Syllabus for SPC1608: Public Speaking
Section numbers: 1142
Meets: Online Spring 2012
INSTRUCTOR:
Name: Professor Elisa Rowell
Office location: virtual office (remote; not on campus)—contact me via email or within the course
Office Hours: virtual office hours—contact me via email or within the course
Contact information: http://angel.spcollege.edu (preferred method of communication)
Email address:
Phone: (305) 432-3379
Instructor Web Page: http://it.spcollege.edu/course_info/inquiry.cfm?number=1079
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT:
Dean: Dr. Martha Campbell
Office Location: Building CL, Room LA 187
Office Number: (727) 791-2570
Academic Chair: Karen L. Miller, Communications
Office Location: Building UP, Room 337D
Office Number: (727)394-6120
ECampus Web Page Link http://www.spcollege.edu/ecampus/
COURSE INFORMATION:
Course Description: This course offers practical experience in a variety of forms of public speaking, with the focus on development of critical thinking, personal communication skills and personal effectiveness with audiences. The student will evaluate the principles of speaking and listening using techniques including rhetorical criticism.
Full course description http://www.spcollege.edu/popcourse/SPC-1608
Course Goals:
1. The student will demonstrate ability in the preparation and organization of various types of public speeches.
2. The student will demonstrate ability in speech delivery skills.
3. The student will demonstrate understanding of the principles of audience analysis and adaptation.
4. The student will demonstrate skill in rhetorical criticism.
5. The student will demonstrate leadership skills by applying public speaking theory.
6. The student will demonstrate effective comprehensive and critical listening skills.
7. The student will demonstrate increased ability in writing.
8. The student will demonstrate understanding and increased competence in library research, information gathering and retrieval skills, which includes Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education as set forth by the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Course Objectives:
1. The student will demonstrate ability in the preparation and organization of various types of public speeches by:
a. composing the messages, providing ideas and information suitable to topic, purpose and audience.
b. determining the purpose of the oral discourse.
c. choosing and restricting a topic according to purpose and audience.
d. formulating a purpose statement.
e. providing a variety of adequate supporting material or evidence.
f. selecting a suitable organizational pattern.
g. employing American English appropriate to the topic, audience, purpose and occasion.
h. using effective transitions.
2. The student will demonstrate ability in speech delivery skills by:
a. transmitting the messages using oral and nonverbal delivery skills suitable to the topic, audience, purpose and occasion.
b. employing vocal variety in rate, pitch and intensity.
c. articulating clearly.
d. using nonverbal behavior which supports the verbal message with eye contact and appropriate posture, gestures, facial expressions and body movements.
3. The student will demonstrate understanding of the principles of audience analysis and adaptation by:
a. composing messages suitable to the audience, topic, purpose and occasion.
b. writing critiques of other students' speeches which address the question of audience suitability.
c. writing a rhetorical criticism of a published speech(es) or of an outside speaker which addresses the question of audience suitability.
4. The student will demonstrate skill in rhetorical criticism by:
a. writing critiques of other students' speeches.
b. participating in oral critiques and class discussion about other students' speeches.
c. utilizing a prescribed methodology, writing a rhetorical criticism of a published speech(es) or of an outside speaker which describes, analyzes and evaluates the speaker and message according to the precepts of effective public speaking.
5. The student will demonstrate leadership skills by applying public speaking theory by:
a. simulating situations and activities which necessarily require leadership skills
b. identifying the characteristics of types of leaders.
c. demonstrating awareness of cultural differences of types of leaders.
d. planning meetings and preparing agendas.
6. The student will demonstrate effective comprehensive and critical listening skills by:
a. recognizing main ideas.
b. identifying supporting details.
c. recognizing relationships among ideas.
d. recalling basic ideas and details.
e. perceiving speaker's purpose and organization of ideas and information.
f. discriminating between statements of fact and opinion.
g. distinguishing between emotional and logical arguments.
h. identifying instances of bias and prejudice, including stereotyping according to ethnic heritage.
i. recognizing the speaker's attitude.
j. synthesizing and evaluating by drawing logical inferences and conclusions.
k. identifying the thesis.
l. identifying the preview.
7. The student will demonstrate ability in writing by:
a. planning and writing various outlines for speeches.
b. writing critiques, essays, and reaction papers about public speakers' performances.
c. writing essays about communication and public speaking topics.
d. transferring communication from the written to the oral format with competency.
8. The student will demonstrate understanding and competence in library research, information gathering and retrieval skills, which includes Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education as set forth by the Association of College and Research Libraries by:
a. utilizing library resources including books, periodicals and electronic data retrieval sources.
b. designing and administering surveys and conducting interviews.
Prerequisites (Course & Skill Set): "G" Prerequisite: (ENC 0020 or EAP 1695) or satisfactory score on the SPC placement test.
Availability of Course Content: The course components will be open continuously but there are due dates by which work must be posted by the students. Students may work ahead but may not work behind the course schedule.
Required Interaction: Students are expected to provide constructive feedback to classmates in order to help one another improve their future performances.
Other Critical Course Expectations: a web cam and high speed internet access are required for the course. Students must supply their own live audiences of 8 adults.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK & OTHER RESOURCE INFORMATION:
Required Text, Publisher Information (link if available): Thinkwell’s Online Subscription for Public Speaking by Alberts, Allen, & West; go to http://www.thinkwell.com to order your online subscription. The textbook for the course is an online subscription to Thinkwell’s Public Speaking.
