Miami University

SHAUNTAE BROWN WHITE

INTRODUCTION FOR FACULTY TO THIS PORTFOLIO WRITING ASSIGNMENT

I have taught COM 136 (Interpersonal Communication) for about 5 years. Two of my primary course goals are to promote student growth and development and to provide interpersonal skills that students can use in their own lives. One of the ways to achieve these goals is to provide an opportunity for students to experience, apply and see the relevance of the course material and concepts. Journals are one way to do that, and I revised this component of the course during the Center for Writing Excellence/CELT Workshop on Improving Student Writing in Content Courses.

I have had a couple of versions of journal assignments in the past. Some students stated that they really benefited from them, and I know that others blew it off. I didn’t want to abandon the journal assignment, but I wanted to make it more “meaty.” My original assignment asked students to find a concept for each chapter and apply it to a recent interaction they had had.  In hindsight, it simply did not give enough direction. Recently, I asked students to identify a relationship that they could focus on for the duration of the semester. I found it interesting that many of them selected parents (more mothers than fathers). I thought that the majority would select a significant other. I think that I got off to a great start this past semester with this approach, but somehow lost steam in guiding them through this process.

Thus, I chose the journal portfolio as my long assignment. I think that the assignment has merit in the class, and if taken seriously, can not only provide a writing opportunity, but also provide an opportunity for students to explore a relationship, apply the communication concepts, learn more about themselves and another person with whom they have a relationship, and be intentional about applying interpersonal skills to a relationship, all of which will facilitate students’ growth and development.

I thought that journal assignments would work better if students could apply the concepts to one focus relationship.  I decided that I would provide more structured weekly journal activities as opposed to letting students select a concept and apply it to a “real-life” situation. In the past, I got overwhelmed with journals that were turned in throughout the semester.  Even though I enjoyed reading them and learned a lot about my students, they became a chore to read. Thus, I decided that I would not grade the weekly activities, but to encourage students to keep up with the assignments, I would do periodic “spot checks.”

After the students have completed the majority of the semester and all of the assignments, they will identify the two or three most salient aspects of communication that have impacted their relationship and write about that. I did not want summaries of the activities, but rather a synthesis of the holistic relationship and how communication impacts it.

SHAUNTAE BROWN WHITE

PORTFOLIO WRITING ASSIGNMENT FOR STUDENTS

COM 136

White

Fall 2003

Journal Portfolio

Due: December 1, 2003

100 points

Connection to course goals:

One of the goals for this class is to provide an opportunity for interpersonal growth and development. This course is designed for you to learn skills that will enhance and enrich your interpersonal relationships while at the same time learning more about yourself.  

Learning Objective:

• To provide an opportunity for you to process the content of the course to see the relevance to your daily interpersonal lives.
• To apply concepts of course to daily interpersonal interactions and to reflect on the course material.

Assignment Overview:

For this assignment, you will be given weekly/chapter activities to complete by the assigned date. You will also be asked to do some informal writing to process the activity. These assignments should be written in a single subject spiral notebook, but they do need to be completed by the assigned time.  Most of these assignments will be based on a focus relationship that you will choose. At the end of the semester, you will assemble all of these activities, informal reflections and write clear, concise essay about your focus relationship and how communication is relevant to it.

Process:

1.     FOCUS RELATIONSHIP: Chose a focus relationship that you will use for the rest of the semester. This is a relationship that you want to improve. It does not necessarily have to be a “bad” relationship, but it should be a relationship that is significant to you.  In principle, you should choose a more permanent relationship. However, if you choose a relationship the ends during the semester, come and see me. It is possible for you to still use the relationship in a more reflective manner.

2.     JOURNAL ACTIVITIES: Each week, you will be assigned a journal activity relevant to the chapter discussion. Each journal entry should be completed by Thursday of each week in a single subject spiral notebook. While the entries can be handwritten, they do need to be complete and kept up to date.  Journals will be subject to “spot checking.”

3.     FINAL CRITICAL REFLECTION ESSAY: At the of the semester, after assembling and reviewing all of your activities, write a four to five page critical reflection essay about your focus relationship.  Choose the two to three most salient aspects of communication that have impacted your relationship either in a positive or negative way. Here are the questions you could consider when reflecting and writing about your relationship:

1. How have the aspects of communication that you have selected impacted your relationship?
2. In what ways can I improve in these areas of communication? In what ways can my partner improve?
3. What communication skills/strategies have I used as a result of this class that have worked to improve the quality of communication in my relationship?
4. Do you have any greater understanding about your partner? If so, how did you gain that understanding?
5. How does communication impact your relationship? How would you describe the quality of communication in this focus relationship? Compare your current reflections to your first journal entry.
6. What is the most important thing that you have learned as a result of this class that has had an impact on your focus relationship?
7. What is the most important thing that you learned about yourself?

You will be graded on the following things:

1. COMPLETENESS: Your journal portfolio should include all of the completed journal entries, any additional paper related to the assignment (i.e. a copy of your listening quiz, copies of your self-concept questionnaires, etc.) as well as your critical reflection essay.
2. FORMAT: Your critical reflection essay should be written with an appropriate introduction, body and conclusion. Your introduction should contain a clear thesis statement about the role of communication in this focus relationship. Your essay should be about 4-to-5 pages.
3. APPLICATION: You should demonstrate a mastery of the communication concepts by applying them (not defining them) correctly to your entries. You should also be able to synthesize the communication concepts you have chosen to discuss. I want you to not only see the relationship, but also the impact of communication in a holistic manner.
4. CRITICAL THINKING: Your journal essays should be thoughtful and insightful.  It goes beyond the obvious to explain the role and relevance of communication in your relationship. (NOTE: I know, I know, I need to flesh this out and define critical thinking. But it’s too late in the day for me to think critically about it J).
5. GRAMMAR: Your journal essays should demonstrate correct grammar, punctuation and spelling.
6. PRESENTATION: Your portfolio should be in chronological order of assignments starting with the beginning of the semester. Your weekly journal assignments can be submitted “as is”—there is no need to re-write or type them. However, your critical reflection essay should be typed in a 12-point font with 1.25 margins.

*Sample Entries:

Chapter 1—Nature of Communication: Identify one relationship in which you would like to improve the communication. Why have you chosen that relationship? What specifically would you like to improve? How do you think communication impacts your relationship? How would you describe the quality of the communication in this focus relationship?

Chapter 2—Self-concept: Write a response to the self-concept questionnaires (distributed in class) completed by yourself, your friends, family and co-workers (make sure one is given to your focus relationship partner). How is your self-concept different and, or the same as the perception others have of you?  Who is more accurate?

Chapter 5—Listening:

1. Take the Listening Self Assessment Test at www.highgain.com
2. Complete the checklist for listeners assignment on page 168.
3. Based on exercises 1 and 2 above, write a journal entry addressing how your listening habits/skills impact your focus relationship.

Chapter 8—Conflict Management skills:

Briefly describe a conflict that you had with your focus relationship partner during which you did not do a good job managing your emotions—that is, one in which you became angry and upset and lost your cool. Respond to the following questions: Why did you lose control of your emotions? If you could go back in time, what would you do differently to better manage your emotions before and during the conflict? Consider incorporating some of the suggestions discussed in this chapter. 

*All entries assignments will be provide when the assignment is distributed. Here is an idea of the activities.

COM 136

White

Fall 2003

Journal Portfolio Evaluation

WORK IN PROGRESS