SCOM 121.12H
Fundamental Human Communication: Presentations (Honors)
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 9:05-9:55 Harrison Hall 2113
Fall 2015 Syllabus
Professor
Dr. Timothy C. Ball
Office Telephone
(540) 568-6859
Office Hours
MWF 8:00-8:50 & 12:15-1:15 (or by appointment)
Office Location
Harrison Hall 1286
E-mail Address
balltc@jmu.edu
Appointments
Email balltc@jmu.edu to make an appointment
Required Textbook
Rothwell, J.D. (2012). In the company of others: An introduction to communication (4th ed.). New York:
Oxford University Press.
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Course Learning Objectives
1. Explain the fundamental processes that significantly influence communication.
2. Construct messages consistent with the diversity of the communication purpose, audience, and
context.
3. Respond to messages consistent with the diversity of the communication purpose, audience, and
context.
4. Utilize information literacy skills expected of ethical communicators.
Course Policies and Procedures
This class focuses on human communication and is designed to introduce you to this subject through a
variety of different experiences and perspectives. In order to facilitate this introduction, specific policies
and procedures have been developed and are presented below.
1. Students in this class are expected to attend class and to come prepared. At a minimum this
means you should read the material covered in class that day; this material is listed on the
syllabus. Students who expect to excel should be ready to ask questions about course material
and discuss its implications.
2. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class. If you are recorded as absent more
than twice (2 times) during the semester, you will receive an automatic “F” for the course. You
are responsible for making sure that you are signed in as present. It is an honor code violation
to “sign in” for another student.
3. The door to the classroom will be closed at 9:05, which is when class begins. Make sure to be in
your seat in time to avoid disrupting the class.
4. If you are absent, you are responsible for knowing and understanding the material covered in
class. While I will not take time during office hours to talk you through a missed class period, I
will try to help you better understand materials covered in the class or the book, discuss your
progress in the course, or address other concerns you may have.
5. You are expected to fully participate in group and class discussion. You are expected to know
and incorporate the material from reading assignments and lectures into class discussions.
These are some behaviors that are evaluated during class discussion. If you come to class late,
unprepared, or if you engage in negative nonverbal communication that indicates boredom and
disengagement affecting classroom climate, your final grade for the course will reflect your
behavior. What you should consider when participating:
a. Knowledge of material: Ideas clearly developed; gives accurate and descriptive
feedback; prepared to discuss and use material from textbook and lecture in discussion;
able to clarify points using the terminology and concepts from book and lecture;
b. Appropriateness of contributions: Clearly stated, objective, helpful, appropriate timing,
amount of contribution, and language style; related to discussion at hand; aware when
contributing too much;
c. Overall Amount of participation: Actively seeks opportunities to participate in class;
freely discusses material during class as well as works actively within smaller groups more than quiet cooperation is involved;
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d. Attentiveness: (Active) positive listening; attention focused on task at hand; awareness
of directions and assignments (this must be judged on quality and quantity of feedback).
DON’T READ in class! DON’T SLEEP! If you sit in the back of the class, make sure to
participate.
6. Written assignments must be submitted via Canvas BEFORE the deadline. Late assignments will
NOT be accepted and you will not receive any points for an assignment that is not submitted
before the deadline.
7. All exams are to be taken on the scheduled days listed in the syllabus, unless the professor
deems it advisable to change the date. Keep in mind that the schedule is “tentative.” Failure to
appear on exam day will result in an “F” for the exam unless illness or family emergencies
(which will have to be documented) preclude a student from being in class on that day. There
will be no make-up exams in this course.
8. No electronic devices (laptops/iPads) should be used in class. Please turn off headphones,
earphones, smart phones, iPods or any such apparatus prior to coming to class. Cell phones
should be disabled as well. Texting during class is distracting to those around you and just plain
rude. If you are texting during class, I reserve the right to subtract 5 points from your final
grade. Texting will not be tolerated, as it is a sign of disrespect for your instructor and your
classmates.
9. If you do not make a presentation on the day assigned to you, you will earn a zero (no points will
be awarded) for that assignment unless illness or family emergencies (which will have to be
documented) preclude a student from being in class on that day.
10. All work is subject to the JMU Honor Code, which describes the following undertakings as
violations: cheating, fabrication, falsification of information, plagiarism, or abuse of academic
materials. Students are also expected to show respect one to another as well as to the
professor of the class. Violators of these guidelines will receive an “F” for the class and will be
reported accordingly. Please refer to the JMU honor Code website for a fuller discussion of
what constitutes an honor code infraction, as found at:
http://www.jmu.edu/honor/code.shtml#TheHonorCode.
University Policies and Procedures
Late Course Additions: Students are responsible for registering for classes and for verifying their class
schedules on MyMadison. Late course additions will not be permitted.