Library: http://www.spcollege.edu/central/libonline/.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Course Dates: 02/06/2012 to 05/03/2012
Drop/Add: 02/10/2012
Withdrawal Dates: 04/01/2012
Financial Aid: http://www.spcollege.edu/central/SSFA/HomePage/calendar.htm
DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
The Communications Department at St. Petersburg College http://www.spjc.edu/se/academics/communications.htm
ATTENDANCE:
The college-wide attendance policy is included in the Syllabus Addendum http://www.spcollege.edu/central/asa/addendum.htm . The policy notes that each instructor is to exercise professional judgment and define “active participation” in class (and therefore “attendance”), and publish that definition in each syllabus. For this class, attendance is defined as posting work weekly and submitting all speeches consecutively. Each week students will have at least one assignment, post/discussion, or speech due (even if no credit is earned for the assignment). When students submit this work on-time they will be counted as “in attendance.” If at any point in the term students are not able to submit work for a week—such as they have submitted everything early—contact the instructor via course email so that the instructor can count the students as “in attendance.” If students are experiencing issues that may keep them from logging in they must notify the instructor immediately. Students will be counted as not being in attendance during any week for which they do not submit any work or contact the instructor regarding their attendance. Just logging into the course web site does not count towards attendance; actual work must be submitted for the student to be counted as “in attendance”. After two weeks of non-attendance during the term the instructor must remove student access to the course and count the student as not Actively Participating. Students will be administratively withdrawn the week after the 60% mark for not Actively Participating (posting work, not just logging in). At the 60% mark any student who has not submitted one or more speeches will be administratively withdrawn. At any point in the course when a speech is not submitted on or before the due date, students must withdraw from the course because no late work is accepted in this course and all speeches must be submitted in order to pass the course.
ACTIVE PARTICIPATION POLICY:
This is a cooperative learning environment in which participants will critique one another and offer assistance on the course site when questions are answered. Since the classroom is available 24/7 it is likely that another classmate may be able to help students answer a question or locate information before the instructor is able to log on. Students will post assignments during the term in thread format within the course. Students are encouraged to help one another formulate their ideas and develop their analyses. Students are required to log on 2 to 3 times per week to stay up-to-date on the online learning community. If students do not participate in class by posting an assignment or some other work every week they will be removed from the course. Contact the instructor immediately if unable to log on for personal or technical reasons because a failure to do will result in removal from the course.
GRADING:
Students enrolled after the withdrawal deadline will receive one of the grades below.
Grading scale:
90+ A
80 – 89 B
70 – 79 C
60 – 69 D
<60 F
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will a student receive a W grade after the withdrawal deadline. Students on their third attempt cannot withdraw from the class after the first week.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
4 Speeches (62.5 % of final grade)
Students are expected to complete 4 speeches consecutively to continue in the course. No student may skip a speech and progress in the course. Students must adhere to the directions and due dates provided within the course. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that all speeches are properly posted.
4 Speech Outlines (0 % of final grade)
Students must complete 4 speech outlines according to the directions and due dates provided within the course. No credit is earned for posting the outlines.
2 Posts/Discussions (6.3 % of final grade)
Students must post 2 assignments for credit and then discuss the ideas within the online learning community according to the directions and due dates provided within the course. 2 discussion threads are hosted the final week of the course, but no credit is earned for these posts.
5 Quizzes – one attempt, 20-40 minute time limits (31.3 % of final grade)
Students are responsible for completing the quizzes according to the due dates. Students have only one attempt on the quizzes. You may not use your book, notes or any other resources while testing, including other students. Academic honesty policies will be strictly enforced. It is the responsibility of the student to act above suspicion while taking tests.
Books and notes are not permitted during the quizzes. All OSSD students must provide appropriate documentation if they need special arrangements for testing.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS AND MAKE UP POLICY
Work is not accepted late in this course. The Posts/Discussions are pre-programmed to close at midnight EST according to the due dates. No speeches are accepted late. All students must complete each assigned speech before proceeding to the next speech. This means that students cannot skip a speech and continue in the course. All speeches must be completed, in order, for students to pass the course. If a student does not submit a speech then that student should contact the Registrar to unenroll from the course. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that all speeches are properly posted. No exceptions.
EXTRA CREDIT
No extra credit assignments are available. No exceptions. Do your work all term long to earn the grade you desire.
All course work must be completed by the appropriate due dates. A grade of zero will be assigned to any course requirement not completed. The Assignment Schedule available on the Lessons tab will serve as the final and complete source for all due dates. Students must print out the Assignment Schedule from the Lessons tab.
ASSIGNMENTS:
The Assignment Schedule can be found by navigating through the following:
1. Log on to the course via http://angel.spcollege.edu
2. Click on the Lessons tab
3. Click on the “Assignment Schedule” file
STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND INSTRUCTOR’S EXPECTATIONS
Online /Student Conduct
http://www.spcollege.edu/ecampus/help/conduct.htm
Online Student, Faculty and Staff Expectations and Performance Targets
http://www.spcollege.edu/ecampus/help/expectations.htm
STUDENT SURVEY OF INSTRUCTION:
The student survey of instruction is administered in courses each semester. It is designed to improve the quality of instruction at St. Petersburg College. All student responses are confidential and anonymous and will be used solely for the purpose of performance improvement.
SIGNATURE PAGE:
I have read, understand, and agree to abide fully by the parameters set in this Syllabus and Syllabus Addendum.
Student Signature: Date:
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