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Arts and Sciences
School of Communication
SYLLABUS: COMM 3440 MASS COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY - SU17 ONLINE
Course overview
This course is designed to promote an understanding of basic mass communication practice. We will examine this from the receiving (how mass communication affects the individual and society as a whole) and production (how to design mass mediated campaigns, theories of persuasion) ends, as well as discuss the state of various mass communication industries and media. This class will be taught from a social scientific perspective, with an emphasis on communication theory. As an advanced level course, it will require a combination of active discussion, well-researched writing, and rigorous examination.
Instructor Instructor:
George Pearson [email protected] Office 3049, Derby Hall
Assistant Miranda Na [email protected]
Office Hours Office hours will be held online using Carmen Connect. However, we can meet face-to-face by appointment. If you aren’t free during office hours you can email us for another time to meet (in person or on Carmen Connect). Due to scheduling conflicts, the office hours will change midway through the semester.
5/10 – 5/31 George: Wednesdy and Thursday 2pm-4pm. Miranda: Tuesday and Thursday 8-10am.
6/1 – End of semester George: Tuesday and Thursday 10am-12pm Miranda: Monday and Wednesday 3pm-5pm
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Catalog course description Analysis of basic issues affecting media performance; especially social and cultural norms, organizational and occupational variables, and the assessment of the effects of the resulting performance. This course will be delivered entirely online. Prereq: Not open to students with credit for 642.
Course learning outcomes By the end of this course, students should successfully be able to:
1. Develop an understanding of basic mass communication theories. 2. Learn how media affects the individual and society as a whole. 3. Learn basic principles of campaign design. 4. Gain an understanding of the history and current state of mass communication industries. 5. Critically apply concepts and theories of mass communication to become a better consumer of mass media. 6. Practice critical thinking and writing skills.
Course materials
Required
Bryant, J., Thompson, S., Finklea, B. (2012). Fundamentals of Media Effects. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc. (print or e-book)
Available: https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Media-Effects-Jennings-Bryant/dp/1577667859/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487365037&sr=8-1&keywords=bryant+media+effects+2012
Course technology For help with your password, university e-mail, Carmen, or any other technology issues, questions, or requests, contact the OSU IT Service Desk. Standard support hours are available at https://ocio.osu.edu/help/hours, and support for urgent issues is available 24x7.
Students are responsible for ensuring they have the technology necessary to complete the course. If you are experiencing any technical difficulties with the websites and software used to run the course (Carmen, Mediasite, Carmen Connect etc.) you should contact the IT Service Desk as soon as possible (614-688-HELP (4357)).
If you experience any problems with any of these sites, you should also check the system status page on the OCIO website (https://osuitsm.service-now.com/selfservice/system_status) which logs any widespread exiting problems with OSU IT services.
Technical problems will not generally be considered a valid excuse for non-participation or missing a deadline, unless there is an acknowledged problem with the IT systems by the OCIO
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that would reasonably affect people’s ability to complete the work, or if you have raised an ongoing ticket with IT Services (I will expect proof of this ticket, and I may contact IT services to ensure the situation is ongoing).
Carmen:
o Carmen, Ohio State’s Learning Management System, will be used to host materials and activities throughout this course. To access Carmen, visit Carmen.osu.edu. Log in to Carmen using your name.# and password. If you have not setup a name.# and password, visit my.osu.edu.
o Help guides on the use of Carmen can be found at https://resourcecenter.odee.osu.edu/carmen
o This online course requires use of Carmen (Ohio State's learning management system) and other online communication and multimedia tools. If you need additional services to use these technologies, please request accommodations with your instructor.
Carmen accessibility
Secured Media Library:
o Media materials for this course will be made available via the Secured Media Library. go.osu.edu/SecuredMediaLibrary
o Frequently Asked Questions and support can be found at https://resourcecenter.odee.osu.edu/secured-media-library
o To obtain additional help for use of the Secured Media Library, please email [email protected]
Carmen Connect:
o Carmen Connect, Ohio State’s webinar tool, will be used to host synchronous class meetings. Log in to Carmen Connect using your name.# and password. If you have not setup a name.# and password, visit my.osu.edu.
o Help guides on the use of Carmen Connect can be found at https://odee.osu.edu/resourcecenter/carmenconnect
Mediasite:
o Mediasite is Ohio State’s Lecture Capture System. Lectures will be recorded through Mediasite and posted to the course Carmen page.
o Help guides on the use of Mediasite can be found at https://resourcecenter.odee.osu.edu/mediasite
Self-Service and Chat support: http://ocio.osu.edu/selfservice
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Phone: 614-688-HELP (4357)
Email: [email protected]
TDD: 614-688-8743
Baseline technical skills necessary for online courses
Basic computer and web-browsing skills
Navigating Carmen
Necessary equipment
Computer: current Mac (OS X) or PC (Windows 7+) with high-speed internet connection
Necessary software
Word processor with the ability to save files under .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf. Most popular word processing software programs including Microsoft Word and Mac Pages have these abilities.