The deadline for adding a fall semester class without instructor and academic unit head signature is
Tuesday, September 8, 2015. Between Wednesday, September 9, 2015 and Thursday, September 17,
2015, instructor and academic unit head signatures will be required to add a class for fall semester 2015.
No student will be allowed to register for a fall semester class after Friday, September 19, 2015. The last
day to withdraw from this course and receive a "W" grade is Thursday, October 29, 2015. No exceptions
will be made to these deadlines.
First-week Attendance Policy: At the instructor's discretion, any student registered for a class in the
College of Arts and Letters (and that includes this course) who does not attend the first two (2)
scheduled meetings of the class may be administratively dropped from the class. Students dropped for
non-attendance will be notified via e-mail by the Associate Dean of the College.
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Inclement Weather: In this class we will follow the official JMU policy regarding inclement weather. If
you are unfamiliar with this policy, I have reprinted it below:
Decisions to close university operations will be made by the President or a designee. If the decision to
close is made, announcements will be made on JMU radio station 1610 AM, on the JMU Home Page on
the World Wide Web and on area radio and television stations.
When it is necessary to cancel classes due to weather or other emergency, faculty members have
several options for making up missed instructional time.
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

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Hold class on the official university make up day, which will be designated as part of the
closing announcement.
Hold class at another time acceptable to class members. The department will arrange time
and location.
Hold class electronically, using a web-based source such as Canvas or Blackboard.
Accommodate for the missed instructional time within remaining class meeting time.
When the university closes due to weather or other type of emergency, faculty will administer regularly
scheduled examinations at a time designated by the university unless otherwise announced in the
course syllabus. The official make up time will be designated as part of the closing announcement.
Unless otherwise notified, examination locations will be the same as the location for the regularly
scheduled exam.
If it is determined that exams cannot be given because of inclement weather or other emergency,
faculty will assign final grades to students based on the exams, tests and projects completed prior to the
regularly scheduled exam date.
Religious observations: All faculty members are required to give reasonable and appropriate
accommodations to students requesting them on grounds of religious observation. I (as the faculty
member in charge of this class) determine what accommodations are appropriate for this course.
Students should notify me no later than the end of the Drop-Add period the first week of the semester
of potential scheduled absences and determine with if mutually acceptable alternative methods exist for
completing the missed classroom time or activity.
Special needs: JMU abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with
Disabilities Act, which mandates reasonable accommodations be provided for students with
documented disabilities. If you have not already done so, you will need to register with the Office of
Disability Services, the designated office on campus to provide services for students with disabilities. The
office is located in Student Success Center, Room 1202 and you may call 540-568-6705 for more
information. If you have a disability and may require some type of instructional and/or examination
accommodations, please contact me early in the semester so that I can provide or facilitate the
accommodations you may need.
Grading Scale and Evaluation of Student Work
In this course, grades will NOT be given as rewards for coming to class, completing your readings and
homework in a timely fashion, or having a great attitude. These behaviors are expected of all JMU
students. Rather, grades will serve as both a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the quality of
work you are producing. The following scale represents how I will be grading your work and the level of
my expectations for the class.
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“A”
The assigned work is exceptionally well-prepared and executed, indicating unusual effort,
individualized creative style, and a thorough grasp of the related material. This constitutes
outstanding work. Only work handed in on time can earn an “A.”
“B”
The assigned work is creative and well-prepared, demonstrating considerable effort, talent, or
grasp of the material that is distinctly superior to an average or “C” effort. This is above average
work.
“C”
The assigned work is satisfactory and completed at a level of effort and competency normally
expected of the majority of students (i.e., basic completion, average performance, reasonable
effort and preparedness). This is average work that fails to stand out in any way.
“D”
The assigned work is not completed satisfactorily, indicating either misperceived objectives or
failure to grasp key concepts. The effort made is reasonable, but the work is below average.
“F”
The student failed to complete assigned work or failed to grasp key concepts due to a lack of
reasonable effort. The submitted work is below the minimum level of acceptance.
Grades will be assigned on a percentage of the total points possible, with the plus/minus system in
effect. There is no curving of grades on exams, papers, or presentations in this class. Here is what the
breakdown looks like:
95-100
90-94%
87-89%
83-86%
80-82%
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
66-69%
60-65%
<59%
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
Course Assignments and Point Values
Madison Research Essentials
Test 1 (Chapters 12-15)
Test 1 Reflection
Test 2 (Chapters 1-6)
Test 2 Reflection
Test 3 (Chapters 7-11)
Test 3 Reflection
Final Exam
First Digital Storytelling Assignment
First Digital Storytelling Reflection
Digital Storytelling Assignment
Digital Storytelling Reflection
Pecha Kucha Presentation
Pecha Kucha Self-Evaluation
8 KQ Facilitated Discussion
72 points
50 points
10 points
50 points
10 points
50 points
10 points
150 points
50 points
10 points
100 points
50 points
100 points
50 points
100 points
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8 KQ Reflection
50 points
Research Participation
25 points
Final Course Reflection
15 points
___________________________________________________________________
TOTAL POINTS
952 points
Madison Research Essentials
James Madison University believes that the fundamental knowledge and skills students need to navigate
the landscape of scholarly information are necessary for successful completion of your university
classes. Information literacy skills are foundational to their university coursework and as such are
included in Cluster One of General Education. All students enrolled or completing General Education
courses at JMU are required to pass the MREST within the first academic year at JMU.
