T344--Electronic Media Programming Strategies

Fall Semester, 2011
Section 6424

Class Requirements

Unit Exams (20% each, total of 40% of your final grade):

There are two unit exams scheduled. They will be worth 100 points each. Fifty points will be available for responses to objective questions (multiple choice, true or false, etc.). Fifty points will be available for your responses to short answer/essay questions/calculations.

Exams will be given in class on the dates scheduled. Alternate days and/or times for taking the test will be made in the case of documented emergency, personal illness, as indicated by Student Disability Services, or for absences required for documented IU-sponsored activities (i.e., athletics, performing arts, etc.).

Easy extra points on exams: T344 has a wiki! It can be accessed from the course home page.

You will need to create a wikispaces account if you want to take advantage of this opportunity for extra points.

We'll be reading about and discussing many topics this semester. You should be thinking about them and trying to apply them to things you observe in the media and to things you have learned in other courses. That's where the wiki comes in. Dr. Potter will award "top up" points for evidence of this type of application of the topics that you submit to the wiki.

You can earn one point per week, with annotations on the wiki due by 8pm Friday.

Wiki additions can be original comments spurred by the readings, addition of information (either supportive or contradictory) that you learned in other courses, links to websites or YouTube examples, comments on another student's wiki posting, etc. They can also be specific questions that you want Dr. Potter to address in class.

This is a public wiki. Which means that everyone and ANYONE will be able to see what you post. For that reason, you may create a logon that makes you relatively anonymous. If you do that, however, be sure to email Dr. Potter and tell him what your logon name is so he can award you points. Also, if you would rather get points for comments on course content that are not public, contact Dr. Potter to make arrangements for this possibility.

Final Exam (30%): It will be cumulative. It will contain essay questions, multiple choice, true/false, and calculations. It will be Monday December 12 from 10:15am-12:15pm.

Mini Writings (20%):

Seven times during the semester there will be opportunities to submit short papers expressing your thoughts surrounding media programming issues that we are currently dealing with in class. On the course schedule links will be provided to questions or topics that you may want to respond to in these papers. Or you may find something in the textbook that you want to write about. Each paper must focus on a single topic.

Although these are not formal papers, part of the grade you receive on them will be based upon basics of writing (spelling, sentence structure, syntax, argument development, etc.).

It is best to view these as an email to your boss at a media outlet about the topic at hand rather than an email (or text or tweet) to your friend.

These should be 2 pages in length, double-spaced. They may only be submitted through your Oncourse dropbbox and will be commented on and returned the same way.

You must do up to five of them for credit, each worth 4% of your final grade.

Attendance (5%):

Six of the class meetings have already been randomly selected as attendance days. If you are in class for all 6 of those days, you'll receive 100% for this grade category. If you are here for 5 of those days, you'll receive 95%. If you are here for 4 of them, 85% and so on. If you are out of class for an "excusable" reason, find out from a classmate if you missed an attendance day. If you did, please bring your written excuse to Dr. Potter for an excuse.

Electronic Media/Advertising Research Experience (5%):

One of the ways that more is learned about the impact of advertising (and other forms of electronic media) is through careful research on how people process it. A lot of that research is conducted right here in this department. Part of your grade in this course will require you to have experience in the research process. The easiest way for you to do this may be to participate in a research study conducted in the department. Occasionally, graduate students or other professors will come into class and ask for volunteers. Do this once, and you've fulfilled this requirement for this class.

You may not use an experiment that you participate in for another class to fulfill this requirement for T344.

One of the ways that more is learned about the impact of electronic media is through careful research on how people process it. A lot of that research is conducted right here in this department. Part of your grade in this course will require you to have experience in the research process. One way to do this is to participate in a research study conducted in the department. Occasionally, graduate students or other professors will come into class and ask for volunteers. Do this once, and you've fulfilled this requirement for this class.

You may not use an experiment that you participate in for another class to fulfill this requirement for T344.

Other ways to fulfill this include attending a research lecture somewhere on campus and writing a 2-page paper discussing what you learned or reading a published research article from an academic journal (Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journal of Radio Studies, Media Psychology, Communication Research, etc.) and writing a 2-page summary. If you choose either of these options, the lecture or the article must be pre-approved by me.

Extra Credit:

You may then participate in a second research study in order to receive 5% worth of extra credit on a unit exam score. Again, the article/lecture summary option is available as an alternative for this extra credit option.

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