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AN INTRODUCTION TO INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Communication 225, Section 001 Fall 2020

Schedule: ONLINE at d2l.msu.edu

*All due dates and times are for Eastern Time Zone (East Lansing Time Zone)*

Professor: Dr. Amanda Holmstrom

Email: holmstr6@msu.edu
Virtual Office Hours: By appointment

Graduate TA: Sunyoung Park

Email: parksu64@msu.edu
Virtual Office Hours: By appointment
Important: You should always contact Sun first with any questions throughout the semester. Dr.
Holmstrom goes on maternity leave for the rest of the semester when her baby is born, around
early/mid-October (a D2L announcement will be made when she goes on leave). At that point,
all communication MUST be directed to Sun or it will not receive a response.

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course include: (1) acquainting you with some of the fundamental
processes through which interpersonal communication occurs; (2) increasing your awareness of
the role interpersonal communication plays in managing social identities and relationships; (3)
helping you improve several of your interpersonal communication skills; and (4) introducing you
to scholarly research in the field of interpersonal communication. At the end of the semester, you
should have a better understanding of how interpersonal communication works and how to use it
effectively in your personal and professional relationships.

Course Format

This class is taught in an asynchronous online format with weekly quiz and assignment
deadlines. Your professor (Mandy) and graduate TA (Sun) will be available for virtual office
hours by appointment. Brief lectures are pre-recorded and will be uploaded by the beginning of
each week (Monday) to D2L. You will be expected to (1) view all lectures posted to D2L, taking
notes and engaging with the material; (2) complete assigned readings from your textbook; (3)
complete 14 weekly quizzes on D2L; (4) complete 13 weekly assignments and upload them to
the appropriate D2L dropbox; and (5) keep track of your grade via D2L.

Text & Materials

Required text. Adler, R.B., Rosenfeld, L.B., & Proctor, R.F. (2018). Interplay: The
process of interpersonal communication (14th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Additional readings or materials. Any additional readings or materials will be posted to

D2L.
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Course Requirements and Policies

Quizzes. There will be 14 D2L quizzes over the course of the semester – one per
topic/chapter, and generally one per week, save for the week of Thanksgiving and the following
week (see course schedule on the last page of this document). Each quiz is worth an equal
amount. We consider both retention and application of concepts important, so both are tested by
the quizzes.
Your two lowest quiz scores will be dropped. Your quiz grade component will be
calculated upon your highest 12 quiz scores. However, this policy means there will be
ABSOLUTELY NO opportunities for make-up quizzes for any reason (including illness, job
interview, family emergency, technology issues, etc.). You will want to reserve these dropped
quiz grades for when you need them. More information on quizzes:
 Quizzes are completed on D2L – go to “assignments” and find the weekly quiz(zes).
 Quizzes each are allotted 15 minutes each and all must be taken between the hours of 12
a.m.-11:59 p.m. ET on the corresponding Friday (see course schedule below).
 Quizzes consist of 10 objective test items (i.e., multiple choice, true-false, and matching
questions) and cover your assigned reading and material in recorded lecture(s) for that
chapter/topic.
 You may use your books and notes for these quizzes, but note that the time limit will
prohibit you from looking up every answer. Instead, you should study as if you were
taking the exam without notes or other materials.
 Quizzes are not cumulative, which means that each will cover the material for that week
and that is all. There is no “midterm” or “final” cumulative exam or quiz in this class.
 All quizzes must be completed individually (not in pairs or groups) by the person
enrolled in the course.
 Questions will be presented one at a time, and you will not be able to go back to previous
questions once you have answered them.
Your quiz performance, in total, will represent 65% of your final grade.

Communication in the RealWorld™ activities. Most weeks, you will have an

assignment due Friday based on that week’s topic. At the end of each topic’s recorded lecture,
we will spend a few minutes describing the assignment and learning goals. The details for these
assignments will be posted to the corresponding D2L dropbox as well.
All Communication in the RealWorld™ activities are due to the appropriate D2L drop
box by 11:59 p.m. ET the Friday of the week they are assigned.
Your meaningful participation in these activities will represent 30% of your final grade.
We will drop your lowest 1 RealWorld activity grade. Because we are dropping your lowest
grade, there are no make-ups for this assignment for any reason. Warning: do not phone these
assignments in; they are worth a substantial chunk of your final grade.

Research Participation. Students will be required to earn 1 credit hour of research credit
on the SONA system via research participation. You MUST assign credit to COM 225 Section
001 on SONA to receive your research credit. If this is not done by the end-of-the-semester
deadline (typically the last day of classes), you will not receive credit for any research you have
done – ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS. Credits cannot be assigned to more than one class.
The SONA system can be accessed at http://msucom.sona-systems.com. A tutorial on using
SONA is available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1OnT2ZU6QQ.
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Your participation in these research studies will represent 5% of your final grade. If
available, students may also elect to participate in up to 1 ADDITIONAL hour of research
participation via SONA for extra credit. Each additional .25 hours of credit above 1 credit will
earn you an extra .25% in the course, for up to 1% of your final grade (which could easily bump
up your final grade!).
An alternative assignment for research participation is available if needed for the required
portion of your research participation grade (1 credit). Please see D2L for more information
about this alternative assignment beginning around the 3rd week of class. Alternative assignments
are due to the appropriate D2L dropbox no later than 12/9/20 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Students with Disabilities: Michigan State University is committed to providing equal

opportunity for participation in all programs, services and activities. Requests for
accommodations by persons with disabilities may be made by contacting the Resource Center for
Persons with Disabilities at 517-884-RCPD or on the web at rcpd.msu.edu. Once your eligibility
for an accommodation has been determined, you will be issued a verified individual services
accommodation (“VISA”) form. Please email this form to us at the start of the term and/or two
weeks prior to the accommodation date (test, project, etc.). Requests received after this date will
be honored whenever possible.

