At SDSU: Students who require immediate psychological help are seen on
an emergency basis by calling C&PS at (619) 594-5220 during business
hours.
 After hours, students can call the San Diego Access and Crisis 24-hour
Hotline at (800) 479-3339. Other emergency services include: Student
Health Services Nurse Advisory Line at (888) 594-5281; or University Police
at (619) 594-1991.
 Other Therapist referral lines:
Counseling Referrals:
619.232.9622
Psychiatrist Referrals:
sandiegopsychiatricsociety.org
Psychologist Referrals:
619.291.3451
Psychotherapists Referral:
619.296.9011
If you receive special assistance from the university or if you require
accommodation because of specific learning needs, please let me know what I can
do to help you succeed in this class. Students who require testing accommodations
should let me know as early as possible so that arrangements can be made with the
testing center.
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COMM 245: Assignments & Assessment
WRITING STYLE
GUIDE
REEVALUATIONS
CLICKERS
This course, like the entire School of Communication, requires all written
assignments to use the APA (6th ed.) style guide for references, headings,
and other format considerations not otherwise specified by the course
assignment. A brief APA style guide will be uploaded to Blackboard for this
course, but students are recommended to possess an APA style guide.
GRADING WILL TAKE USE OF APA STYLE INTO ACCOUNT.
If you feel your written assignment was unjustly evaluated, please notify your
instructor within 2 weeks after the return or posting of your assignment grade.
An appeal is welcome, which requires: (a) scheduling an in-office appointment,
(b) an email at least 1 day prior to that appointment in which you articulate
your questions or concerns, along with whatever warrants or data available.
Please note, asking for an appeal and providing a rationale for concern does
not secure, nor imply, a change of grade. Further, any reevaluation implies a
complete reevaluation, meaning that new concerns will be identified that
were not initially identified in the assessment, thereby potentiating a grade
increase, no change, or a grade decrease.
A classroom response system (aka clickers) will be used in this course. Use of
a clicker is part of the course participation requirement. Students must
purchase and register their clicker prior to the 2nd class meeting, and bring
the clicker to class on every day afterward prepared to participate. For the
class, students will register their i<Clicker IN Blackboard. Students may not
use other students' clickers; doing so is a violation of academic integrity.
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COMM 245: Assignments & Assessment
EXTRA CREDIT
Because the School of Communication seeks not only to distribute
knowledge through teaching, but also generate it through original research,
and because participation in such research provides important insights into
this process of knowledge generation, students in this class will be allowed
up to 10 extra credit points during the semester, out of the total number of
points available, based on participation in School of Communication
authorized research projects. Points will be provided upon evidence of
completed participation, with 2 points for each half-hour of research
participation. Students will be able to locate eligible research projects at the
following site: https://sites.google.com/site/commsdsuresearch/
1. Eligibility: Only research projects approved and listed on the site listed
above are eligible.
2. Announcement of Opportunities: It is the students' responsibility to
avail themselves of such opportunities--ongoing announcements and
solicitations on the part of the instructor may or may not be made
during the semester as opportunities arise.
3. Availability of Opportunities: Research in a program ebbs and flows.
Participation is only available during the active windows of time
specified by each study. Opportunities for participation may or may not
be available in any particular semester, or at any particular time of the
semester.
4. Record of Participation: It is the responsibility of each individual
researcher to generate a valid list of student participation to return to
the instructor of record. It should be apparent in each research project
how the student's participation is to be recorded and evidenced.
5. Grade: No more credit is available than is indicated above—there are no
"additional" projects or sources for achieving extra credit in the course.
6. Ethics: Any attempt to falsify participation in research for the sake of
receiving unearned credit, or to surreptitiously claim credit for more
than one course, are forms of academic dishonesty, and will be a basis
for failure of a course and initiation of proceedings with the office of
Student Rights & Responsibilities.
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COMM 245: Exams
EXAM GRADING
EXAM RETENTION
EXAMS
Items that are overly difficult, not discriminating or unreliable are adjusted based on
statistical analyses (overall item discrimination, item reliability, item difficulty,
response options with greater reliability than the keyed option). There will be no
curving of grades after these adjustments are made. Grades are uploaded to
Blackboard only after these adjustments are made.
Please note that exams in this class will not be returned. However, you are welcome
to make an appointment to see and review your exam. All exams and answer sheets
will be destroyed at the end of the following semester.
