Overview:
COM 380 Theories of Human Communication Individual Project Guidelines
The final project of the class is to conduct a case study. The purpose of the project is for you to learn how communication theory is applied to real world and internalize what you learned
during the semester by conducting your research. You must choose one theory from the list below and read the corresponding chapter in the textbook. Your research paper must include summary of your chapter, critics about the theory, key concepts of the theory, and the real-life examples (at least 3 examples). Each student will present their study to the class using PowerPoint (or a similar presentation software). To ensure fairness, every student must submit written paper, and presentation slides of the research project to me electronically (email) by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April. 11, 2022.
You will lead a discussion of other student presentation, lasting from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the amount of material and class discussion for each presentation to ensure full participation in the individual project presentation. When it is your turn to lead discussion, you will be in charge of posing questions, getting other students to ask their questions to the presenter, calling on your peers, and generally managing the conversation. You will begin by introducing the person who presents the individual project (Presenter Introduction). One tip for managing the conversation is not to rush in with an answer when there’s an awkward silence; if you are asking a tough question, people need a chance to process their answers before they may be ready to answer. In fact, your contributions to the answers should be minimal during this section; instead, you’re acting as a moderator. By 9pm on the night before your discussion leading, post three to five starter questions on Black Board that your classmates can prepare for ahead of time. These should be fairly open-ended questions that could lead to lively discussions.
Be ready to pose follow-up questions to move the conversation along, not simply read down your list of starter questions. 1 point will be deducted for every hour that questions are late.
Choose one chapter (Theory) from the list below:
Ch. 14 Face-Negotiation Theory
Ch. 15 Symbolic Interaction Theory
Ch. 16 Coordinated Management Theory
Ch. 17 Communication Privacy Management Theory Ch. 18 Groupthink
Ch. 19 Organizational Culture Theory
Ch. 20 The Rhetoric
Ch. 21 Dramatism
Ch. 22 The Narrative Paradigm
Ch. 24 Communication Accommodation Theory
Ch. 25 Relational Dialectics Theory
Ch. 26 Cultivation Theory
Ch. 27 Cultural Studies
Ch. 28 Muted Group Theory
Ch. 29 Feminist Standpoint Theory
Ch. 30 Co-Cultural Theory
Deliverables:
Theory & Presentation date choice by Thursday, March. 10, 2022. Discussion leader assignment by Thursday, April. 7, 2022.
Submitted to me via email by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April. 11, 2022:
– Written paper
– Presentation slides to be used for in-class presentation
Presentations are on the following dates (presentation should be 15 minutes or more): Thursday, April 14, 2022: 2 people
Tuesday, April 19, 2022: 2 people
Thursday, April 21, 2022: 2 people
Tuesday, April 26, 2022: 2 people
Written paper:
The written paper should be minimum of 5 pages and include the following components:
– Introduction/Background (including the purpose of paper and your questions about the
theory)
– Summary of the chapter (including the key concepts of the theory, assumptions of the theory)
– Argument/evidence (examples) – How to apply the theory in real life?
– Critique of the theory
– Conclusions
Grading:
– Written paper
– Presentation Slides
– Presentation
– Discussion leadership
(Detailed rubric will be given after the presentation schedule is confirmed)
25 points 20 points 15 points
30 points
