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Communication 3100 CURRENT ISSUES IN COMMUNICATION
AND SOCIETY (a course in critical thinking) Spring, 2001; MWF 2:00-2:50; Hellems 191 Instructor: Dr. Karen Tracy Office: Hellems 89B Office hours: M 3-5, F 1-2 or by appointment Phone/Voice mail: (303) 492-8461 Fax (Communication Dept.): (303) 492-8411 Email: Karen.Tracy@Colorado.EDUHome Page: http://spot.colorado.edu/~tracy Course Objectives This course will be conducted as a seminar (i.e. a meeting for an exchange of ideas in an area). As a group we will examine ideas about how people ought to conduct themselves (e.g., express opinions, criticize) in public, in work sites and in intimate life. A particular focus of the course will be on issues of controversy in education. We will also reflect upon and examine our own critical thinking as we present and discuss together. The course has several objectives: 1. Develop critical thinking skills: This is a College of Arts and Sciences required upper level course in Critical Thinking. As such, it involves certain specific requirements (especially, substantial required reading and writing). Its central purpose is to enhance each student's ability to read, write, speak, and listen critically. (If you're asking yourself exactly what the term "critically" means, you're already off to a good start!) 2. Develop communication skills: The Communication Department has designed this course to help students integrate and further develop knowledge and skills introduced in other communication courses such as interaction skills, public speaking, argumentation, etc. This class will focus on developing questioning skills, group discussion, and the presenting of oral and written arguments. 3. Become conversant with controversies about communicative conduct in public life and education in particular: A final objective is to develop each student's awareness, knowledge, and personal perspective about a family of issues related to the design of and conduct within educational institutions, including elementary, middle and high schools, and universities. In particular we will read opposing viewpoints from public figures, as well as have community leaders involved in education speak with us. To become "conversant" means to be able to discuss an issue in an engaged, well-informed, insightful, articulate manner. Becoming conversant with an issue means much more than just knowing "the facts," although factual information is always important. It means developing a well thought out personal perspective informed by an understanding and appreciation of other views, so that fruitful communication and dialogue with people having different perspectives on the issue becomes possible. Required Texts:
Course Overview The course is divided into three units. The purpose of the first unit is to hone your critical thinking skills while exploring the issue of civility. In Unit I there will be daily readings and short written assignments. The second unit focuses on how to be a critically thinking participant in a group. When people question other group members' claims, as well as make and defend their own claims, they have a more complex communicative task than when they are focused on analyzing the written claim of a non-present author. Students will be assigned to small groups (3 or 4 people) for Units II to lead discussions of issues raised in the Education: Opposing Viewpoints book. A discussion will run about 30-35 minutes; the remainder of each class will be given to reflecting about how the facilitators framed the issue for discussion and the class's communicative conduct during the discussion. Discussions that occur later in the cycle of student-led discussions are expected to be higher quality than earlier ones. A short paper (5-6 pages) analyzing the critical thinking quality of a community group's discussion of education will be due toward the end of Unit II. The final unit focuses on developing students' abilities to present their own critically thought-through positions orally and in writing. Following identifications of more specific issues relevant to the course focus (e.g., How, if at all, should CU change its civility policy? Under what circumstances, if any, should a voucher system be implemented in public schools?), groups of 3-4 students will research and then present their own standpoint on an issue. Following presentations, there will be a Q/A and discussion period. A written position paper will be completed on the same issue about which each student presents. Assignments and Evaluation There are 450 possible points. Grades will be assigned based on point accumulation: A= 93%, A- =90%, B+ = 87, B= 83, B-=80, C+=77, C=73,C-=70, D+=67, D=63, D-=60, and below =F. Homework/Quizzes (50 points): Written homework will be assigned frequently during Unit I of the course. The purpose of homework is to help students master basic critical thinking skills and vocabulary, and to allow for assessing if your understanding will enable you to perform satisfactorily in a testing situation. Typically homework will be given in one class and gone over in the next one; it will be collected and checked every 3-5 classes. During the second unit, there will be short (5 minute) quizzes over the day's assigned reading. There will be a total of 8 homework and quiz assignments, each counted for up to 8 points (maximum 50). Points will be given accordingly (0= not completed, 3/4 = something written but not addressed to assignment, 6 = shows understanding of main points, 7 = good work, 8= excellent.). Since this is a discussion class, and the quality of a discussion is affected by participants' information levels, it will be important for everyone to have done the homework and readings. Each student, however, may omit 2 assignments and still do well if his or her work is high quality on the other six assignments. Note: There are no make-ups for quizzes and homework. Participation (25 points): Lively, thoughtful, informed and considerate participation is essential to the success of this seminar. Each student is expected to attend regularly and contribute actively to this class. Participation will include group activities such as problem-solving or role-playing exercises, fishbowl discussions, and designated leadership and facilitation roles. Students whose attendance is good -- no more than 2 absences -- will receive 20 points. Each absence beyond the acceptable 2 will lead to a 2-point reduction. Additional points will be given (1-5) for participation that has been high quality and frequent. Note: Late arrivals and early departures from class are disruptive and should be avoided; they will be treated as 1/2 absences. Exam (125 Points): There will be one exam with a take-home and in-class component to assess students' understanding of the critical thinking concepts developed in the Browne and Keeley text. The take-home component, due the day of the in-class part of the test, will require students to analyze an extended argument from Carter's Civility book. The in-class section will be short answer and require application of key concepts to selected excerpts. The exam format will be similar to homework assignments. Group-Led Class Discussion (30 Points): Students will participate in small groups to plan and carry out a discussion of assigned readings from the Education:Opposing Viewpoints book for a class period. Groups will be responsible for presenting key information and working to insure a lively and thoughtful discussion of the assigned reading. Education Issue Analysis Paper (70 Points): There will be a 5-6 page paper describing and analyzing a community group's (a school board and its citizens) discussion of an issue their school district is facing. The analysis will be about the quality of their critical thinking and the civility of their communicative style. Personal Standpoint Presentation (50 points): Each student will give a 10-minute talk presenting his/her own position about a controversial issue related to education and/or civility. Students are expected to do library and internet research for this presentation and turn in a 2-page full sentence outline at the time the speech is given. Written Position Paper (100 Points): Each student will write a position paper on the controversial issue they addressed in their speech. The paper will develop their position and the reasons for it in the light of salient other positions presented during the speeches. Papers are expected to be about 10-12 page in length and use the APA referencing format; they will be due during finals. Tentative Schedule Note: Students are responsible for changes to the schedule; these will be
announced in class.
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