Exams are objective format (multiple-choice, true/false), covering lecture, and any
materials distributed to the class. The final exam may be cumulative and
comparative across topics of the semester. Detailed review sheets will be made
available prior to each exam. Optical scanning answer sheets (ParSCORE “small
red”) and No. 2 pencils are the student’s responsibility on exam days. No electronic
devices (i.e., cellphones, earphones, MP3 devices, cameras, tape recorders,
calculators, e-books, e-tablets, laptop computers, or electronic dictionaries) are
permitted during exams. Any evidence of any such device in sight of a student will
result in that student’s failure on that exam, and if there is evidence of any attempt
at recording or copying exam materials, or making use of other stolen materials, the
student may be failed for the course and reported to Student Rights &
Responsibilities.
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OVERVIEW
SDSU
DEFINITIONS
THE ACADEMIC DISHONESTY POLICY OF
THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
In any case in which an instructor identifies evidence for charging a student
with violation of academic conduct standards or plagiarism, the presumption
will be with that instructor’s determination. The instructor(s) will confer with
the School Director to confirm the evidence. Once confirmed, the student will
be informed and presented with the evidence. Some conditions and terms
below clarify the School policy and procedure.
“Cheating: Cheating is defined as the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain
credit for academic work by the use of dishonest, deceptive, or fraud- ulent
means. Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to
 copying, in part or in whole, from another's test or other examination;
discussing answers or ideas relating to the answers on a test or other
examination without the permission of the instructor;
 obtaining copies of a test, an examination, or other course material
without the permission of the instructor;
 using notes, cheat sheets, or other devices considered inappropriate
under the prescribed testing condition;
 collaborating with another or others in work to be presented without the
permission of the instructor;
 falsifying records, laboratory work, or other course data;
 submitting work previously presented in another course, if contrary to the
rules of the course;
 altering or interfering with the grading procedures;
 plagiarizing, as defined; and
 knowingly and intentionally assisting another student in any of the above.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is defined as the act of incorporating ideas, words, or specific
substance of another, whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise obtained,
and submitting same to the university as one's own work to fulfill academic
requirements without giving credit to the appropriate source. Plagiarism shall
include but not be limited to:
 submitting work, either in part or in whole, completed by another;
 omitting footnotes for ideas, statements, facts, or conclusions that belong
to another;
 omitting quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it
be a paragraph, sentence, or part thereof;
 close and lengthy paraphrasing of the writings of another;
 submitting another person's artistic works, such as musical compositions,
photographs, paintings, drawings, or sculptures; and
 submitting as one's own work papers purchased from research
companies.” (source: http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/cheating-plagiarism.html)
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INTELLECTUAL
CONTENTS
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
PROPER SOURCE
ATTRIBUTION
SELF-PLAGIARISM
SOLICITATION
FOR GHOST
WRITING
Intellectual contents include all forms of ‘text’ produced by another person or
persons. It includes: writings, course syllabi, course lectures and recordings of
lectures, visual information such as models, videos, lyrics, software, etc.
The syllabus, lectures and lecture outlines are personally-copyrighted
intellectual property of the instructor, which means that any organized
recording for anything other than personal use, duplication, distribution, or
profit is a violation of copyright and fair use laws.
Proper attribution occurs by specifying the source of content or ideas. This is
done by (a) providing quotation marks around text, when directly quoted, and
(b) clearly designating the source of the text or information relied upon in an
assignment.
Students often practice some form of ‘double-dipping,’ in which they write on
a given topic across more than one course assignment. In general, there is
nothing wrong with double-dipping topics or sources, but there is a problem
with double-dipping exact and redundant text. It is common for scholars to
write on the same topic across many publication outlets; this is part of
developing expertise and the reputation of being a scholar on a topic.
Scholars, however, are not permitted to repeat exact text across papers or
publications except when noted and attributed, as this wastes precious
intellectual space with repetition and does a disservice to the particular
source of original presentation by ‘diluting’ the value of the original
presentation. Any time that a writer simply ‘cuts-and-pastes’ exact text from
former papers into a new paper without proper attribution, it is a form of selfplagiarism. Consequently, a given paper should never be turned in to multiple
classes. Entire paragraphs, or even sentences, should not be repeated wordfor-word across course assignments. Each new writing assignment is precisely
that, a new writing assignment, requiring new composition on the student’s
part.
