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updated 3 Sep 09 by carr@ipfw.edu

COM 518 Theories of Persuasion

Building upon COM 318 Principles of Persuasion, the IPFW Graduate Bulletin describes this course as reviewing "contemporary theories, including analysis of concepts, models, and pertinent research across the broad spectrum of persuasive communication."  To accomplish this review, we will conduct an intellectual history of the concept of media influence and how its divergent models of both persuasion as well as propaganda have taken root in the public understanding of mass communication.

Rather than argue for or against the impact or existence of media and media influence, this course argues that we can only begin to understand media influence once we understand how media influence gets talked about.

P: 318.  The intended audience for this course consists of junior and senior Communication majors, as well as graduate students in Professional Communication. 

Continuing with this course means that you agree to be responsible for preparing all readings before coming to class.  In addition to the assigned textbooks for this class, you will need to download some assigned readings.  Downloaded readings will consist of essays and chapters in Adobe Acrobat PDF format available through Blackboard.

If you do not have access to a computer connected to the Internet, you cannot get Blackboard to work properly from off-campus, or you are unable to make arrangements to use a computer on campus, you will still be held responsible for all assigned readings.  The instructor does not download, email, or print off readings for students.  Be resourceful and make other arrangements with fellow classmates.  If you can't open certain files from within Blackboard or your web browser, try downloading the file to your computer and then opening it in a native application like Adobe Acrobat.  If you still can't open the file, try restarting your computer, or try using a different computer before reporting a technical difficulty.

Each week, you will need to prepare on average 60-100 pages of reading per week before coming to class on Thursday.  This amount may be more or less, depending on the week.

Working in teams of 5-7, you will have limited class time to collaborate on a written report due within 24 hours at the end of class time on Thursday.  As a team, you will make an informal presentation of this report at the end of class.

You will write a final, argument-driven synthesis paper.  The paper will offer an intellectual history of how one form of media or new technology gets talked about, especially in terms of media influence, at a particular moment in time.  The paper must show mastery over two (2) or more theories and/or approaches to propaganda and/or persuasion covered during the course of the semester.  The paper must demonstrate sufficient critical distance from the theories and/or approaches discussed.  You are not arguing for or against whether propaganda or persuasion exist.  Rather, the paper is making an argument as to how people talk about media influence.

The paper also must demonstrate an ability to find, select, and judge additional scholarly material beyond what we cover in class.  The paper should summarize and synthesize that material, using it to build an argument regarding how a specific medium or new technology gets discussed.  You will choose the topic of the paper, but you must show that you can narrow it down and take a definite stance with regard to the specific way or ways that public discussion has talked about the medium or new technology in terms of propaganda or persuasion.  In identifying a problem that is directly relevant to mass media, the paper will focus on a communication technology and/or issue directly relevant to media influence that you know well and that is important to you.

You will take a midterm and a non-comprehensive final exam.

Collaborative teams will design and deliver online mini-courses to the rest of the class on selected dates throughout the semester.  No class attendance or meetings will be required on these dates.  Instead, we will convene online in an asynchronous format.  Everyone registered for this class will be required to participate in these mini-classes via this discussion during the week.  On these days, one team will build an online mini-course around a particular set of pre-assigned readings.  The course will link from com518.pbworks.com. The team must share equal responsibility for the content of the course, not just the mechanics of posting or design of the page.  The course can include more than one page, include one or more activities such as discussion questions, and include links to selected resources from the web such as other web pages, articles, podcasts, and videos.  For examples of other courses using this format, go to http://p2pu.org.

Not only will you come to class, but you actively will participate in class discussions.  A participation grade will assess what you do not only during the scheduled class meeting time, but in general on the basis of what you do as a stakeholder to help make this class a success.  For example, the participation grade also will include your participation online in the mini-courses.

Except in extreme circumstances, there will be no incompletes for this class. If an extreme circumstance does arise, however, as soon as possible notify the instructor and propose a workable solution.  While not guaranteed, a workable solution may include the possibility of an incomplete.  However, a request for an incomplete will only occur for assignments already begun.

Under no circumstances can a student do additional work after final grades have been submitted to raise his or her final grade.

