Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for COMM 215 archive revision 201403

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Effective Term:
Summer 2014 through Winter 2017

Course Number:
COMM 215
Course Title:
Small Group Communication: Process and Theory
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Problem solving aspects of small group activities. Includes process and task, leadership, verbal and non-verbal messages in the small group, norms and roles, conflict reduction, and decision making. Focuses on theory and practice. COMM 100 recommended. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon successful completion, students should be able to:

  1. Continue to adjust communicative behavior in order to improve the quality of small group interactions within various settings
  2. Manage projects, presentations, and small groups through learned communication strategies.
  3. Manage conflict through learned communication strategies within the small group setting.
  4. Use learned active listening skills in order to analyze and explain others’ communicative behaviors within the small group

October 2009

Integrative Learning

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to reflect on one’s work or competencies to make connections between course content and lived experience.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

  • All students are required to participate in and be evaluated on at least one oral presentation.
  • All students are required to participate in and be evaluated on at least one group project.
  • Other forms of assessment will be determined by the individual instructor.

Assessment strategies may include:

  • Qualitative examinations
  • Quantitative examinations
  • Essays
  • Journals
  • Research papers
  • In-class participation
  • Portfolios
  • Service learning
     

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Themes, Concepts, and Issues:

  • Group Communication Theory           
  • Conflict Management 
  • Group presentational skills
  • Leadership                            
  • Rules & Norms
  • Task & Social Roles              
  • Nonverbal Communication
  • Power                                  
  • Diversity
  • Perception                           
  • Language
  • Decision making                    
  • Groupthink
  • Types of groups                    
  • Group development

Competencies and Skills: 

 Students will:

  •  Be able to think critically, creatively, and systematically in groups. 
  • Be able to recognize the relationships between task and social-emotional aspects of  group decision-making.
  • Be able to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses as group participants.
  • Be able to demonstrate flexibility in assuming alternate roles to enhance the small group process.
  • Be able to monitor a small group’s progress towards achievement of its goals.
  • Be able to determine how their cultural perceptions, attitudes, values, and beliefs influence the communication process.
  • Be able to engage in discussion with an attitude of openness, interest, and respect.
  • Be able to give an effective oral presentation as part of a group project.

A textbook is required. Suggested texts. Alternative texts need Dept. or SAC chair approval.

Communicating in Small Groups:  Principles and Practices, Beebe and Masterson.

In Mixed Company:  Small Group Communication, Rothwell.

Effective Group Discussion, Brilhart and Galanis.

Working in Groups w/ MYCOMMKIT PKG, Engleberg.  Publisher:  Pearson