Any student who solicits any third party to write any portion of an assignment
for this class (whether for pay or not) violates the standards of academic
honesty. The penalty for solicitation (regardless of whether it can be
demonstrated the individual solicited wrote any sections of the assignment) is
F in the course and the student will be reported to Student Rights and
Responsibilities.
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SECONDARY
CITATIONS
USEFUL AIDES
Secondary citation is not strictly a form of plagiarism, but in blatant forms, it
can present similar ethical challenges. A secondary citation is citing source A,
which in turn cites source B, but it is source B’s ideas or content that provide
the unique basis for the claims the student intends to make in the
assignment. For example, assume there is an article by Jones (2006) in the
student’s hands, in which there is a discussion or quotation of an article by
Smith (1998). Assume further that what Smith seems to be saying is very
important to the student’s analysis. In such a situation, the student should
always try to locate the original Smith source. In general, if an idea is
important enough to discuss in an assignment, it is important enough to
locate and cite the original source for that idea. There are several reasons for
these policies: (a) Authors sometimes commit citation errors, which might be
replicated without knowing it; (b) Authors sometimes make interpretation
errors, which might be ignorantly reinforced (c) Therefore, reliability of
scholarly activity is made more difficult to assure and enforce; (d) By relying
on only a few sources of review, the learning process is short-circuited, and
the student’s own research competencies are diminished, which are integral
to any liberal education; (e) By masking the actual sources of ideas, readers
must second guess which sources come from which citations, making the
readers’ own research more difficult; (f) By masking the origin of the
information, the actual source of ideas is misrepresented. Some suggestions
that assist with this principle:
 When the ideas Jones discusses are clearly attributed to, or unique to,
Smith, then find the Smith source and citation.
 When the ideas Jones is discussing are historically associated more with
Smith than with Jones, then find the Smith source and citation.
 In contrast, Jones is sometimes merely using Smith to back up what Jones
is saying and believes, and is independently qualified to claim, whether or
not Smith would have also said it; in such a case, citing Jones is sufficient.
 Never simply copy a series of citations at the end of a statement by Jones,
and reproduce the reference list without actually going to look up what
those references report—the only guarantee that claims are valid is for a
student to read the original sources of those claims.
A good place to learn about plagiarism is the tutorial on academic integrity at
http://plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/overview/; and at
http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/caseintro.html
A good place to learn about APA writing and citation style is:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
A good place to learn about making better arguments is:
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/persuasion_map/
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 15 of 27
TURNITIN.COM
CONSEQUENCES OF
PLAGIARISM OR
CHEATING
The papers in this course will be submitted electronically in Word (preferably
2007, .docx) on the due dates assigned, and will require verification of
submission to Turnitin.com.
“Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject
to submission for textual similarity review to TurnItIn.com for the detection
of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in
the TurnItIn.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting
plagiarism of such papers. You may submit your papers in such a way that no
identifying information about you is included. Another option is that you may
request, in writing, that your papers not be submitted to TurnItIn.com.
However, if you choose this option you will be required to provide
documentation to substantiate that the papers are your original work and do
not include any plagiarized material” (source: language suggested by the CSU
General Counsel and approved by the Center for Student’s Rights and
Responsibilities at SDSU).
 Course failure: Soliciting or 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 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. In this instance, an “F” may mean anything between
a zero (0) and 50%, depending on the extent of infraction.
 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.
 Assistance: Evidence that the student was not the original author of the
work, due to soliciting the assistance or composition of another person or
persons.
 Exceptions: Any exceptions to these policies will be considered on a caseby-case basis, and only under exceptional circumstances.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE NO EXCUSES ALLOWED BASED ON IGNORANCE OF
WHAT CONSTITUTES PLAGIARISM, OR OF WHAT THIS POLICY IS
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 16 of 27
COMPORTMENT
The School of Communication, as a representative of SDSU and higher education,
expects students to engage in behavior that enhances the classroom learning
environment. The Instructor is responsible not only to the individual student, but to
the collective group of students who constitute a class. This means that behavior
disruptive to the classroom instruction is not tolerated. For the sake of the other
students, the instructor may be required to intervene under various circumstances.
