Main Content
Syllabus
The information contained on this page is designed to give students a representative example of material covered in the course. Any information related to course assignments, dates, or course materials is illustrative only. For a definitive list of materials, please check the online catalog 3-4 weeks before the course start date.
CAS 100B (GWS) Effective Speech: Communicating in Groups (3): Principles of communication, implemented through group problem solving, with some attention to formal speaking and message evaluation. Prerequisite: None
Overview
This course represents one of three speech communication options required for all undergraduate students pursuing baccalaureate or associate degrees at Penn State. It is typically taught through resident instruction. The version in which you are enrolled has been specially adapted for delivery through the University's offerings in distance education via the World Campus. You will, however, have the same opportunities for developing your communication skills as students who enroll for the course as part of resident instruction. You will simply be approaching the subject matter a little differently.
This course is cohort based, which means that there are established start and end dates, and that you will interact with other students throughout the course. Since Communication Arts and Sciences 100B emphasizes communicating in groups, you will be completing the course as part of a group consisting of approximately five other individuals from the same class. You should come to know these individuals quite well by the end of the course (as well as the other students in the course), even though you may not encounter them in any face-to-face situations. The course requires that you and the others in your group participate in three discussions via Google Hangouts, or another discussion platform of your instructor's choosing. In order to prepare for these discussions, you will have to work with your group and make some decisions by communicating with them through the course Discussions tool.
If you want to ask your instructor a personal question, send it via the Canvas Conversations tool. If you wish to ask the question so that all might benefit, you should post it to the Main Course Discussions forum, which may be accessed by clicking the Resources link in the Course Navigation. Finally, your instructor will be contacting the class from time to time concerning reminders about forthcoming activities, due dates, criteria for evaluating performances, and the like. Look for announcements by selecting the Announcements link from the Course Navigation each time you begin work on your course.
For any technical problems that you may have, you will have access to the World Campus HelpDesk. The instructor will not be providing technical assistance, but will instead focus on the content of the course. There is a link to the HelpDesk if you look under the Help link at the bottom of the Global Navigation.
The course has 15 lessons, which are indicated in the course schedule. Detailed instructions for each lesson, are found in the individual lesson descriptions.
Since CAS 100B is paced, it is important that all lessons be submitted by the indicated times in the course schedule appearing later in this document.
The semester-long time span allows approximately one week (or less, for the summer semester) for each lesson activity and for each of the four "performance activities." The material covered in the first six lessons aims at developing your understanding of group process and of principles of communication in general. Lessons 7 and 8, respectively, involve preparation for an individual problem-solving speech and the presentation of that speech. In getting to this stage in the course, you may move as quickly as you feel you reasonably can; however, all members must be at Lesson 8 by no later than the scheduled date.
After Lesson 8, you will be moving into more intense group work for the remainder of the course. Prior to that, you will just be getting used to collaborating by doing informal activities with your group. For your group to accomplish its work, it is essential that every member of your group be at the same place in the course when the activities involving group work begin. You will have only six weeks to plan, prepare, and participate in the three group discussions that are required for the course. The discussions will be spaced at approximately two-week intervals. As you come to know one another and begin to engage in regular communication, you will find that planning and preparing become progressively less difficult; nevertheless, the course does not allow for much in the way of procrastination.
For every lesson in the course, you will have one activity on which you are to be evaluated. In ten cases, the evaluation will be based on your written work that grows specifically from assigned readings, and, in one case, you will be preparing a written assessment of a group discussion. For the remaining four lessons, you will be evaluated on a problem-solving speech that you give, your participation in a symposium, your participation in a problem-solving discussion, and your participation in a decision-making discussion. The preparation for these four lessons will be done via a private group forum. The group presentations will be via telephone conference call. Your individual speech will be submitted via YouSeeU.
Successful completion of CAS 100B requires both commitment and sustained effort over the entire semester. If you do the readings and related activities in earnest, you will find by the end of the course that you have learned a great deal about groups, the different types of tasks they perform, how to communicate in them, how to prepare for participating in them, and how to exercise positive influence on their performance. You will have a strong foundation both in theory and in practice. The foundation in practice, moreover, will derive from the combination of working with others to prepare and the actual formal participation in discussion. So welcome to the course, and I hope you have a profitable semester learning about and being involved in groups!
Course Objectives
At the completion of this course, you should be able to:
- make clear, well-organized, and well-documented individual and group presentations concerning matters of social significance;
- work effectively in groups by understanding the factors that influence human interaction and being able to apply that understanding in situations requiring their participation;
- develop your research, analytical/inferential, organizational, critical thinking (including the weighing and weighting of information as applicable to conclusions), and presentational skills, as well as their ability to synthesize information and arguments; and
- be more adept in the interpretation and assessment of messages, including being able to distinguish rational and emotive appeals, what is well-reasoned and defensible, as opposed to what is unreasoned and unwarranted, and recognizing when assent or acquiescence is appropriate, as opposed to skepticism.
Required Course Materials
Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.
Library Resources
Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can
- access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
- borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
- get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
- much more.
You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and service. The Off-Campus Users page has additional information about these free services.
