NUST BUSINESS SCHOOL
HU-110, MCC 112 & GMT 102: Communication Skills
Course Overview and Class Conduct Guide
Fall 2010
BS ECONOMICS 2K10
MON 0900-1030 & FRI 1100-1230
BS MASS COMMUNICATION 2K10
TUE 0900-1030 & WED 1100-1230
BS PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 2K10
MON 1100-1230 & WED 1300-1430
Note: Always consult the timetable issued to you for up to date class scheduling. The above details are just for quick reference.
Tutor Information:
Ms.Swaleha Naqvi
Office: G1: Phone: 3254: Email: [email protected]
Consultation hours: Tuesday: 0930-1200 HRS Wednesday: 1500-1730 HRS
Prerequisites:
Required classes: None
Expected skills: Basic English writing skills, including some familiarity with concepts of grammar and mechanics.
Computer skills, including the ability to create PowerPoint presentations, communicate via e-mail, and use the Internet/Web
Recommended Books:
College Writing Student Book (Zemach & Rumisek)
Effective Communication Skills (MTD Training Book Boon)
The Handbook of Good English (Edward.D.Johnson)
Winning Body Language (Mark Bowden)
Note: The books recommended are available as ebooks
Course Objectives:
This course focuses on writing, speaking, and interpersonal communication.. At the conclusion of the course, the students should be able to:
The Essay on Analysis Paper: Zinsser’s Book on Writing
How can I, as a writer, balance writing for myself and for my readers without sacrificing the other? That is the question I was struck with while reading Zinsser’s book On Writing Well, and one he presents. In his book, writers are encouraged to adopt a style that is fitting of themselves, yet capture and maintain the attention of readers. What if my style does not capture readers? What if what ...
• Analyze written and oral communication situations and the different kinds of audiences to make informed choices about the most effective way to design and communicate/deliver messages
• Conduct research that includes the use of electronic library resources and the Internet and use the results of that research to develop and produce effective written and oral reports
• Deliver effective presentations in planned as well impromptu contexts
• Provide feedback, accept feedback, and use feedback to improve communication skills
• Write documents that are grammatically correct and make use of the appropriate register
• Develop effective interpersonal communication skills
Course Synopsis
This course is about enabling students to become independent and effective communicators. The course is designed to impart an understanding of the conceptual framework and specific tools necessary for communicating in complex academic and professional environments and to enable students to accomplish strategic academic and professional communication goals. This core course provides the foundation for writing, oral, and collaborative skills necessary for discipline specific courses, internships, and professional positions.
Core Communication Skills and Required Assignments
This course focuses on a core set of communication skills and requires assignments that support students in their learning of these skills. These communication skills and the types of assignments that teach those skills are described below. Detailed rubrics will be provided when the assignments are announced.
Written Communication: Article Review, Film Analysis, Presentation Report, Literature Review, Argumentative Essay , Writing Genre Analysis.
Oral Communication: Groups of approximately four to six (depending on class strength) students develop projects, complete research, schedule meetings, write papers and reports, and deliver a 20-30 minute oral presentation using visual aids. These projects build on and use the skills developed in other class assignments.
Time Management: Assignments are varied, integrated, and overlapping, and students must focus on multiple issues, projects, and demands. Students must, therefore, take responsibility for planning and pacing their own work as well as for developing time management skills.
The Essay on Advanced Communication Assignment
ADVANCED COMMUNICATION ASSIGNMENT QUESTION #5 Examine the statement that popular music epitomizes the best and the worst of Jamaican culture with specific references to its impact locally and internationally. THESIS Music in its most pure form was originally designed by artiste to reflect modes, tell stories and in short to summarize life. In today’s world artiste claim to use music as a means of ...
Evaluation/feedback/Reflection: Self editing, peer review and reflection are critical to effective communication. Opportunities will be provided to help you learn about and to practise these skills on an ongoing basis.
