Week of January 31 - February 6

Hello Class, here is what's listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages on Blackboard. Pay close attention to deadlines, specifically dates and time. Please read this post in its entirety as it explains a bit about the first assignment (due in 3 weeks) as well.

Our week started this morning, Sunday at 12:01am and will end on Saturday at 11:59pm. Please have everything completed for this week by 11:59pm on Saturday.

Assignments this week:
*Read the assigned chapters

*Post the answers to the 3 questions below to your blog (in 3 different posts at least 12 hours apart)

*Comment on at least 3 other blogs

*Take the plagiarism tutorial (quiz worth 50 points) and email the results to comm41spring2010sec81@gmail.com This Plagiarism Tutorial (quiz) is worth 50 points of your grade. Please pay close attention to the tutorial an all information given so you can do well on the quiz at the end of the tutorial. When it asks if you want the results emailed, please email me the results. The tutorial can be found here: http://tutorials.sjlibrary.org/tutorial/plagiarism/index.htm

*Get in touch with your assigned group to get started on the first group paper in the class. The first paper is due in 3 weeks on February 19th. There will be further instructions on the assignment sheet which I will email out to each student along with their group assignment on Sunday.

Reading:
Read Chapter 2 in the Epstein book - What Are We Arguing About?
Read Chapter 2 in the Small Group Comm book - Participating in Small Group Communication

Discussion Questions:
Answer one question in its entirety in each of your three separate posts, at least 12 hours apart. Please make sure you are creating a NEW POST for each question on your blog. You MUST WAIT at least 12 hours from the first post in order to create a second post. The same is true for the second and third post. I will record dates and time of your posts, so make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. EACH POST MUST BE 150 WORDS OR MORE. Each post is worth a maximum of 6 points.

1). Use an example from outside of the classroom. Discuss Subjective and Objective Claims. Give an example of a Subjective Claim you have heard or used recently AND give an example of an Objective Claim you have heard or used recently. Describe the situation. Describe the claims IN DETAIL.

2). Use an example from everyday life: Describe a vague sentence or ambiguous sentence you have heard recently. Where did you hear this sentence? An advertisement? Was it a conversation with a friend? What qualified the sentence as vague or ambiguous?

3). Pick one concept from the reading (either Epstein or the Small Group Comm book) and discuss it in detail.

Comments - Remember to post ONE comment ON THREE DIFFERENT BLOGS between 12:01am on Sunday and 11:59pm on Saturday. This means that you will log onto MY BLOG at: http://comm41spring2010sec81.blogspot.com/ and look at the lower right hand corner to see a list of your colleagues blogs. Click on those blogs, read what was posted for this week and respond. You need to make sure you are responding to only what was discussed THIS WEEK (starting Sunday and ending Saturday of the current week). Comments posted to blogs that were NOT within this week will not be counted for points. Each comment must be a minimum of 100 words and is worth a maximum of 4 points.

Note about comments: When you leave a comment on another blog, make sure you are logged into your blogspot account. In other words, you will need to make sure your "Display Name/Alias Name" shows up on the blog you are commenting on. I record the locations, dates and times of your comments. Please keep record of your posts and comments in case there I have questions about where they are located.

Reminder: On Sunday I will email out your first assignment and post it to Blackboard. You will work in groups for this assignment and meet at least once in "real time". This means you will meet in person, over the phone in a group conference or in a 'real time' chat room. The choice is yours. From experience, it is easier to meet in person the first time.

I know some students do not like group assignments, however, one of the purposes of this class is Critical Decision Making in Groups. In short, there is a group component to this course which is why you are reading two texts - the Epstein text and the Small Group Communication text. You will turn in one assignment for the group. This means that you will write a group paper with an individual component (more details will be given on the assignment sheet), and turn it in as a group by the deadline. It has been my experience that group assignments do quite a bit better than individual assignments, so working in a group for this assignment is a positive thing!

NOTE: Because this is an online class, things are going to seem like they are moving quickly at first. But please keep in mind that we are not meeting in person 3 hours a week like we normally would. In addition, like every class, there is outside work to be done in addition to the 3 hours of 'in class time'. Stick with the class, you'll be glad you did. It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but since we're working in groups this will make things a bit easier.

Let me know if there are any questions about the first assignment or the discussion week.