Software
One of the benefits of being a registered Penn State student is that you are eligible to receive educational discounts on many software titles. If you are interested in learning more about purchasing software through our affiliate vendor, please visit the Buying Software section of the Course Materials page.
Technical Specifications
For this course we recommend the minimum World Campus technical requirements listed below:
| Operating System | Canvas, Penn State's Learning Management System (LMS), supports most recent versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac operating systems. To determine if your operating system is supported, please review Canvas' computer specifications. |
|---|---|
| Browser | Canvas supports the last two versions of every major browser release. It is highly recommended that you update to the newest version of whatever browser you are using. Note: Cookies must be enabled, and pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows from Penn State websites. |
| Additional Canvas Requirements | For a list of software, hardware, and computer settings specifically required by the Canvas LMS, please review Canvas' computer specifications. |
| Additional Software | All Penn State students have access to Microsoft Office 365, including Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. |
| Hardware | Monitor: Monitor capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution |
| Mobile Device (optional) | The Canvas mobile app is available for versions of iOS and Android. To determine if your device is capable of using the Canvas Mobile App, please review the Canvas Mobile App Requirements. |
Student Education Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ)
During the semester you will receive information for completing the Student Education Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ). Your participation is an opportunity to provide anonymous feedback on your learning experience. Your feedback is important because it allows us to understand your experience in this course and make changes to improve the learning experiences of future students. Please monitor email and course communications for links and availability dates.
If you need technical assistance at any point during the course, please contact the Service Desk.
For registration, advising, disability services, help with materials, exams, general problem solving, visit World Campus Student Services!
Course Schedule
Note: All due dates reflect North American eastern time (ET).
Activities are due by 11:59 p.m. (ET), Sunday of the week, unless otherwise indicated. The schedule below outlines the topics we will be covering in this course, along with the associated time frames and activities.
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Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.
Note: If you are planning to graduate this semester, please communicate your intent to graduate to your instructor. This will alert your instructor to the need to submit your final grade in time to meet the published graduation deadlines. For more information about graduation policies and deadlines, please go to the Graduation Information on the My Penn State Online Student Portal.
Course Requirements and Grading
The basis on which your instructor will evaluate the lesson activities is explained in the lessons where the activities are assigned. The final course grade is the letter equivalent of the sum of each letter grade assigned times its weight for the fifteen lessons. Failure to complete Lesson 5, 8, 11, 13, or 15 carries the added penalty of one letter off the course grade. The instructor reserves the right to make subjective judgments about the quality of student participation and products. (In other words, quantity does not equate to quality.)
Grades will be assigned for each lesson and will be weighted as follows:
- 40% Written Responses to Questions for Assigned Readings (average of 10 lessons)
- 10% Written Evaluation of a Group Discussion
- 10% Individual Speech (recorded video)
- 10% Participation in Symposium Discussion
- 15% Participation in Problem-Solving Discussion
- 15% Participation in Decision-Making Discussion
- TOTAL = 100%
You will receive more explicit information concerning the grading of oral activities in advance of the events.
| A | 95 to 100 | Excellent or Superior Achievement |
|---|---|---|
| A- | 90 to 94.9 | Excellent, but with some room for improvement |
| B+ | 87.9 to 89.9 | Very Good |
| B | 83.3 to 87.8 | Good |
| B- | 80 to 83.2 | Not quite as good |
| C+ | 75 to 79.9 | Somewhat above average |
| C | 70 to 74.9 | Average or satisfactory competence |
| D | 60 to 69.9 | Minimally competent, but still passing |
| F | 59.9 and below | Unsatisfactory/Failing |
Late work will not be accepted unless arrangements have been made with the instructor prior to the due date, at the instructor's discretion. If an emergency arises that prevents you from completing your work on time, please let your instructor know as soon as possible before the due date so that arrangements can be made for you to keep up in the course. Note that because of the interactive nature of some assignments, it is only possible to make up written work, not group discussions. If the instructor agrees to accept a late assignment, a penalty of 15% will be assessed on assignments submitted up to a week late, and a 30% penalty will be assessed on assignments submitted up to two weeks late. Work more than two weeks late will not be accepted.
Please refer to the University Grading Policy for Undergraduate Courses for additional information about University grading policies.If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.
For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.
Academic Integrity
According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity , an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.
Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity ). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.
How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and
personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and
property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all
can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment
of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and
others, as well as a civil community.
In cases where academic integrity is questioned, the Policy on Academic Integrity indicates that procedure requires an instructor to inform the student of the allegation. Procedures allow a student to accept or contest a charge. If a student chooses to contest a charge, the case will then be managed by the respective college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. If that committee recommends an administrative sanction (Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, Expulsion), the claim will be referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response.
All Penn State colleges abide by this Penn State policy, but review procedures may vary by college when academic dishonesty is suspected. Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy and college review procedures is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page .
Accommodating Disabilities
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has resources for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources (SDR) website provides contacts for disability services at every Penn State campus. For further information, please visit the SDR website.
In order to apply for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability resources office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation based on the documentation guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability resources office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
Additional Policies
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.
Disclaimer: Please note that the specifics of this Course Syllabus are subject to change, and you will be responsible for abiding by any such changes. Your instructor will notify you of any changes.