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Course Description and ObjectivesThis course is about the mass media, how they operate, and how they affect society. The major goals of this course are to help you use the mass media of communication more effectively and to control better their impact on you and others. To achieve those goals, you must understand both the media and human behavior. You need to know how each medium operates and why it operates as it does, both historically and in present day society. You must know the way each medium shapes the materials that it presents to us. You need to know how we use the media and the probable effects those uses have on us and on our society This course will help you achieve these goals through lectures, assigned readings, film/video screenings and writing assignments. Achievement of the goals, though, is primarily up to you. Not only do you need to attend carefully to the lectures and the readings, you need to think about these materials and ideas. In other words, if you are to get the most out of this course, you need to be thinking and talking about these issues of mass communication frequently, not just when you are in class or doing an assignment for the class. You are going to be living with the mass media for your entire life. By making them a prominent part of your life at this point, by making yourself conscious at all times of their presence and influence, you will have a much better chance of making that lifelong relationship productive -- a relationship you control. GradingGrades are assigned in this course according to a point system. The letter grade to points equivalency is as follows:
The breakdown of the final grade you earn is approximately:
ExaminationsFour exams, 760 possible points The examinations are objective (T/F and multiple choice questions) and are based primarily on text material. In-class lectures, demonstrations, and videos are designed to supplement the texts by highlighting certain issues or points of information. Your regular attendance to the lectures/demonstrations should make it much easier to understand the text material. However, the lectures are not a simple regurgitation of the texts, and perhaps more importantly, the lectures do not cover all text material. Any and all material in either text is fair game for an examination question. In other words, you must read and understand the text books in order to do well on the examinations. The examination scores are curved at the time they are posted. Examinations may not be made up if missed, except for students with credible medical excuses from a physician and for participants in NCAA athletic events (if the professor is informed in advance). Examinations may not be taken early. Reading AssignmentsWe will cover 14 chapters in Media Now and 16 chapters in Sight Sound Motion, so you need to read approximately one chapter in each textbook every week in order to keep up. The Reading Assignments page has a reading schedule arranged to best fit the lectures. Essay AssignmentsEight assignments, 152 possible points There are frequent brief writing assignments designed to help you focus on the questions and issues at hand. The Assignments page summarizes the assignments and has links to the submission pages for all. Your work will be evaluated on a very simple and straightforward basis. If you did what the assignment said to do, and you turned it in on time, you will get 19 points for that assignment. If you did the assignment, and met most but not all of the requirements, 6 points will be deducted. If you failed to accomplish most or all of what the assignment requires (that is, the TA reads it and says, "This is really lame!"), you may not get any points at all for that assignment. Project grades are posted on the web site as soon as they are graded. If you have a question about your grade, contact the TA via email. Projects submitted after the due date are considered late. Late projects will be accepted, but will suffer a one point reduction for each calendar day that they are late. Late assignments will not be accepted after the last class day of the semester ( last_class_day). Projects not turned in are graded as a zero. It is much better to turn in an assignment late, than not to turn it in at all. Students agree that by taking this course, all required papers, exams, class projects or other assignments submitted for credit may be submitted to turnitin.com or similar third parties to review and evaluate for originality and intellectual integrity. A description of the services, terms and conditions of use, and privacy policy of turnitin.com is available on its web site: http://www.turnitin.com/ Students understand all work submitted to turnitin.com will be added to its database of papers. Students further understand that if the results of such a review support an allegation of academic dishonesty, the course work in question as well as any supporting materials may be submitted to the Honor Council for investigation and further action. Attendance102 possible points Regular and prompt attendance is very important. In addition to lectures, class time is devoted to explanations of text materials, videotape or film screenings, discussion, and guest speakers. These in-class activities may not be made up if missed. Missing classes or habitual tardiness make it much more difficult to earn a respectable grade. Attendance is checked according to the seating chart each day shortly after class begins. If you are not in your assigned seat at this time you will be counted absent for that day. You will also be counted absent if you leave class early without making prior arrangements with the professor or with the graduate teaching assistant. Everyone begins the semester with 102 points for attendance -- four points are subtracted for each absence.
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