Among the actions that are considered disruptive to the learning environment are:
 The use of cellphones and/or computers/laptops/tablets, whether for
conversation, correspondence, emailing, texting, tweeting, or other activities
(e.g., social media/Facebook), and when not directly related to the course and
its instructional objectives, materials, or contents;
 Side conversations or discussion in a manner distracting to the instructor or
fellow students;
 Ongoing or unrestricted interruption of instructor or fellow students, or
otherwise attempting to monopolize classroom time or discussion;
 Reading, sleeping, snoring, moving about, yelling, harassing, bullying, or
otherwise engaging in activities disrespectful of the instructor or students, or
unrelated to the course, materials, or contents;
 Entering late, leaving early, or leaving often during lecture, especially when in a
disruptive manner;
 Activity that in any way could be considered grossly inappropriate, threatening
or dangerous.
Certain other activities may be acceptable, but only with permission or by direction
of the Instructor, who retains the authority to specify relevant restrictions. Such
activities include:
 Filming, taping, or otherwise recording the class;
 Accessing the Internet during class;
 Use of computers/laptops/tablets may be permitted, but only if the students
are seated in the front row(s) of the classroom.
The Instructor reserves the right to establish additional reasonable expectations
deemed necessary to maintain optimal learning conduct in the classroom. Each
faculty member is the primary arbiter of classroom comportment. The faculty
member has the authority to enforce this policy in a manner deemed suitable to the
particular class in question. For example
 a student texting in class may be requested to turn the phone in to the
instructor for the remainder of the class, or
 a student using a laptop or IPAD to access Facebook may be asked to close and
shut down the technology for the remainder of the period.
Should repeat offenses occur, with fair warning, each faculty member will
determine fair and appropriate consequences for these behaviors. Should an
emergency occur or require monitoring, or if students observe violations of this
policy, they are encouraged to inform the instructor as soon as possible.
Finally, all students are governed by the SDSU policy on cheating and plagiarism. See
their coda at: http://csrr.sdsu.edu/cheating-plagiarism.html
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 17 of 27
THIS IS
SERIOUS!
PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME OF CONDUCT, NOT OF INTENT.
THIS COURSE WILL HAVE ZERO-TOLERANCE FOR PLAGIARISM!
WHY? BECAUSE:
1. A PLAGIARISM POLICY IS PUBLISHED IN THE UNIVERSITY CATALOG;
2. THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION PLAGIARISM POLICY, COMPLETE
WITH ELABORATED EXAMPLES, DEFINITIONS, AND CONSEQUENCES
FOR TYPES OF PLAGIARISM, IS:
a. ON THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION BLACKBOARD SITE,
b. ON THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION WEBSITE, AND
c. IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS;
3. A POWERPOINT LECTURE PRESENTED IN THIS COURSE ON “THE
ESSENTIALS” FURTHER SPECIFIES THE NATURE OF PLAGIARISM;
4. YOU CAN TURN IN YOUR PAPER BEFORE IT IS DUE, SEE ITS
ORIGINALITY RATING, FIX IT, AND TURN IT IN AGAIN BY
SUBMISSION DEADLINE;
5. FINALLY, YOU SHOULD SIMPLY KNOW THAT IT IS UNETHICAL AND A
‘HIGH CRIME’ IN ACADEME TO MISREPRESENT ANYONE’S WORDS
OR IDEAS, THROUGH IMPLICATION, WHETHER INTENDED OR NOT,
a. THAT THEY ARE YOUR OWN, OR
b. THEY ARE SOMEONE ELSE’S WHEN THEY ARE NOT.
A final analogy:
If you are taking a driving test to get a license,
And you run a stop sign while the instructor is in the car,
You fail the test then and there,
and must wait for an opportunity to re-take the exam another time.
So it is with plagiarism.
THEREFORE, THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR PLAGIARISM,
AND NO EXCUSE WILL BE ACCEPTED.
YOU ARE FOREWARNED.
IF YOU PLAGIARIZE, YOU WILL FAIL THIS COURSE.
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 18 of 27
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 19 of 27
Source: http://plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/overview
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 20 of 27
POP-CULTURE VS. SCIENCE ASSIGNMENT
ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW:
There are many ways of “knowing” what to do or think: personal experience, religion, peer
opinion, popular advice publications, or scientific research. Of these ways of knowing, only
science is predicated on the assumptions that (1) what it thinks might be true (i.e., hypotheses)
should be considered false until evidence supports the beliefs, and (2) that everything we think
we know today will be corrected over time as we obtain more accurate knowledge than what
we currently believe (i.e., progressivism and cumulative thinking). This is your chance to see
how scientific claims match, or don’t match, the kinds of claims made by popular press sources
of cultural advice. The purpose is to recognize that there are multiple ways of seeking insight
into interpersonal communication and relationships, and that science approaches such insights
in a different way than popular culture, even if these approaches sometimes come to similar
conclusions.