The Madison Research Essential Skills tutorial will be completed by students enrolled in SCOM 121 and
you will receive up to 50 points for completing the five tutorials.
The MREST, on the other hand, is a proctored, secured competency test given only in Ashby Lab during
lab hours. Students must successfully pass the MREST prior to Spring Break of your first academic year.
Since you must successfully pass MREST in the Assessment and Testing Center in Ashby Hall, you will
NOT receive points for passing MREST.
Successful passing of the MREST will be noted on a student’s transcript. Students who score high will be
earn an advanced status. Students who fail may review the Madison Research Toolkit. Students who do
not pass by the deadline will have a registration hold placed on their academic record. This registration
hold will prevent them from dropping, adding or swapping courses. Within two weeks of successful
completion of this graduation milestone students will be able to view their passing scores via
MyMadison (on the drop down menu labeled “Other Academic,” “Academic Requirements,” “View Test
Scores,” or “Transcript: View Unofficial”).
Tests
You will take three in-class tests (each one will be worth 50 points) during the semester on your laptops
through Canvas. On the days in which you are scheduled to take an in-class test you must bring your
laptop to class. Each in-class test will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions.
Test Reflections
After each in-class test you will write a one-page, typed reflection paper about the test and submit it to
me via Canvas.
Final Exam
All SCOM 121, 122, and 123 students will take a common final exam during finals week in December
2015. The final exam will consist of 100 multiple-choice questions and will be worth 150 points. You
will take the final exam on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015 at 8:00 am in the Ashby Assessment and Testing
Center.
The Digital Storytelling Assignment
The Digital Storify/Madison Collaborative assignment is a culmination of the skills you have developed
and the knowledge you have gained over the semester. For the first part of the assignment you will use
digital software and hardware to communicate with your audience. For the second part of the
assignment each group will facilitate a discussion with the audience about your topic using at least three
of the 8 Key Questions from the Madison Collaborative: Ethical Reasoning in Action.
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This semester we will have an undergraduate student from the Media Fellows Program helping us with
the Digital Storify/Madison Collaborative assignment. This program, which is directed by the Digital
Communication Center, pairs undergraduate media tutors with courses that have intensive digital
assignments.
In these classes, the Media Fellow will lead workshops and deliver mini-lessons as well as offer lab hours
and individual student conferences in the Student Success Center. Media Fellows act as a liaison
between professors and students but hold no grading responsibilities. The Media Fellow will provide
peer tutoring, increased feedback, and experience with digital assignments. Students will be required to
interact with the Media Fellow in class and during a handful of workshops and voluntarily during lab
hours and consultations. This interaction is intended to enhance the level of learning and to enrich the
classroom environment.
Digital Storytelling Reflection
After you post your digital story to the Storify site, evaluate what you actually produced in terms of the
central message, language, organization, supporting materials, and delivery.
The Pecha Kucha Assignment
Pecha Kucha is Japanese for “chatter” or “chit chat” and consists of a 20-slide multimedia presentation
delivered by your group using a timeframe of 20 seconds per slide for a total of a 6-minute, 40-second
presentation. In class, each group of 5 students will tell the story behind their Digital Storify/Madison
Collaborative topic, and explain the advantages/disadvantages of the options you have developed. You
will then create a presentation that explains to the audience what these options are and the advantages
and disadvantages of each option.
Pecha Kucha Self-Evaluation
After you deliver your Pecha Kucha presentation, you will watch your performance and evaluate what
you actually produced in terms of the central message, language, organization, supporting materials,
and delivery.
The 8 Key Questions Facilitated Discussion
Each group will facilitate a discussion with the audience about your topic using at least three of the 8
Key Questions from the Madison Collaborative: Ethical Reasoning in Action.
The 8 Key Questions Reflection
After your group has facilitated a discussion with the audience about your topic you will submit a typed
reflection paper.
Research Participation
Most introductory courses in the social sciences include experiences in which the student is exposed to
the research methods of the discipline by demonstration or actual repetition of well-established
phenomena. Because of the unique quality of the communication discipline, it is possible to introduce
students to research methods by direct participation in ongoing studies. These studies are designed to
contribute to the contemporary research literature, and it is quite possible that the results of this work
will be reported in future presentations or publications.
