Welcome to COMM 101, Fundamentals of Communication. This course is required of all Monmouth College students and is designed to be taken during the freshman year. We encourage students to take "Fundamentals" early in their college careers because the communication skills taught in this course will prove useful in most other courses you take at Monmouth College. Quite simply, this is a course about how to communicate effectively. The skills we focus on will help you to present your ideas well, whether in writing or in speaking. No matter what your career goal or prospective major, COMM 101 deals with matters that will have a strong influence on your success in the future. Thus, we urge you to apply the concepts and skills of this course to writing and speaking assignments in the other courses you are taking this term and will take in the future. Don't believe that once you are done with COMM 101 what you learn here is no longer important. If you do, you will miss a valuable opportunity.

Fundamentals of Communication and the Curriculum

Fundamentals of Communication is one of several courses which form the Foundational Skills Requirement. In addition to COMM 101, the Foundational Skills includes English 110, Composition and Argument. These courses, along with Introduction to the Liberal Arts, are designed to develop your abilities and understanding of the most important of all human faculties, the use of language. Monmouth College has made foundational Skills the first of our General Education requirements which students take believing that the skills of good speaking and writing and the skills of good thinking are essentially the same. We believe that sloppy, unclear, weakly presented ideas reflect poor thought. In college the statement, "But you know what I meant." is no longer an excuse. Having good language skills at the college level means more than simply avoiding mechanical errors. It means being clear, precise, and convincing in your expression.

Each of these courses has a particular purpose in relation to the large goal of developing your language facility. English 110 is devoted to developing writing skills necessary for college work. It also seeks to focus attention on the rhetorical dimensions of communication - how good message creation is forming and supporting an argument.

Fundamentals of Communication deals with how humans use language at the broadest level and how you can do so effectively. The course will provide useful theories of communication and examine the processes of human communication in several different settings. This course also focuses on those skills that form the basic building blocks for college-level learning and effective expression in writing and speaking. The communication skills that Monmouth College expects students to master by the end of their Freshman year are described in the file  "Communication Skills Which All Students ...." That material is taken from a document approved by the faculty members who teach courses in Foundational Skills as a statement of expectations for Monmouth College students. Look at that handout before going on. During this term you will find that skills 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9 are the ones which are emphasized most in Fundamentals of Communication.

The first four skills of effective communication taken together have to do with developing or recognizing a thesis (a point someone is trying to make) and supporting it effectively. While it is not always obvious, nearly all assignments in college and most tasks performed in white collar careers involve thesis related skills. For example, if a scientist conducts research to determine which gene accounts for color blindness, he will present his results in the form of a scientific paper. That paper will have a thesis (e.g. "A break in the third gene on the Y chromosome causes color blindness.") which the research report attempts to "prove" to other scientists. This scientific paper will have a clearly ordered set of main points (e.g. I. Background, II. Procedures, III. Results, IV. Conclusions). The author will be careful to meet the expectations of his audience, other scientists, by using accepted scientific evidence and vocabulary. Most importantly, his description of procedures and observations will serve to SUPPORT his thesis that it is the third gene that causes the defect. A term paper on why voter participation is dropping or an essay on what a particular poem is about, although each different from the scientific paper, depend on the same composition skills -- taking a clear position (thesis) and supporting it well in a manner appropriate to the audience. Thus, the skills we will concentrate on in this course are at the center of college level and professional competency. You will use them in virtually all your other courses at Monmouth College if you learn them well now.

The Goals of This Course

 By this point it is obvious that the principle goal of COMM 101 is to help you develop your skills as a communicator, especially those skills of message composition mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. These skills can be applied to both speaking and writing. Of course, for this class our emphasis will be on oral communication, especially public speaking.

In order to promote effective communication skills, the course has other goals as well. Early in the term attention will focus on the general nature of human communication. This will serve as an introduction to the field of communication studies and as a basis upon which to build your understanding of effective communication. Readings in the textbook will provide background for you to recognize the range of processes and characteristics of communication in a variety of contexts. The various activities in class, as well as assignments and speeches, are designed to give you the opportunity to practice and develop abilities necessary for successful communication in both personal and public settings. Throughout the course we will emphasize the importance of developing sensitivity to the minds of others as a key ability required for all types of effective communication. These then are the goals of the course.

Some Preliminary Advice to Students

 First, the most important thing to remember during your semester in Fundamentals of Communication is that the course is designed to help you with tasks you will be expected to undertake in other courses and in your career after college. The content and skills of this course you won't put aside after the term is over. We want you to improve your abilities as a communicator for the long term. For that to happen you not only need to understand the material covered and complete the assignments; you need to practice the skills of effective communication outside of class -- in other courses and in everyday life. To the degree that you apply this material elsewhere you will gain from the course; to the degree you don't you will waste your effort. Skill can only be developed if it is exercised.

Second, you need to remember that communication involves both a sender and a receiver. In this course you have an obligations to others as both. For example, some assignments will require working with other students. In the latter part of the term when your classmates are giving speeches, even if you aren't scheduled to speak, you will be required to attend class. As a listener you can contribute to others' speeches by being supportive. Nothing so quickly undermines a speaker's confidence as audience members who give the impression they hate being there. Quite simply, the quality of your participation will effect the quality of other students learning.

Third, keep in mind that, even in oral presentations, the rule of academic honesty applies. If you present someone else's work (ideas, paper, speech, outline, etc.) as your own, that is plagiarism and it is a serious matter at the college level. Cheating, in the form of plagiarism or in any other form, can result in a failing grade for the course.

Lastly, take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions and get advice. Monmouth's reputation as a good place to attend college rests in part on the ease with which students can get to know the faculty and work closely with them. We think the classes that are the most fun to teach (and we assume the most fun to take) are those in which a sense of esprit de corps develops and where students ask questions and insert their own ideas or concerns.

Your instructor is not the only one available for advice. We also employ several upperclassmen to serve as Speech Assistants. During the second half of the course when speeches are due, you will be given an appointment with one of the assistants on the evening before you give the speech in class. This required rehearsal session provides you with the chance to get advice on how to improve your presentation from an advanced student who "knows the ropes." In fact, the assistants are available for almost any kind of advice from refining a thesis to finding material to getting over nervousness. Since we began this program of assistance the quality of speeches in COMM 101 has improved and so has the confidence of the speakers.

 We welcome you to Fundamentals of Communication. With concentration and your effort to apply this material outside of the class, we believe that the course can be one of the most valuable that you take in college.