A Pop-Culture Advice (PCA) Analysis is a 2-page, double-spaced, critical assessment of
interpersonal communication recommendations in popular articles intended for the lay
audience. Many people read popular press advice articles and books, for entertainment or
information. This assignment allows you to (a) identify such an article (from those provided by
the instructor), (b) identify a concise piece of advice, (c) formalize that advice into a clear
hypothesis or claim, (d) locate a minimum of 3 scholarly research articles relevant to that
advise, and (e) analyze the extent to which that advise is well-founded by scientific research. In
the process, you will also be demonstrating your ability to (f) make a compelling and credible
argument by linking warrant(s) and research (i.e., “data”) to the proposed claim, and (g) place
all of this in a standard written format and style (i.e., American Psychological Association, APA,
6th ed.).
Over the course of the semester, students will be given the opportunity to complete ANY 2 OF
4 POSSIBLE analyses related to current relationship advice given within the popular media.
Please note: Students will only be able to complete TWO of these assignments. You cannot
complete more than two for extra course credit. If you complete more than two, your scores on
the first two completed assignments (as determined by assignment due date) will count for
credit. Because of the flexibility in completing this assignment, students should be aware of the
following stipulations:
PROCEDURAL CONCERNS:
There will be NO MAKEUPS and NO EXTENSIONS regardless of the nature/severity of the
situation in which you find yourself. If you miss a due date for any reason, you will have, or
have had, three other opportunities to complete an alternate writing assignment.
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 21 of 27




LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Each of the written assignments is due by
11:59PM on the date given on the syllabus. Papers submitted at 12:00AM on the
following day will be considered late and will not be graded. It is your responsibility to
account for potential complications with Internet connections and/or the software
required to submit your work. The turnitin.com submission process can take as long as
five minutes to complete, so if you begin the process at 11:58PM, your paper will almost
certainly be late.
All papers will be submitted electronically via turnitin.com. Turnitin.com is a web-based
program that allows students to submit their papers as .doc or .docx (Microsoft Word),
.rtf (rich-text), or .pdf (Portable Document Format) files. The process for uploading
documents to turnitin is identical to attaching a file to an email. All written assignments
will be graded through the Grademark interface embedded within turnitin.com. To
access grades and written comments on assignments, students will need to return to
the link where they submitted their work and click on the "Grademark" link.
Another one of the features available through tunritin.com is plagiarism detection. ALL
WRITTEN WORK SUBMITTED IN COMM 245 WILL BE CHECKED FOR PLAGIARISM. All
students are expected to review the Academic Dishonesty Policy of the School of
Communication, and all students are held responsible for complying with this policy.
Please note that ignorance of plagiarism policies is not a defense against commission.
Intention is also not a defense against plagiarism -- indeed, most cases of plagiarism are
not willful, but result from carelessness that is often compounded by rushing to finish an
assignment at the last minute. If one of your written assignments contains material
that has been plagiarized, you will not be able to complete a different assignment for
credit (a grade of zero on the assignment is therefore guaranteed). Penalties for
plagiarism range from a failing grade on the assignment (minimum penalty) to a failing
grade for the course. Refer to the Academic Dishonesty Policy of the School of
Communication (Appendix B) for more information.
As a protection from plagiarism, students will be able to turn in their assignments
before the due date, and with 24 hours can return to see how Grademark’s plagiarism
detector reports the “similarity” of the submission. Turnitin compares your submitted
paper to millions of other submitted papers, as well as published research accessible
through the internet and academic search engines. It then computes a similarity
between your paper and other searchable papers and publications. There is no
absolutely safe percentage of similarity—if your paper only has 10% similarity, but all
10% is in a full sentence that should have quotation marks around it, or that is misattributed, then this 10% is still a serious case of plagiarism.