OSU students have access to Microsoft Office products free of charge. To install, please visit https://osuitsm.service-now.com/selfservice/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=kb04733
Grading and faculty response
Grades
See course schedule, below, for due dates
Assignment or category Points / Percent
Weekly Activity 25% (2.5% per activity)
Discussion Participation 25% (2.5% per week)
Discussion Leading 10%
Midterm Essay Exam 20%
Final Essay Exam 20%
Total 100%
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Assignment guide
Discussions
Each week, students are expected to take part in group discussions. Questions will be proposed by the discussion leaders based on that week’s content. You should aim to make three posts a week (although you may make more). An initial post will be due by 11:59pm on Wednesday of each week. Two posts responding to other students will be due by 11:59 pm Friday of each week. Discussion posts should be a minimum of a paragraph. The posts should demonstrate: understanding of the concept(s) in the material provided; independent thought regarding the concepts and material; thoughtful response to the work of other students in the class. Further information on how the discussion posts are graded can be found on Carmen
Discussion Leading
Discussion leaders are responsible for guiding their group’s discussions for that week. One student per group will lead the discussions each week. Everyone will lead discussion once over the course of the semester. Discussion leaders will also report back to the wider class at the end of the week. Further information on discussion leading can be found on Carmen.
Activities
Weekly activities will encourage students to engage with the weekly topic. Activities will generally be between half a page to two pages in length (see the individual assignment guidelines as assigned), double spaced, and in .doc or .pdf format. Activities are due by 11:59pm each Friday. Exemplary activities should: demonstrate comprehension of the theories and concepts addressed in lecture and media; provide independent thought regarding the theories, concepts, and materials provided; actively and thoughtfully reflect on the questions and prompts provided; and demonstrate an understanding of how the concept or media discussed has influenced society.
There are 11 weekly activities to complete. Ten of these will count towards your final grade. Your lowest grade for a weekly activity will be dropped.
Midterm Essay Exam & Final Essay Exam
Exams will be in essay format and will encourage students to deeply consider the effects of mass media concepts on our society. Further information on the essay exams can be found on Carmen.
Please note, for all situations, technical problems are not generally considered a valid excuse. See the section under Course Technology for more information.
Grading scale 93–100: A 90–92.9: A- 87–89.9: B+
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83–86.9: B 80–82.9: B- 77–79.9: C+ 73–76.9: C 70 –72.9: C- 67 –69.9: D+ 60 –66.9: D Below 60: E
Late assignments I am very aware that things come up that can lead to assignments being late, especially during the summer semester when students have more out-of-school commitments. Therefore I am aware that sometimes deadlines become difficult to manage. Because of this, I have different late policies for different assignments. The late policies for each assignment type are below:
Discussion Posts & Discussion Leading
Both the discussion posts and discussion leading sections rely on inter-student cooperation. As of such late posting doesn’t only effect you, but also other students in your group. Therefore, there is no grace period for late postings of discussion posts or discussion leading. Those posted late will be graded as 0. That said, for the Discussion Posts you do not need to take part every week to earn full marks (see the Discussion Posts section on Carmen for more information). If you are unable to do the discussion posts and especially if you are unable to do the discussion leading you should email the instructor. This email should be sent in advance of missing the deadline, not after. Only valid excuses (such as family emergencies, medical reasons etc.) will be accepted.
Weekly Activities
The weekly activities offer the most flexibility in terms of deadlines. On two occasions throughout the course you can take a four day grace period on handing in your weekly activity late, meaning you would have to the following Tuesday to complete the activity. You can take these at any time and you do not need to provide any reason. The only requirement is that once you hand in the assignment you email Miranda to state you are taking the grace period (and so that she knows the assignment is there to be graded). Weekly activities that are late and are not taken as part of the two grace period options will be graded as 0.
