T552--Cognitive Approaches to Media

Dr. Potter--Second Semester, 2008-2009

TENTATIVE Class Requirements

Email Comments (15% of your final grade):

Each student is expected to submit email comments prior to each class meeting.

These comments can be summaries of major points, questions for discussion, points of information/clarification, opinions of the particular reading in light of other things you have learned/experienced, etc.

I will provide you with brief written or typed responses to these--along with a grade that expresses my assessment of the depth of thought exhibited. Sometimes these will be in time for class; other times I will need to play "catch up" on the weekends. But, I will provide you feedback. I will grade these using the following scale:

4--Outstanding set of comments, showing a thorough reading of the assigned articles and informed, scholarly wrestling with the ideas expressed,

3--An above average set of comments that show you have read the assigned articles and thought about their meaning,

2--An average set of comments that indicate you read the assigned articles prior to class.

I expect to receive these by 9pm the night before our class meeting. This will allow us all to read what you have to say (and maybe even start an online discussion) prior to class.

Exams (40%):

There will be two of them. The first will be around midterm and will be a take-home essay exam.
The second will take place during the final exam period for this course.

Final Term Paper (40%):

Students will be expected to complete a substantial term paper for this course. This will take the form of a review of both the psychological and communications literature surrounding an area of interest followed by a set of hypotheses and a research proposal for testing them. The end goal is to create a document that could become the basis for data collection shortly after completing T552. If you do not feel you have the experimental design experience necessary to propose original research in your term paper you may either consult with me often during the course of the semester for input or write a more in depth literature review to satisfy this requirement.

A draft of this paper must be turned in for my feedback. Those not turning in a draft on this date will receive no higher than a "B" on their term paper.

Late papers will not be accepted except due to reasons of health or personal emergency.

Class Discussion (5%):

This is not a lecture course. Certainly, I will use some of the time during each class period to share some thoughts and basic concepts. But, you are expected to carry the discussion with questions, comments, debate, etc. To encourage this, I will be grading you purely on my subjective assessment of the extent to which you offer informed commentary during our time together.

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