SUBSTANTIVE CONCERNS:
Each Pop-Culture Advice Analysis assignment is limited to a maximum of two pages of text (the
reference list, which is REQUIRED, does not count toward the page total). The paper consists of
THREE sections:
 Pop Summary: In the first section, you should summarize and synthesize the advice in
the article you have selected. All articles have been pre-selected and are linked to the
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 22 of 27


course Blackboard site in the appropriate folder. New articles may or may not be added
by the instructor during the course of the semester. If so, they will be announced as
additions via Blackboard. This portion of the paper should be relatively short -- please
DO NOT spend a significant amount of your paper recapping the article you have
selected. In the summary and synthesis part, the summary must include clear
information related to the popular press advice column. This section should avoid either
missing key points from the advice and/or avoid making the summary overly detailed or
including too much information from the popular press column. In short, the summary
of the popular press article should be clear, comprehensive, and succinct. Please note:
The articles that have been selected have been pre-screened and do not contain mature
content, however, some additional articles might contain information that some people
could find offensive (e.g., articles dealing with attraction and sexuality). Approximately 1
paragraph.
Scholarly Summary: In the second section, you should summarize and synthesize at
least 2 scholarly journal articles that investigate the issue in question. Every one of these
articles must be from peer-reviewed scholarly journals (see “Scholarly Vs. Popular
Articles” table below). This recap should focus on the methods utilized to conduct the
study, the results of the research, and the implications for relationships derived from
the authors' interpretations of their findings. The work you include in this section must
extend BEYOND the abstract of the article -- you are only required to report the findings
of two studies, so the expectation is that you will read and summarize the results in one
to two detailed paragraphs. In the summarizing and synthesizing the peer-reviewed
research article from a scholarly journal, information should be included from the
rationale, the methods, and the results, providing just as much detail as is needed for
the reader to understand what was done, why, what was found, and what it means in
regard to the popular advice article. Approximately 2 paragraphs.
Evaluation & Conclusion: In the final section, you should evaluate the quality and
truthfulness of the advice you derived from the popular-press advice column you
selected and summarized in Section 1 by comparing and contrasting it to the results of
the empirical (peer-reviewed, scholarly journal article) study you summarized in Section
2. Please note that your evaluation will not be comprehensive given that you are
evaluating only ONE study out of hundreds or thousands that have been written on the
selected topics. You should also note that your evaluation MUST be based on the results
and implications from the study summarized in Section 2 of your paper -- although your
personal thoughts on relationships are often a valuable source of information that can
guide your own relationship experiences, these types of personal reflections and
commentaries are NOT appropriate for this assignment. In evaluating the popular press
advice the relevance of the scholarly article must be clearly established. Particular
findings from the research results of the scholarly articles must be used as the “data”
supporting a clearly articulated warrant (reason) or set of warrants that result in a
clearly articulated conclusion or claim indicating whether or not the popular advice
column provided reasonable advice, and if not, what was wrong with it or how it should
be changed on the basis of the scholarly research. Approximately 1-3 paragraphs.
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 23 of 27
Possible Pop-Culture Advice Articles:
Marriage:
 Cosmo Why Do People Get Married?
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/relationship-advice/why-do-people-getmarried#slide-1

Men’s Health The Benefits of Being Married
http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/benefits_of_marriage_and_commitment/index.php

Redbook Negotiating For a Happy Marriage
http://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/advice/marriage-contract
Flirting:
 Cosmo How to Tell He’s Into You (first meeting)
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/body-language/#/category1

Telegraph of London: How to Tell if Someone Likes You
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/relationship-advice-and-romance/7472931/Bodylanguage-how-to-tell-if-someone-likes-you.html

Rebook Rekindling an Existing Relationship
http://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/advice/fall-in-love-with-your-husband-again
Conversations:
 Cosmo Things You Should Never Discuss With Your Guy
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/relationship-advice/how-to-talk-to-a-guy

Men’s Health How to Survive Relationship Conversations
http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/handling_relationship_conversations/index.php

Good House How to Reconnect with Your Partner (Understanding Communication
Differences)
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/marriage-sex/how-to-connect-with-yourspouse#slide-1
Conflict:
 Men’s Health How to Fight with a Woman
http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/fighting_strategies/index.php

Cosmo How to Fight Fair
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/relationship-advice/how-to-fight#slide-1

Good Housekeeping How to Stop Common Fights
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/marriage-sex/how-to-stop-arguing
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 24 of 27
No more than one or two
directly or peripherally
related external sources
brought to bear on the
validity of the selected
source claims, &/or those
sources applied are
distantly relevant to
source claims; &/or
sources lack recency,
relevance, or scholarly
imprimatur.
Some key claims of the
source(s) articulated or
delineated, but there are
some inconsistencies in the
detail, gravity, or evidential
basis provided in explicating
the claims.
