SYLLABUS

CMM 495.01, CA Senior Seminar – A ‘W’ Course (Writing Intensive)

 

 

Fall, 2009                                                                                                                   Professor: Tom Loehr

Classroom: Burke Library, Rm 103                                                                                        Office Phone: 380-3844

MWF 9:15 – 10:05 am                                                                                                E-Mail: tloehr@shc.edu

Office Hours:

MWF:        10:30 – Noon;

3:00 – 4:30

TR:             9:00 – Noon

2:30 – 4:30

 My Web Site: http://faculty.shc.edu/tloehr/index.html.  For this course, the Current Notices page of my site is: http://faculty.shc.edu/tloehr/WebPages/CMM495CurrentNotices.html.  Each student is responsible for checking this page regularly for updates, assignments, requirements, changes in the schedule, etc.  It will be updated several times each week.

 

 

BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION:  This course is designed to provide Communication Arts seniors with a capstone experience to synthesize both their undergraduate major program and their Core Curriculum and build towards career or graduate study plans through a major research paper or applied project.

 

COURSE OUTCOMES:

Primary:          Students should experience a synthesis of their program of studies within their major area of concentration on a level appropriate to their status as graduating seniors. 

Secondary:     To prepare students for a job search or graduate study possibilities.

To provide students an opportunity to learn some of the latest advancements and new directions in their field of communication.

                        

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

 

1.  Students will select, research, write and present orally a research paper or produce an advanced project within the communication field relevant to the student’s past academic preparation and/or plans for a career or graduate school.

2.  Students will present their papers or projects before Communication Arts faculty, their classmates and invited guests.  Communication Arts faculty will contribute to the final evaluation based on depth of understanding, clarity, relevance, quality of research, and effectiveness of presentation.   One other faculty member, the secondary advisor, will also read and grade the paper or project.

3.   In the presentation mentioned in # 2 above, every student will be required to augment the oral dimension with Power Point presentation materials.

 

 

PROCEDURE AND RULES FOR CLASS:

1. Students are expected to meet their assigned responsibilities.  Deadlines are extremely important and failure to meet them has consequences (a failing grade). 

NO LATE WRITTEN WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED!!

2.  Students must get approval from the major professor in his/her area of concentration and me on: proposal, bibliography and outline before writing a paper or beginning a project.   No paper or project will be accepted without proper sign-off.  (Be sure the information material and resources are obtainable before deciding on the subject of paper or project.)

3. All papers must be in a Word Document.   Proofread thoroughly & spell check papers on the computer before turning them in for a grade.  Papers with an average of more than 1 error per page will be returned to the student, with the understanding that the highest grade possible for the course would be a _C_ if the errors are properly corrected.

 

4. The class will not necessarily meet as a whole every class day; a weekly schedule will be given on my website_s Current Notices page for this class. It is up to each student to be aware of that schedule and be present. 

 

THERE ARE TO BE NO UNEXCUSED ABSENCES FOR THIS COURSE!

 

 All seniors registered for the course are required to attend all the seminar classes, individual and small group meetings and all presentations.  Grades will be reduced if the student is absent from these in the following manner:   Students missing more than 3 classes outside of presentations – however legitimate the excuses – will  be dropped from the class. Class attendance counts for 10% of the final grade.  Missing any one of the preliminary classes or meetings will incur a _F_ for that 10%.  Students missing one Seminar presentation will also incur a _F_ for that 10%.  If you let me know ahead of time that you will not be able to make a class or meeting or presentation, then no penalty will be assessed.

 

5. The student_s advisor for paper or project will be the faculty member heading that student_s concentration unless there is some special problem or situation.  Keep in touch with your advisor.  He/she can be very helpful.

6.  Prepare 2 copies of proposal, bibliography and outline.  One for the instructor and one for your major professor.

7. Prepare 3 printed copies of your final paper.  Each copy must be bound.   These should be turned in on the specific due date before 5:00 pm AND NOT LATER.  On the day of the presentation each student will submit a CD containing the electronic Word Document of your paper and sources and a copy of the Power Point presentation.

8.   If you are doing a project, incorporating a video or audio CD, etc., a copy of your final project must also be submitted.  The format will vary.   It might be on CD, DVD or even VHS tape. Tapes and discs will not be returned.

