Interpersonal Communication: COMM 1158 ?                                                                                            Fall 2021 Communication Growth Journal Assignment

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Interpersonal Communication: COMM 1158 ?                                                                                            Fall 2021

Communication Growth Journal Assignment.

Effective communicators have a vast collection of skills and the ability to choose the right skills for what the situation demands.This assignment will support your ability to self-asses your communication skills through reflection and small online assessment tasks.  Once you have a clearer understanding of your strengths and challenge areas in communication, you can begin to use the topics in this course as a resource for change and improvement of your interpersonal skills.  You will reflect on communication topics that apply to your personal communication needs and use the knowledge to impact a positive change in your own communication growth

Things to note before proceeding:

You will have an opportunity to deliver your work to me in three segments, (note the optional due dates in the course outline and in the course schedule). This method is effective to manage your time and workload, but it is optional.  You might prefer to hand the complete assignment in on the final day.  

There will be multiple parts to this assignment.  This assignment consists of the following:  

1.) A self-assessment and reflection of one’s communication skills.

2.) A report discussing COMM topics. The report will highlight the student’s understanding of the material with attention to how they might apply the knowledge in their personal/ professional lives, Topics will be chosen by the student from a prescribed list. It is not necessary to complete the entire list, but rather students are encouraged to chose topics that would support their growth as communicators.  Presumably topics would connect to those areas that scored lower in the 

self-assessment and/or were identified by the student (in the reflection), as challenge areas.

3.) A concluding reflection that highlights what goals the student has developed for themselves regarding their communication skills and an action plan for how they might achieve those goals.  Attention to the original challenge areas (part 1), and content of the report (part 2) is important here.  This concluding reflection will tie everything together.

Step 1: Self-Assessment & Reflection

-Using the online tools in your Day one Learn module for COMM 1158, asses your skills in communication. 

-Develop an introduction to your journal assignment reflecting upon what you learned in your self-assessment.  You will need to share some specifics about your outcomes from theassessment tools as well as two or three brief personal examples about past communication experiences.  Since this is a personal journal, each introduction will be unique to each student.  But here are some ideas of how you might want to develop your introduction.  

• You might want to discuss how the assessment tools reinforce what you knew from past interactions and experiences.  • You may want to consider the contrasts between your experiences and the skills identified in the tools.  • You may want to discuss certain aspects of your life(friendships, work, parenting, being a student etc.), where you utilize your strengths, vs the roles you have in which your communication challenges emerge. • Alternatively, if you have another approach that shares both your skills and challenges in communication feel free to use it as your introduction.

Whatever way you decide to frame your introduction, please remember to share both your strengths and the areas you want to continue working on as you move through the content of the course. Those specific challenge areas identified in the introduction should influence the topics you choose for the next part of this assignment.  

Step 2: Communication Skills Topics Report

Please remember to choose only 3 skill areas (topics), from the list below to discuss in your report.  The skill areas you chose should connect to challenges you expressed in your self-assessment & reflection in part 1.

Topics:  Listening skills & Supportive responses

             Assertiveness

             Sharing Negative Feedback (or Challenging information), with another person

             Receiving Challenging or Negative Feedback (another person saying it to you/about you).

             Handling Conflicts

             Clarifying your Perceptions

             Inter-Cultural Communication

For each of the 3 communication topics you chose to discussplease include the following in your discussion:

• An explanation of the topic you are discussing – this would be from course content.  What have you learned about this skill area or topic that is valuable?• An explanation of how/why this choice is relevant to your personal and/or professional communication growth.  In this explanation be sure to include an example from your experience to highlight the relevance for you.  • Explain what the resources (text/learn modules), say about what makes this topic challenging for communicators, as well as why you personally feel challenged by this aspect of communication.• What new skills and/or strategies could you incorporate into your interactions that might help you to be more successful in this aspect of communication? If the skills/strategies you choose are communicated to another person verbally or non-verbally, include a clearly worded example of what you would say and/or do.

Part 3: Concluding Reflection

In this final segment of the assignment you connect the earlier parts of your journal together with a plan to move forward.  Here you will discuss how/when you will use the strategies you decided upon in Part 2. 

For Example: Perhaps in section 1 you realized you had difficulty with listening skills.  If through your reflection you found yourself to have challenges listening at work when communicating with co-workers you might chose to discuss which work situations you will begin to practice your new found listening skills and strategies you outlined in part 2.  In doing so, explain how a particular situation would go with a particular co-worker with your “new” strategies/skills.

Once you have explained practical application of the skill(s) in your life, describe what successful use of that skill would look like to you.  Remember this journal is all about growth, so how does successful application of your new communication skills look? As you chose different skills for different situations, you will, at times, need to self- assess to figure out what works and what doesn’t, so having guideposts for what effectiveness or success looks like is very important.   Your version of success in the communication skill of listening might be very different from another student who also struggles with listening.  

A reminder about submitting this assignment:  It is recommended that you take advantage of the optional due dates with partial submissions.   This option offers a balanced workload and some initial feedback on your work before continuing with the remainder of the assignment.