Required Assignments
• Interview Assignment OR Writing Genre Analysis (20 marks)
• Film Analysis OR Article Review (20 marks)
• Argumentative Essay OR Critical literature review (20 marks)
• Project: Group research presentation and report (40 marks)
Professional Development
• Exams, quizzes, and worksheets
• Class participation
• Professional conduct
• Other assignments (written or oral) requiring analysis and integration of course concepts
Evaluation
Quizzes (4): 20%
Class Participation: 5%
Assignment / Presentation: 15%
Mid-Term Exam: 20%
Final Exam: 40%
Attendance Policy
The Communication Skills course teaches both conceptual knowledge and skills. Hence, daily attendance and active participation in the class are required. Students should view class attendance as they would work attendance and communicate to their peers and tutor in an appropriate manner. A few things to remember about attendance:
• Minimum attendance is 75 % failing which, in accordance with NUST policies, you will NOT be allowed take part in any exam.
• Punctuality is expected. You have only the first 10 minutes of the session to get yourself marked present. Anyone coming to the class later than 10 minutes will be allowed to attend the lecture but will not be marked present.
The Essay on Students Plagiarism College Student
All forms of stealing are unethical, but the one that is most atrocious is plagiarism. Buying papers is the worst offense in college. It can hurt your permanent record. Plagiarism should be irradiated for 3 reasons. First, students should be aware that plagiarism has a negative effect on the grade in the class. Many colleges require that students accused of plagiarism not only face judicial board, ...
• Requests to leave the class early or in the middle of the session will not be entertained. Anyone leaving the class earlier than the designated time will lose 01 mark each time such an event occurs from the marks allocated to class participation.
Plagiarism
Academic honesty is expected in the completion of all assignments, projects and quizzes etc. Plagiarism constitutes scholastic dishonesty and you are expected to educate yourself about it in order to avoid committing such an offense.
Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that occurs when a person passes off someone else’s work as his or her own. This can range from failing to cite an author for ideas incorporated into a student’s paper to cutting and pasting paragraphs from different websites to handing in a paper downloaded from the internet. All are plagiarism. (Rutgers Camden)
There are three things you should understand about plagiarism:
• It is a punishable offense and students found culpable of committing an act of plagiarism will be dealt with in accordance with NUST procedures.
• In most cases, plagiarism involves the use of the Internet. Hence, it is as easy for the tutor to trace the source of plagiarism as it is for the student to plagiarize from the Internet.
• All parties to plagiarism are considered equally guilty. If you allow your work to be copied by a fellow student then you are considered as guilty as the one who has plagiarized your work. Therefore, the same penalties will apply to you when an act of plagiarism is detected and reported.
Instructions & other important information
1. Please create a group email and communicate this to me by Session/Class 2, Week 1, so that resources and announcements can be sent to you in time. This is to facilitate you initially while you become familiar with the NUST Learning Management System (LMS) which you will be expected to use. However, I will make the handouts & readings available on the NUST LMS on a weekly basis in anticipation of the system gaining wider use. Please contact IT Services NBS about Login and access. In some cases, these resources may also be placed with Mr Sarfraz at the photocopy shop and copies may be purchased as required. If this is the case, then I will let the class representatives know in advance. It is mandatory for you to have the required resources with you during the class for reference and use.
The Essay on The first writing assignment
This writing sample fulfills the first writing assignment in the course. Instructions: According to The Little Seagull Handbook, “A descriptive writing provides specific details to show what something looks like—and perhaps how it sounds, feels, smells, and tastes” (Bullock, Brody, and Weinberg 23). Descriptive arguments should make a “clear dominant impression” (Bullock, Brody, and Weinberg 367) ...
2. Please make sure both mobile phones and laptops are switched off before class begins and remain switched off until the class is over.
3. In-class assignments/quizzes are to be returned strictly within class hours.
4. Once assignments/quizzes have been marked, please keep these with yourself.
5. Quizzes will be unannounced and script based.
6. Requests for quiz retake or assignment substitute will not be entertained.
Late submission of assignments will not be accepted.
7. Once an assignment or quiz has been graded, students will be notified of the grades via email. You will be given 24 hours after the email has been sent to request a rectification/change in the record incase it is justified. After that, no request regarding a change in the result will be entertained. Students are also advised not to discuss other students’ quizzes/assignments or marks/grades awarded as the basis for discussion of their own grades with the faculty.