All work submitted for this class must be original and prepared specifically for this course by any student whose name appears on it.  If the work is a collaborative document, all contributors must have their names listed accurately on the assignment at the time of submission.

Teams are responsible for an accurate listing of individual contributions to the collaborative document.  If there is a discrepancy between contributors, the team is responsible for indicating that discrepancy clearly at the time of submission.  This can be accomplished by noting inline within the document who contributed what section of the document.

The instructor will treat any misrepresentation of a contribution to a collaborative assignment as an instance of academic dishonesty.  This may result in a course sanction, as described in the Course Policies.

Ten (10) times throughout the semester, in-class teams will co-author a collaborative report (CR) worth ten (10) points each for a total of 100 points, due within 24 hours after the end of class meeting time.  These papers extend a significant concept relevant to the assigned reading for the week.  This paper will define and respond to one or more central concepts from the readings. The response must demonstrate meaningful engagement with the concepts introduced in each reading. To demonstrate this engagement, the paper should reflect a group opinion, informed by judicious paraphrasing and direct quotation from the assigned reading.

Each collaborative paper will

• clearly identify a central idea or concept from the reading, based on the consensus of the group
• in paragraph form, provide several sentences that explain, describe, and/or support the central idea or concept identified by the group
• make use of judicious paraphrasing and direct quotation from the assigned reading
• clearly identify a specific and current problem relevant to mass media to which the central idea or concept would apply, based on group consensus
• in paragraph form, provide several sentences that explain, describe, and/or support different opinions among group members as to how the central idea or concept from the reading might apply to the specific problem identified by the group
• summarize key aspects of how the central idea or concept applies to a specific and current problem identified by the group; and evaluate the probability of how well this interpretation of the reading would apply to this example
• accurately list the names of all team members who participated at the time of submission.  It is each team member's responsibility to see that the names of those who contributed to the project get listed accurately.

Each team will have approximately thirty (30) minutes of class time to develop a draft of this paper.  After 30 minutes, the instructor will solicit one team to give a Presentation (PR) of their report to the class.  Each team member will earn an individual grade based on evidence of contributions made to the paper.  If the assignment does not adequately differentiate among the contributions of group members, the instructor will assign a group grade.

Individuals who earn (six) 6 points or better on a report may revise and resubmit a collaborative report for an individual grade.

Twice during the semester, each team will give a Presentation (PR), worth ten (10) possible points, based on this collaborative report to the entire class once thirty (30) minutes of in-class time has elapsed.  The instructor will solicit one team to present.  The team will begin by having one of its members write a 1-2 sentence summary, posed as a question, identifying a specific media-related problem and how the concept or theory from the reading might apply.  The question could simply ask: "how does concept x help explain problem y?"  Then, each team member briefly (in no more than 2-3 minutes) will respond to this question. The team then will engage in a "fishbowl" discussion, with each team member having the opportunity to address any differing perspectives that come up during these responses. When all team members have finished responding to the question and to one another, other class members will be invited to participate in the discussion.

Presentations will be made only on selected dates listed in the schedule.  The opportunity to present will be done on a first-come, first-served basis - so if a team wants to present on a particular day, the first team to volunteer will be presenting. Teams cannot reserve presentation days in advance, only on the day of a presentation. There will be only ten (10) opportunities throughout the semester, so volunteer early.  You cannot redo this assignment, and you will not receive written feedback unless specifically requested via email within 24 hours after the presentation.

Individual grades for team members will be assessed on the basis of participation in leading this module, as well as on how well the presentation communicates the following: the substance of the issue raised, its relevance to the reading, and how well it extends a concept or concepts from the reading.  Due to variations in team memberships, you may present more than twice as part of a different team.  In that case, only the highest grade for the in-class presentation will be counted.

Team presentations are done voluntarily.  If no team is willing to present, then for the remainder of class, the instructor will survey each team to briefly present their progress on their collaborative report.  If there are more opportunities to do presentations than there are teams, then teams can volunteer to present a third time.  In this case, the grade for this presentation will replace the lowest score for a previous presentation.  If all grades for the presentations are the same, the grade will replace the lowest individual score for a collaborative report, including any collaborative report that was missed.  If there is no benefit to replacing a grade for a collaborative report with a third presentation grade, the instructor may consider other possibilities, such as factoring the third presentation into the participation grade.