Although direct exposure to laboratory research is invaluable, an alternate means for learning about
methods in communication (as recommended by the APA Committee for the Protection of Human
Participants in Research, 1982) will be available in the form of reading and reporting on papers found in
the research literature or attending and reporting on department and university forensics events,
debate events, or colloquia that are related to communication.
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All SCOM 121, 122, and 123 students at James Madison University must accumulate research credit
during the semester. This requirement will count for 2.5% of the final grade, or 25 points.
This research credit may be obtained by completing the following activities:
1. Participating in communication studies – either online surveys, online experiments, face-to-face
experiments, face-to-face interviews, and/or focus groups.
2. Attending and summarizing a debate or forensics event and answering specific questions about
those events.
3. Attending and summarizing one approved research or colloquium presentation and answering
specific questions related to those colloquia.
4. Reading one or more of five approved journal articles and answering specific questions with
regard to those articles.
Each of these credit opportunities is described in more detail in the SONA system.
Final Course Reflection
At the end of the semester you will be asked to write a one-page, typewritten reflection paper about
what you have learned or understand about the communication process as it occurs between
individuals, in groups, or in public communication contexts such as giving or listening to presentations
and speeches. What things that have stood out for you as particularly enlightening or relevant and that
will help guide you as a competent communicator in the future?
NOTE: This syllabus and schedule are subject to change. All changes will be announced in class. It is
the responsibility of each student to keep up with any changes.
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SCOM 121.12H
Fundamental Human Communication: Presentations (Honors)
Fall 2015
Tentative Weekly Schedule
Week 1 (Aug. 31-Sept. 4)
Monday:
Introductions; overview of course
Wednesday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 12
Friday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 13
Week 2 (Sept. 7-11)
Monday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 14
Wednesday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 15
Friday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
MREST Tutorials 1-7 due by 11:59 pm on Sept. 11
Week 3 (Sept. 14-18)
Monday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 1
Wednesday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 2
Friday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
Week 4 (Sept. 21-25)
Monday:
First Digital Storytelling Assignment due (posted on Storify site)
Wednesday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 3
Friday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 4
Week 5 (Sept. 28-Oct. 2)
Monday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 5
Wednesday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 6
Friday:
Test 1 (Chapters 12-15)
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Week 6 (Oct. 5-9)
Monday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 7
Wednesday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 8
Friday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
Test 1 Reflection due via Canvas
Week 7 (Oct. 12-16)
Monday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 9
Wednesday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 10
Friday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
Week 8 (Oct. 19-23)
Monday:
Read Rothwell, Chapter 11
Wednesday:
Test 2 (Chapters 1-6)
Friday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
Week 9 (Oct. 26-30)
Monday:
Practice facilitating 8 Key Questions discussion (Groups 1 & 2)
Wednesday:
Practice facilitating 8 Key Questions discussion (Groups 3 & 4)
Test 2 Reflection due via Canvas
Friday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
Week 10 (Nov. 2-6)
Monday:
In-class activities
Wednesday:
In-class activities
Friday:
Test 3 (Chapters 7-11)
Week 11 (Nov. 9-13)
Monday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
Wednesday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
Friday:
Work on Digital Storytelling Assignment in class
Test 3 Reflection due via Canvas
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Week 12 (Nov. 16-20)
Monday:
Digital Storytelling Assignment due
Wednesday:
Work on Pecha Kucha Assignment in class
Friday:
Work on Pecha Kucha Assignment outside of class
Digital Storytelling Reflection due via Canvas
(I will be at the National Communication Association convention)
Week 13 (Nov. 23-27)
Monday:
Thanksgiving Break: Classes do not meet
Wednesday:
Thanksgiving Break: Classes do not meet
Friday:
Thanksgiving Break: Classes do not meet
Week 14 (Nov. 30-Dec. 4)
Monday:
Pecha Kucha Assignment due (Groups 1 & 2)
Wednesday:
Pecha Kucha Assignment due (Groups 3 & 4)
Friday:
Facilitated 8 Key Questions Discussion due (Group 1)
Week 15 (Dec. 7-11)
Monday:
Facilitated 8 Key Questions Discussion due (Group 2)
Wednesday:
Facilitated 8 Key Questions Discussion due (Group 3)
Friday:
Facilitated 8 Key Questions Discussion due (Group 4)
Last day to earn Research Participation points
Week 16 (Dec. 14-18)
Monday:
Final Exam, 8:00-10:00 am, Ashby Assessment and Testing Center
Wednesday:
8 KQ Discussion Reflection due by 9 am
Friday:
Final Course Reflection due by 9 am
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