8. Groups once formed for course assignments/projects will not be changed.
9. The end of semester class participation will be evaluated in view of the following:
• Preparation before coming to class
• Willing, active and constructive participation in class discussions
• Respect for other people’s points of views
• Interest in class sessions and contributi to the flow of the lectures.
• Thoughtful questions, observations and insights
• Adherence to class conduct rules
• Regular attendance throughout the semester
9. Please note that I will not take students’ calls and messages on my cellphone or home number. Use the official email for any queries outside of working hours and I will endeavour to respond within 48 hours of receiving the email. Make the best use of oncampus consultation hours displayed outside the office.
Course Outline
|Week |Topics |
Essay Writing Presentation
To do so would be like telling the marker that you don’t know the text very well. * Person: write in the third person. Scout is not racist. This is partly due to the enlightened house she has grown up in… * TENSE: write in the present tense. Even though To Kill a Mockingbird was written in 1960, the novel describes small town life in a Southern state on America. * Use a formal tone when writing ...
|(2 sessions per week) | |
|1 |GRAMMAR: |
| |Discussion of Course Outline |
| |Introduction to Communication Skills |
| |Review of parts of speech |
| |Sentence Structure |
|2 |GRAMMAR: |
| |Sentence Structure |
| |Parallel Structure |
|3 |GRAMMAR: |
| |Modifier Placement |
| |Subject-Verb Agreement |
|4 |GRAMMAR: |
| |Pronoun Antecedent Reference |
The Essay on WRITING LITERARY WORKS
Literature, what is it? Well, the glossary of our handy fifth edition of Intro to Reading and Writing states that it is a written or oral composition that tells stories, dramatize situations, express emotion and analyzes and advocates ideas. How does the author accomplish all this? By using tools like plot, setting, characters, and their very own tone and style. Some authors write and base their ...
| |Voice |
|5 |WRITING: |
| |The Writing Process |
| |Identifying Audience & Purpose |
|6 |WRITING: |
| |Prewriting Techniques |
| |Paragraph Writing |
|7 |WRITING: |
| |Essay Writing |
| |Practice: |
| |Planning and Generating ideas for an Essay |
| |Outlining an Essay |
|8 |WRITING: |
| |Practice: |
| |Drafting an Essay |
| |Editing and Revising the Essay |
|9 |MID SEMESTER EXAM |
|10 |WRITING: |
| |Doing a Peer Review & Proof Reading |
| |Reflecting |
| |Doing a literature review |
|11 |WRITING: |
| |Summary Writing |
| |Practice: |
| |Summary Writing |
|12 |READING: |
| |Reading Strategies |
| |Using reading Strategies |
|13 |LISTENING: |
| |Active Listening Strategies |
| |Using active Listening Strategies |
|14 |PRESENTATION SKILLS: |
| |Preparing and Delivering a Presentation |
| |Preparing and Delivering a Presentation |
|15 |PRESENTATION SKILLS: |
| |Preparing and Delivering a Presentation |
| |Preparing and Delivering a Presentation |
|16 |PRESENTATIONS: (25 mins + 5 mins Q&A session each) |
| |Groups 1, 2, 3 |
| |Groups 4, 5, 6 |
|17 |PRESENTATIONS: * |
| |Groups 7,8,9 |
| |Groups 10,11 |
|18 |END SEMESTER EXAM |
*Note: Presentation groups may be adjusted according to class strength
Marking Scheme for Written Assignments
A marking scheme has also been appended to provide you with guidance as to the standards against which your written work will be assessed and to enable you to produce quality work with specific criteria in mind.