Communicating with the Instructor and TA. If you have a question about the course,
first check this document. Most questions we receive are answered in the syllabus (e.g., quiz
dates, assignment details, extra credit opportunities). If you do need to contact us, email Sun at
parksu64@msu.edu with a subject line that contains the course number and your name; for
example, “COM 225 Jim Smith.” Emails without this information in the subject line may not
receive a response. For any inquiry, email Sun first; if need be, she will pass the information on
to Dr. Holmstrom.

Grading

Grading Summary

Assignment Percentage of Final

Quizzes Together your quiz grade will be:
65%
Of your final grade.

Communication in the RealWorld Together, RealWorld Activities

are: 30% of your final grade
Research Activities 5%
Total 100%

Grading Scale

92-100% = 4.0
85-91.99% = 3.5
80-84.99% = 3.0
75-79.99% = 2.5
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70-74.99% = 2.0
65-69.99% = 1.5
60-64.99% = 1.0
59.99% or less= 0.0

Grades will be posted on D2L throughout the course of the semester. If you believe there is an
error in your grade (i.e., it has been entered incorrectly on D2L), contact Sun immediately.

It is class policy that we do not “bump up” or “round” grades. For quizzes, if you earn
79.99 percentage points, you may expect to receive a 2.5 in the course. If you earn 91.999
percentage points, you may expect to earn a 3.5. Any emails or other requests for grade
bumps will not receive a response.

A Note on Technological Issues

With such a large class, we cannot be responsible for individual issues with technology.
Technological issues will not constitute a reason for a quiz retake or late assignment submission.
This is part of the reason we allow for 2 dropped quizzes and 1 RealWorld assignment grade. If
you have an issue with D2L, call the MSU IT service desk IMMEDIATELY so they can help
you resolve the issue. This is also important in case there is a broader issue that D2L (and we)
should be aware of. MSU IT Service Desk: Local: (517) 432-6200; Toll Free: (844) 678-6200
(North America/Hawaii).

Academic Integrity

All of your work for this course is subject to the academic integrity policies of Michigan
State University. These policies are described in your student handbook and on this site:
https://www.deanofstudents.msu.edu/academic-integrity. You are expected to be knowledgeable
about these policies; ignorance will not constitute an excuse for any violation. At minimum,
violations will result in a zero for the affected component of the class, and other penalties may be
pursued to the maximum allowable extent, including but not limited to a zero in the course.
Regarding academic integrity for the Communication in the Real World activities: Every
student must do his or her own work for this assignment – this is not a group task. At minimum,
any academic dishonesty related to these activities (such as doing work for another student) will
result in a penalty of up a zero for all involved students’ entire Communication in the Real
World grade for the semester. Please note that if you are retaking this class, you may not turn in
work from a previous semester – that is, you will need to redo the assignments.
We expect that quizzes will be completed individually by the person enrolled in the class,
with no help from outside websites or others who are enrolled in the class or not.
No course materials (including lectures, assignments, quiz questions, etc.) may be
uploaded to an external website of any sort. They are the property of the instructors and MSU.
We will also file a formal report to students’ academic deans in response to any instances
of violation of academic integrity policies.
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COURSE SCHEDULE: ANY CHANGES TO THIS SCHEDULE WILL BE

ANNOUNCED ON D2L ANNOUNCEMENTS

Week Dates Topic Reading Real World Quiz #

Assignment Assignment # Must be taken
for this *all due Friday ET between
week Friday ET by 12 a.m.-11:59 p.m.
11:59 p.m.
1 9/2- Intro to the course No reading None Take practice quiz (no
9/4 & interpersonal points assigned - will
communication help you learn the
technology and
course policies)
2 9/9- Foundations of Chapter 1 1 1
9/11 interpersonal
communication
3 9/14- Research methods No reading 2 2
9/18
4 9/21- Culture & Chapter 2 3 3
9/25 interpersonal
communication
5 9/28- Communication & Chapter 3 4 4
10/2 the self
6 10/5- Perceiving others Chapter 4 5 5
10/9
7 10/12- Verbal Chapter 5 6 6
10/16 communication
8 10/19- Nonverbal Chapter 6 7 7
10/23 communication
9 10/26- Listening Chapter 7 8 8
10/30
10 11/2- Emotions Chapter 8 9 9
11/6
11 11/9- Dynamics of close Chapter 9 10 10
11/13 relationships
12 11/16- Relationship types Chapter 10 11 11
11/20
13 11/23- CMC (guest lecture No reading None Postponed until next
11/25 by Kelsey Earle, week (will take CMC
PhD student) quiz week 14 due to
Thanksgiving
holiday)
14 11/30- Conflict Chapter 11 12 12 (will cover CMC)
12/4
13 (will cover Ch. 11)
15 12/7- Communication Chapter 12 13 14
12/11 climate
16 12/14- Final exam week None None None
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12/18