At least 1 to 2 studies
relevant to each selected
proposition, argument,
component, or source claim
are provided, &/or some
sources applied are
distantly relevant to source
claims; &/or sources lack
recency, relevance, or
scholarly imprimatur.
INTERMEDIATE
INTERMEDIATE
INTERMEDIATE
INTERMEDIATE
INTERMEDIATE
Key claims of source(s)
not clearly articulated or
delineated. Specific
reference to passages in
the book(s) is not
consistently provided, or
not provided in sufficient
detail or accuracy to test
the claims.
4=
Good
INTERMEDIATE
CLAIMS/
ARGUMENT: CONTENT:
Demonstrates ability to
articulate
comprehensive
arguments that include
relevant and
appropriate claims,
warrants, and evidence.
Form displays…:
RESEARCH/ DATA:
CONTENT:
Demonstrates ability to
locate and appropriately
cite and list recent,
relevant, and reasonable
scholarly research,
consisting mostly of
peer-reviewed journal
sources. Form displays…:
INTERMEDIATE
PROPOSITIONS/
CLAIMS—CONTENT:
Summaries & evaluation
Demonstrate ability to
articulate valid claims
specifying the
interrelationship among
concepts. Form
displays…:
INTERMEDIATE
WRITING/APA: FORM:
Demonstrates
proficiency in grammar,
syntax, semantics,
academic voice, and
application of APA style
guidelines. Form
displays…:
POP-CULTURE ADVICE VS. SCIENCE ASSIGNMENT
2=
1=
3=
MarInadequate
Adequate
ginal
multiple types &
Few types & instances
instances within type of
within type of writing or
writing or grammatical
grammatical errors in
errors in expository text,
expository text, &/or
&/or displays
inconsistency in rule
inconsistency in rule
application; occasional reapplication; requires
editing or rephrasing to
frequent re-editing or
achieve more professional
rephrasing to achieve
voice is suggested.
more academic voice.
Key claims that are not
Only minor or one or two
clearly articulated or
claims or propositions need
delineated. Claim(s) fail
editing for sake of clarity.
by level of scaling,
relationship, or syllogistic
logic.
5=
Excellent
Writing displays
consistent use
of professional
voice,
composition,
and
grammatical
form.
Propositions
that are both
logically sound,
and
sophisticated in
their thematic
connection &/or
articulation of
complex
relationships.
Consistent,
coherent, and
consistent
development of
comprehensivel
y formulated
arguments in
support of
primary claims.
Each major
claim is
evidenced by
sources high in
scholarly
credibility (i.e.,
relevance,
recency, peer
review, etc.)
No more than one or two
directly or peripherally
related external sources
brought to bear on the
validity of the selected
source claims, &/or those
sources applied are
distantly relevant to
source claims; &/or
sources lack recency,
relevance, or scholarly
imprimatur.
At least 1 to 2 studies
relevant to each selected
proposition, argument,
component, or source claim
are provided, &/or some
sources applied are
distantly relevant to source
claims; &/or sources lack
recency, relevance, or
scholarly imprimatur.
NTERMEDIATE
RESEARCH/ DATA:
CONTENT:
Demonstrates ability to
locate and appropriately
cite and list recent,
relevant, and reasonable
scholarly research,
consisting mostly of
peer-reviewed journal
sources. Form displays…:
NTERMEDIATE
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 25 of 27
Each major
claim is
evidenced by
sources high in
scholarly
credibility (i.e.,
relevance,
recency, peer
review, etc.)
SCHOLARLY VS. POPULAR ARTICLES
FEATURES
POPULAR JOURNALS
Authorship
Author typically a staff writer or
journalist; credentials often not
provided
Editors
Articles are not evaluated by experts
in the field, but by the staff editors
Credits/
Citations
A reference list is typically not
provided, although names of reports
or references may be listed for
“suggested reading”
Written in non-technical language for
anyone to understand; written for
broad appeal
Language/
Audience
Format/
Structure
Articles often do not follow a specific
format or structure
Length
Shorter articles, providing broader
overviews of topics
Special
Features
Illustrations with glossy or color
photographs; typically include
advertisements between articles
SCHOLARLY PERIODICALS
Author(s) typically experts or specialists
in field, from recognized academic
institution, with ‘terminal academic
degrees’
Articles usually reviewed and critically
evaluated by a board of experts in the
field (i.e., refereed, or “peer reviewed”);
statement of article submission
procedures provided. The “gold
standard”: blind peer review
A reference list (works cited) and/or
footnotes are always provided to ground
the article in the existing research
literature
Written in the technical or theoretical
jargon of the field for scholarly readers
(e.g., professors, researchers, students,
etc.)