|Criterion |Knowledge of relevant materials and |Presentation and structure |Argument and response to question |Understanding of issues/Application |Referencing |
| |evidence of reading | | | |and conforming to instructions |
| |(25) | | | | |
| | | |(20) |(25) |(10) |
|Grade | |(20) | | | |
| |Breadth and depth of reading and | |Shows an ability to synthesise a wide | | |
| |understanding of relevant arguments |Clarity of argument and expression; Has defined|range of material and addresses all parts |Depth of insight into theoretical issues |Uses a standard referencing |
|A |and issues; Perhaps |objectives in detail and addressed them |of the assignment topic; Perhaps shows |and/or application to practice; Where |system correctly and |
| |some areas covered in depth and |comprehensively; Analytical and clear |unique or imaginative insights. |appropriate, demonstrates an ability to |consistently; |
| |awareness of provisional nature of |conclusions well grounded in literature; | |apply ideas to new material or in a new |Work has been submitted within |
|70% + |knowledge. Uses appropriate |Fluent writing style appropriate to type of | |context. |time boundaries and within |
| |terminology consistently. |assignment; Grammar and spelling accurate. | | |prescribed parameters (e.g. |
| | | | | |word length).
|
| |Draws on a range of sources; | |Generally accurate and well-informed | | |
| |Perhaps |Has defined objectives and addressed them |answer to the question that is reasonably |Demonstrates the ability to work with |Referencing is mainly accurate;|
|B |some areas covered in depth; Good |through the work; Good summary of arguments |comprehensive; Creates an argument that |theoretical |Work has been submitted within |
| |knowledge of topic and use of |based in theory/ |shows evidence of having reflected on the |material effectively and/or shows |time boundaries and within |
| |appropriate terminology. |Literature Language fluent; |topic. |evidence of application. |prescribed parameters (e.g. |
|60-69% | |Grammar and spelling accurate. | | |word length).
|
| |Uses a limited range of | | | | |
| |source material; |Has outlined objectives and addressed them at |Addresses main issues of assignment topic |Demonstrates the ability to address |Referencing is mainly accurate;|
|C |Reasonable knowledge of topic and |the end of the work; Some evidence of |without necessarily covering all aspects. |theoretical |Work has been submitted within |
| |some use of appropriate terminology.|conclusions grounded in theory/literature; |Develops and communicates a basic logical |material and/or shows evidence of |time boundaries and within |
| | |Language mainly fluent; Grammar and spelling |argument with |application. |prescribed parameters (e.g. |
| | |mainly accurate. |some use of appropriate supporting | |word length).
|
|50-59% | | |examples and | | |
| | | |evidence. | | |
| | | | | | |
| |Shows only sparse coverage of |Has provided generalised objectives and focused|Shows some sign of understanding of the |Demonstrates a basic ability to address |Some attempt at referencing; |
| |relevant material or contains some |the work on the topic area; Limited evidence of|question set, though not necessarily |theoretical |Deviates slightly from the |
|D |errors and omissions; Limited |conclusions supported by theory/literature; |sustained; Fails to support arguments with|material and/or shows limited evidence of|required parameters. |
| |knowledge of topic but some use of |Meaning apparent but language not always |adequate evidence. |application. | |
| |appropriate terminology. |fluent; Grammar and/or spelling contain errors.| | | |
|40-49% |Over-dependence on source material. | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| |Contains very little appropriate |No information provided regarding objectives of|Only briefly acknowledges the question if |Demonstrates a lack of understanding of |Referencing is absent or |
|Fail |material or contains numerous errors|assignment; Unsubstantiated/invalid conclusions|at all; Lacks any real argument or |theoretical material and/or lacks |unsystematic; |
| |and omissions; |based on anecdote and generalisation only, or |argument is illogical and incoherent. |application. |Deviates significantly from the|
|39% – |Lacks evidence of knowledge relevant|no conclusions at all; Meaning unclear and/or | | |required parameters. |
| |to the topic and/or significantly |grammar and/or spelling contain frequent | | | |
| |misuses terminology; Is plagiarised.|errors. | | | |
Sources
Business assessment criteria grid (devised by Margaret Price and Chris Rust, Oxford Brookes University).
Redman, P. (2001) Good Essay Writing: A social sciences guide, London, Sage Publications.
WIT/NALA Literacy Development Centre marking scheme originally adapted from Open University Materials.