9. Your Senior Seminar should reflect your best work.  Be proud of it!  Incompletes will ordinarily be given only in case of illness and not to improve your work enough to be passed.  If you follow instructions -- meet with me and your other advisor and get approvals along the way, you should have no problems or at least only minor ones that could be corrected before the end.

10.  Presentation dates will be drawn by lot the first week of class.

 

 

Synthesizing Options:         (Written Aspect: 40% of Final Grade)

1) A research paper and oral presentation that together explore - from an original perspective - a topic within the scope of the student_s concentration.  The paper could involve original research in the form of Focus Groups, Surveys, etc.; in which case it would be necessary to make an application to the IRB for permission to conduct the research.  Other types of papers might not contain significant original research but still contain an original thesis or hypothesis that needs to be proven and is to be supported by both primary and secondary sources properly cited in APA style.   The length should range between 25 – 35 pages.  There is no directive as to how many sources you should have but a safe estimate would be between 30 and 50 sources.  They should be BOTH hard copy as well as internet-based.  Ideally there would be more of the former but certain topics are so timely as to make that nearly impossible.

The information in the Power Point presentation must also be cited properly.

Scholarly papers are written in a formal style.  There are proper forms for tables, charts and graphs and other nonstandard elements.  You will find these in the APA Stylebook, the text for this course.

 

OR

 

2)  An original project    The follow0ing are examples and not meant to be an exhaustive list: a video  -  dramatic, pr or documentary, or photographic presentation; a PR or advertising project (event planning, advertising or pr campaign, etc.; a series of journalistic articles with photographs, etc.)

     The presentation then becomes a combination of display of the actual product, preceded by a live introduction (with Power Point, of course), a summary of the project_s intent, problems encountered, etc.  The paper is a written account representing the various stages of the project and its progress:  reasons for choosing the particular subject matter and theme, research materials utilized, a treatment of the idea, the script itself, budget solutions to production problems and conclusions.  These elements would vary with each individual project. (In rare cases a two-person project is allowed if the entire faculty deem the project worthwhile enough and too difficult, complex or expansive for one person to accomplish alone.)

 

COLLEGE WIDE THEME FOR THIS YEAR:  Renew The Face Of The Earth

Please keep this in mind when choosing an idea for a paper or a project.  It could be  applicable to each concentration and to papers as well as projects.      We will be discussing these possibilities and offering suggestions early on in the course.

 

 

Presentation:  (35% of Final Grade)

The presentation is an adaptation either of your research paper or your project paper, with accompanying slides in Power Point format.  There are two presentations each class day toward the end of the semester.  Each student is allotted half of the class time (50 minutes total), including questions.  In the case of original videos, more time will be allotted for the work to be shown, in addition to the

All presentations will be followed by questions and answers.  A portion of the presentation grade will be derived by the student’s ability to answer questions.

 

 

Senior Seminar Weekly Schedule & Deadlines (these dates could change):

 

Aug. 24, 26 & 28:       Review of syllabus, expectations & requirements and discussion of possible ideas, past seminars, etc.  Possible Readings - TBA.

 

Aug. 31, Sept. 2 & 4: Discussion of contemporary issues in communication and ideas for possible papers or projects; discussion of the research process – finding and organizing materials; the necessity of doing thorough research for either a paper or project.

 

Sept. 9 & 11:              (Monday is Labor Day – No class.)  Other CA faculty will join us this week – one each class day and Monday of next week – to discuss ideas and possible directions for papers or projects.  Continue research and begin to develop a broad thesis with appropriate theoretical methodologies.

                       

Sept. 14, 17 & 19:       Instruction and preparation  for written & oral presentation of proposals.

 

Sept. 21, 23 & 25:       Formal Written & Oral Proposals PRESENTED (over two class periods).  Two written copies should be brought to class the first day of the presentations.  Oral presentations should be 5 - 8 minutes each.

 

Sept. 28, 30 & Oct. 2: Review of Proposals – strengths, weaknesses, things to work on both in the writing/work and in presentation techniques; research techniques investigated more thoroughly.   Appropriate theories discussed.

The Outlining Process for research papers and appropriate comparison for projects.

