FRS 002 — Sec. 025 — (2 unit) — CRN 53965 — T 4:10 – 6:00pm — 245 AOB IV
Small Group Communication

Instructor: Catherine Puckering, Department of Communication, College of Letters & Science

Description: The theme of the proposed freshman seminar is small group communication. Course material will include a review of principles and processes of small group interactions. Specifically, we will review material dealing with communication in task-oriented small groups – groups with a specific objective to achieve or problem to solve. A range of topics will be explored including developing effective teams, effective decision-making and problem solving, conflict management, and leadership. Two broad objectives guide the course: (1) To provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of small group and team communication processes; (2) To provide students with the opportunity to practice specific skills that increase their effectiveness as participants and leaders in groups.

Format: Class time will be devoted to reviewing key principles and theories of effective group communication and to completing the service learning component of the course. The service learning component requires students to work in groups on a project for a community or national nonprofit agency. An obvious choice for this would be to expend our energies for Hurricane Katrina survivors, though the students in the class will ultimately make the choice. Students will contact the nonprofit agency, identify a need, and work in groups to meet that need (for example, students might conduct a campus toy drive, participate in fund-raising, volunteer time to help the organization accomplish a specific project). Students will attend a two hour seminar once per week for the ten week duration of the course. Throughout the quarter students will be expected to spend approximately two hours per week reading the assigned material and two hours working in their small groups in service to the community. By the ninth week of the course, it is expected that students will have completed their group projects. During week ten students will prepare analyses of their group’s communication. Grading: Students will be graded on their regular and meaningful contributions to the course and their groups (20%); weekly written reading logs (20%); group service project (30%); and group communication analysis; a 6-9 page paper describing, analyzing, and evaluating your group’s communication (30%).

About the Instructor: Catherine Puckering earned her M.A. in Communication Studies from CSU, Sacramento in 1999. She is currently working on her Ph.D. from the Communication Department at the University of Washington. Her areas of interest include social influence, instructional communication and interpersonal communication.