Syllabus

16- week DIL section syllabus

INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATION  

COMM 1307 PCM

Section 16453 DIL 002

Fall 2010

I. Faculty information

Sallie Sharp, Ph.D. (University of Texas), J.D. (Georgetown University), M.A. (Harvard University), B.A. (LSU)

• Office Location: NRG 4101B, 512-223-4866

      See www.austincc.edu and follow links to

      Northridge campus for map.

• Office Hours: [Email if you know you are coming by so I can save the time for you.]                 

Tuesdays and Thursdays 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m.

Thursdays noon – 2 p.m.

      Northridge campus, Room 4101B

• Email: ssharp@austincc.edu    You must sign up for ACC student email so I can contact you via Blackboard.
• Cellular telephone:  512-826-6777 (Brief messages only, please.)

II. Introduction and purposes of the course

Course description:  Introduction to Mass Communication examines the basic factors affecting mass communication. The course content is designed to help students develop a foundation for understanding the mass media and the dynamics that affect the messages the media transmit.  The course examines media technology and the historical development of each of the major mass media, including newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, film, recorded music, and the Internet. The course examines the tumultuous media transition that is underway, including evolving media economics, the increasing dominance of digital media, fading media industries, and on-going changes in underlying structures of media industries. The course examines the major content disseminated by the mass media including news, public relations, advertising and entertainment.  Also examined in this course are media audiences, media effects, the global mass media, media and governance, mass media globalization, and media law and ethics. 

1. Instructional Methodology:  This course is an internet access (PCM) distance learning version of the standard Introduction to Mass Communication course.  Students will be required to do the same amount of work and the same quality of work as students enrolling in the classroom equivalent of the course.  This PCM course is designed for mature and capable students endowed with a great degree of self-discipline and responsibility and knowledge of personal computers and the Internet. If this description does not sound like you, then you should consider dropped this section and adding a classroom section of the course. You will need maturity, ability, and self-discipline to complete successfully the requirements of any distance learning course.  Before beginning the course, please go to http://dl.austincc.eduand follow the various lengths to learn about the methodology and support for distance learning classes at the college.  Being familiar with the material on the distance learning website will make your semester go more smoothly.

III.  Instructional materials

            Textbook 

Vivian, John    The Media of Mass Communication 10th ed.  This is the required reading text for the course. 

ISBN 13: 978-0-205-69305-4

ISBN 10: 0-205-69305-9

Blackboard– sign up via ACC portal page and follow lengths for Blackboard.    http://irt.austincc.edu/blackboard/stlogin.html

ACC student email:  You must immediately sign up for ACC email. It is the only way I have of contacting you via group emails on Blackboard.

            Supplemental materials:  As posted on Blackboard, including video clips, news footage, news articles, advertising clips.

IV.Grading policy

 Final grades will be calculated in the following manner:

                        3 unit exams @ 100 points each                                            300

                        Review Questions and concepts, terms and people15

                        (See below)

                        Extra credit offered during the semester, as posted on Blackboard

            Each of the examinations may include multiple choice, true-false, matching or short-answer questions.  Exam questions are to be completed on Respondus computer software or a red Scantron sheet.

             No retests are permitted.  Students must take exams in one of ACC’s testing centers. No exceptions.  Exams are not administered online.  Exams should be taken in the testing centers on the schedule outlined in the assignment calendar, listed below.

            Letter grades are not given on exams, only points.  Points are combined at the end of the semester to determine the final performance (letter) grade using the grade point scale below.  There are no extra credit assignments, except as indicated above.             

FINAL GRADING SCALE based on total points:

                                    300-270                                   A

                                    269-240                                   B

                                    239-210                                   C

                                    209-180                                   D

                                    below 180                                F

            Checking Your Media Literacy questions and key terms extra credit:  Students may earn 15 points toward their final total point count by completing Checking Your Media Literacy questions and key terms for each chapter. Each chapter subsection ends with Checking Your Media Literacyquestionseach chapter ends with a vocabulary list of concepts, terms and people.  Complete each chapter section’s Checking Your Media Literacy questions and briefly define the key terms as you do the reading for the course. I recommend that you keep a running list of question responses and key terms on your computer. Email me the document after you take the exam at the end of each unit, on the deadline contained in the syllabus. This is an opportunity to have 5 points added to each exam grade.  (15 ÷ 3)  If you wait to do these questions the night before they are due, they lose their value as a study aid.If you miss one of these deadlines, I reserve the right to decline to accept your homework. 

The way this works is this:  If you score a 78 on an exam and submit the Checking Your Media Literacy questions and key terms on schedule, your grade automatically is raised to a grade of 82. 

V.  Course management

            A.  Scholastic honesty:  All work submitted in this course should be your own; violation of ACC rules against plagiarism or collusion could cause you to receive a failing grade for the course.  Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, e.g., cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work.  Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research, or self-expression.  Academic work is defined as, but not limited to, tests and quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom presentations; and homework. 

            B.  Students with disabilities: Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities.  Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes.  Students are encouraged to do this three weeks be

            C.  Withdrawals:   If a student is not performing at a passing level in this class, he or she should withdraw from this class. The withdrawal deadline for the Fall 2010 semester is Thursday, November 18, 2010.  Students who wish to withdraw must do so in writing at any ACC Admissions and Records Office.  Although the instructor reserves the right to withdraw students (See Attendance, above), it is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from this class.  Students who stop attending class and do not officially withdraw may receive a grade of “F” for the course.  No incompletes will be given in this class.

            D.  Late work and make-up work and tests:  Late work will not be accepted without prior approval.  Make-up work will not be allowed.

            E. Completing course early.  Students may complete the course ahead of the assignment calendar schedule, but I am unable to post final grades until the end of the term.

CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES AND DATES

(Instructor may modify calendar as semester progresses.)

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August 17, 2010