Articles typically more structured, may
include ‘boilerplate’ sections (e.g.,
abstract, literature review, method,
results, conclusion, references or
bibliography)
Longer articles, providing in-depth
analysis
Illustrations that support the text such
as tables of statistics, graphs, maps, or
photographs, labeled numerically as
Table 1, Table 2, etc.
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 26 of 27
Serialization
Vs. Textbook
Each new issue begins with page 1,
and individual issues most likely
referred to by “month” and/or
day/date rather than volume(issue)
numbers
Scholarly books and scholarly edited
books, are written for other scholars
and tend to be heavily referenced
throughout.
Typically, “Vol.” and “Issue” numbers are
identified, and pagination of the articles
is continuous from one issue to the next
within a volume or year.
Textbooks, particularly undergraduate
textbooks, are written for students—not
for scholars. They are NOT acceptable
for citation in proposition paper
assignments.
Adapted from SDSU Library handout
COMM245: Interpersonal (Sched#-20831; AH-2108; TTH 2-3:15); P 27 of 27
TIPS FOR STUDYING FOR MY EXAMS
First, as an overview of multiple-choice (MC) exams, study comparatively. A good item has to present a
condition (i.e., root) that one and only one answer (i.e., stem) correctly fulfills. However, the remaining
stems (i.e., foils) must seem correct to the unstudied mind. For foils to seem correct, they often use
words and concepts that are legitimate content for the course, but that do not uniquely fit the condition
identified in the item root. A student who merely skims or memorizes materials will see several stems
that “look” correct, when only one stem actually legitimately fulfills the item root. In order to know
which stem is correct requires not only that the stems are recognized, but also what makes the concepts
distinct and different from one another, and how they relate to the condition specified in the root. This
means studying comparatively, which in turn suggests several study techniques.
(1) Memorization is important, but only a small part of the picture. Memorization helps with
definitions, lists, model components, and stages or sequences. However, it does not help much
with comparison, contrast, analysis and synthesis.
(2) When studying a concept, ask how it relates to other similar but different concepts. For example,
it would not be unusual for a textbook to discuss both impression formation and attribution
theory. These are different areas of research and study, but they are also related. The
textbook/lectures may or may not discuss their relationship to one another, but there may still be
test items about attribution theory with item foils derived from the materials in the discussion of
impression formation. Thus, it is important to analyze the differences between these concepts.
(3) Successive integrative outlining may help. This means to outline the class notes into a more
concise set of notes, and then outline text chapters into a concise set of notes, and then
combining student outlines. This activity leads to compare and contrast “where things belong in
relation to each other.” The resulting integrative outline can then serve as a final study document.
This practice is time-consuming, but can also be very beneficial.
Second, manage test anxiety. Anxiety can diminish test performance. There are many practices
that can assist in managing test anxiety, including test workshops conducted by the campus counseling
and testing offices, systematic body relaxation, preparation and organization, studying with a
companion, using flash-cards, student writing of test items over the materials, cognitive restructuring or
visualization, employing additional time for testing, and consultation with the instructor.
Third, develop hypotheticals and examples. Not all objective exams use hypothetical examples.
However, it may help relate to materials by attempting to apply the concepts of the course to practical
experiences or situations. This also helps differentiate subtle distinctions among related concepts.
Fourth, study past exams. The professor permits students to look over their own exams. Such
review can help “get into the mind” of the instructor. It can also improve familiarity with the exam style,
which can help preparation for the next exam. Sometimes patterns are noticed (e.g., missing items later
on an exam due to fatigue, missing items earlier than later on the exam due to anxiety, missing syllabus
vs. textbook items, missing “second guess” items, etc.). Finally, occasionally a student can demonstrate
to the instructor that there is another way of interpreting a concept that fits the conditions of the course
materials, and as a result, there may be credit given.
Finally, use study groups to assess preparation, but not to study. This is clearly only an opinion,
but study groups can be very inefficient, and are not likely to do much good unless the members have
studied hard prior to studying as a group. The value of the group is to provide different ways of seeing
the material, to test knowledge with questions any given student would not ordinarily derive, and to
occasionally correct errors in thinking.