 

Oct. 5, 7 & 9:              Individual  &/or class meetings to refine thesis statements, choice & utilization of theories, literature reviews (bibliographies) and outlines.  Begin work on rough drafts of papers and projects.

 

Oct. 14 & 16:              Individual &/or small group meetings to refine Outlines and related Materials.  They are DUE to me  by Friday, Oct. 16th.   (I must submit Midterm Grades by: Tuesday, Oct. 20th.)

 

Oct. 19, 21 & 23:        Review of Outlines and other similar materials.  We may meet individually &/or small groups.  Be working on the paper and on the abstract for the paper.

                                   

Oct. 26, 28 & 30:          Review of Outlines.  Continue Work on Papers (with abstracts) and Projects.  Meetings/classes as needed. Rough drafts of at least the first half of the paper or project are DUE Monday, Nov. 9th.

 

Nov. 2, 4 & 6:             Rough drafts are due Monday.  APA style instruction for all; discussion of proper citation methods – in text and at the end of the paper in References.

           

Nov. 9, 11 & 13:          Response and feedback to rough drafts; continue any necessary APA style review and instruction;                                                

Nov. 16, 18 & 20:       The final version of abstracts will be DUE Monday, the 16th.  Beginning instruction on Oral presentations and Power Point.

                                                                     

Nov. 23rd only:            (Thanksgiving Week) More on presentation and Power Point guidelines.  Remember written work is due one class day before you give your presentation. 

                                     

                                     

Nov. 30, Dec. 2 & 4:  Oral presentations begin. and continue throughout the week.  (2 per day; total of 6 for the week)

                                   

 

Tues., Dec. 8th:           Scheduled Exam time for this class period, 8:00 – 10:00.  As of now, there are nine students in the class.  The last three will be presenting during this time period.

 

 

Papers and written materials associated with projects will be due 1 class day before you are scheduled to give your presentation.  The papers will be due in my office - all three bound copies - by 5:00 p.m. on the class day – either a Mon., Wed., or Friday – immediately before your presentation.  Due on the day of your presentation is a CD of your paper and Power Point presentation. 

 

 

Grading Policy:

 

            Midterm:      

                            The written & oral proposal:  40%. 

                            Outline & Related Items:       45%                      100%  

                            Instructor’s discretion, which

                             includes class participation:   15%                  

(The specific midterm grade is NOT averaged into the final grade.)

           
FINAL GRADING:

                            Proposal (oral & written), and Outline Items:             15%                       

                            Paper (or project + short paper):                                 40%                       

                            Presentation:                                                      35%         100%     

                            Class attendance & Participation for the semester:      10%               

 

Your secondary advisor’s grade on your written work, especially on the final paper, will be influential in determining that portion of your grade.

With the presentations, all faculty will be invited but only your secondary advisor is required to attend.   Each faculty member present will fill out an evaluation form, giving a letter grade.  Those grades will be averaged to determine that portion of your final grade.   The entire faculty will meet at the end of the semester to discuss the seminars and note any unusual patterns or problems.  But your instructor, Mr. Loehr, will determine the final grade for each student, based on the above guidelines.

 

TEXT: The APA Handbook,

 

REMINDER: You are all aware that '+'s and '-'s count toward your overall GPA and they will in this course.  All grades you receive in this course will be letter grades.  At the end when I am averaging the grades with their appropriate percentages (see above), if necessary I will translate the grades into:   A = 93 - 100; B = 85 - 92; C = 76 - 84; D = 70 - 75; F = 69 or below – the Jesuit grading system.

A '+' grade will translate to the top number for that grade, e.g. B+ = 92.

A '-' grade will translate to the lowest number for that grade, e.g. C- = 76.

Grades without a '+' or a '-' will be translated into one of the upper numbers, e.g. 90 for a 'B'; 97 for an 'A'; 82 for a 'C', etc.  I will only translate to the number grade when absolutely necessary.

 

Students with Disabilities: Students who want to receive disabilities accommodations should contact Mrs. Dunklin, Coordinator for Student Support Services at 380-3470 as soon as possible so that warranted accommodations can be arranged.  Her office is located in Student Academic Services, 1st floor, Administration Building.