To replace an existing grade with a third presentation grade, the following conditions must be met:

• the student must be in good standing, and must not have earned a course sanction
• team members must be present for the duration of the class
• everyone on the team must already have presented two (2) times
• any team that has not yet presented twice during the semester must have right of first refusal
• everyone in the team must contribute equally to the presentation
• the participation grade must replace an existing grade, not a future or potential one (including the collaborative report due for that week)

Three (3) times throughout the semester, different teams will deliver an online mini-course (MC) to the rest of the class, worth twenty (20) possible points.  All teams will have one designated class meeting time to convene the teams, delegate different responsibilities, develop a method for communicating among team members outside of class, and decide upon a plan of action for building the course.  The mini-course must

• facilitate knowledge sharing asynchronously through discussion and/or comment
• take place over the duration of a week
• have a "front door" in the form of a wiki that allows for editing and commenting
• be accessible to all class members
• serve as a resource to extend one or more significant concepts from an assigned set of readings
• take advantage of existing resources on the Web, such as images, podcasts, and video
• encourage participation among fellow class members

You will take a midterm (M) and a non-comprehensive final (F). Both the midterm and final will build upon readings, questions that appear on the quizzes, on online discussion questions, and on issues raised in class discussion. Both the midterm and the final each will count 50 possible points toward your final grade.

You must write a final, argument-driven synthesis paper (SP) worth 110 points.  This paper will be submitted in parts - including a proposal (SP1 - 10 points), a sample paragraph (SP2 - 20 points), a theories summer, presented as part of the paper (SP3 - 30 points), and a final draft (SP4 - 50 points) - at various intervals throughout the semester.  Written feedback will not be offered on P3 and P4 unless specifically requested and submitted 2 weeks in advance of the due date.

The synthesis paper will synthesize two or more different approaches to propaganda and/or persuasion covered during the semester, and show how your synthesis could be applied to how a particular medium or new technology gets talked about at a particular moment in time.  There is no page or source minimum requirement, though you are strongly encouraged to consult secondary sources such as book chapters and journal articles published by academic presses.

The successful final draft will include, all in a singled document file, the following

• an introduction that states a specific problem, explains its significance, and clearly states a central thesis
• an explanation of how you have synthesized two or more theories, with each theory or concept briefly summarized and explained through paraphrase and judicious quotation, and with appropriate citations from other sources clearly indicated
• three to five (3-5) paragraphs (paragraph=key statement advancing central idea or concept, plus 3-5 additional sentences that explain, describe, and/or support) with each paragraph advancing and developing the paper's central thesis
• a conclusion that summarizes the key points from the paper, and evaluates (as opposed to restating) how well the particular synthesis of theories you've proposed can address the way in which a medium or new technology gets talked about in terms of media influence
• a works cited page that demonstrates the breadth and diversity of sources used in the paper

The final paper will be evaluated on the basis of its relevance to a specific topic concerning mass media; how well the paper narrows down its topic; the substance and significance of the thesis; how well the paper explains and engages the theories and concepts discussed; the thoughtfulness and originality with which the paper synthesizes these concepts; the overall structure, readability, clarity, and effectiveness of how well the paper advances its argument; and the ability of the paper to draw from multiple theoretical perspectives.  With regard to the last criterion, make sure your list of sources used in the paper demonstrates your ability to select and engage with multiple and informed perspectives.

Your participation is worth 50 points toward your final grade. This participation will be assessed primarily, though not exclusively, on the basis of what you do during our scheduled class meetings. You will not receive feedback on your participation unless specifically requested. The burden of proof is on you to maintain detailed, accurate, and clearly presented records of your contributions to the success of the class. Although you are not required to do so, you are strongly encouraged to maintain evidence of these contributions throughout the semester. This data can include evidence of preparation (such as detailed, original notes), letters of support from other students, written self-evaluations of your performance, etc. Should a difference of opinion arise with regard to the level of your performance, you will be asked to produce these records upon request.  Failure to participate in class, regardless of attendance, will directly impact this portion of your grade.  Questions regarding participation raised earlier in the semester will receive far greater consideration than questions raised later in the semester.

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