Midterm and Final Essay Exams
Midterm and Final Essay Exams do not contain any specific grace period. If you are unable to make the deadline for either of these projects you should email the instructor as soon as possible. This email should be sent in advance of the deadline, not after. Extensions will be granted on a case-by-case basis. I am often willing to grant a small extension (e.g. one day) for a variety of reasons, however the standard valid excuses (such as family emergencies, medical reasons etc.) will be needed for longer extensions. Paper that are late and do not have a valid extension will lose 2 percentage points from the final grade per day.
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Faculty feedback, response times, and contact I am providing the following list to give you an idea of my intended availability throughout the course. (Remember that you can call 614-688-HELP at any time if you have a technical problem.)
Grading and feedback
We will aim to have grades back to you within 7 days after the deadline, however for larger assignments this may take longer.
We will aim to reply to e-mails within 24 hours on weekdays. If you do not hear back after 48 hours during the week, please send another email. Sometimes they can get lost.
Discussion board
There is a discussion board on Carmen entitled ‘General Course Questions’. For any generalized questions that you think may apply to the rest of the class I encourage you to post them there so others can see them. If you email us and we feel the question is better discussed on the discussion board we may ask you to post it there. Please check the discussion board to see if your question has already been answered before posting a comment. If you email us with a question that has already been answered we will most likely direct you to the discussion board.
We will aim to check and reply to messages in the discussion board within 24 hours on week days.
Student participation expectations Because this is a distance-education course, there are not set meeting times for our lectures and discussions. To achieve learning success, please follow this guideline for how often you should plan to log in and engage with the course and materials posted:
Logging in: AT LEAST THREE TIMES PER WEEK Be sure you are logging in to the course in Carmen each week, including weeks with holidays or weeks with minimal online course activity. (During most weeks you will probably log in many times.) If you have a situation that might cause you to miss an entire week of class, discuss it with me as soon as possible. Video lectures will be posted the week before the material is covered in class.
Discussion and communication guidelines The following are my expectations for how we should communicate as a class. Above all, please remember to be respectful and thoughtful.
Writing style: While there is no need to participate in class discussions as if you were writing a research paper, you should remember to write using good grammar, spelling,
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and punctuation. Informality (including an occasional emoticon) is fine for non-academic topics.
Tone and civility: Let's maintain a supportive learning community where everyone feels safe and where people can disagree amicably. Remember that sarcasm doesn't always come across online.
Citing your sources: When we have academic discussions, please cite your sources to back up what you say. (For the textbook or other course materials, list at least the title and page numbers. For online sources, include a link.)
Backing up your work: Consider composing your academic posts in a word processor, where you can save your work, and then copying into the Carmen discussion.
Other course policies
Student Academic Services Arts and Sciences Advising and Academic Services’ website provides support for student academic success. Information on advising issues such as tutoring, transfer credits, academic standing, and contact information for Arts and Sciences advisors can be obtained through this website. The site is: http://advising.osu.edu/welcome.shtml
Grade Challenges Assigned grades will be considered final except under situations of clear error. Graded assignments will not be regraded based on appeal. The only circumstances under which grade appeals will be accepted is where there is a clear objective error in the grading, for instance an individual submitted an assignment on time but was given a deduction for being late. Grades for assignments may also be upgraded if there is a widespread error across the entire class, where a majority of students have made a similar mistake, in a manner which would suggest incorrect or unclear instructions on the question or assignment. However, assessing whether such situations occur is the decision of the instructor.
Student Services The Student Service Center assists with financial aid matters, tuition and fee payments. Please see their site at: http://ssc.osu.edu
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Copyright Disclaimer The materials used in connection with this course may be subject to copyright protection and are only for the use of students officially enrolled in the course for the educational purposes associated with the course. Copyright law must be considered before copying, retaining, or disseminating materials outside of the course.
Diversity The School of Communication at The Ohio State University embraces and maintains an environment that respects diverse traditions, heritages, experiences, and people. Our commitment to diversity moves beyond mere tolerance to recognizing, understanding, and welcoming the contributions of diverse groups and the value group members possess as individuals. In our School, the faculty, students, and staff are dedicated to building a tradition of diversity with principles of equal opportunity, personal respect, and the intellectual interests of those who comprise diverse cultures.
Title IX Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender are Civil Rights offenses subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories (e.g., race). If you or someone you know has been sexually harassed or assaulted, you may find the appropriate resources at http://titleix.osu.edu or by contacting the Ohio State Title IX Coordinator, Kellie Brennan, at [email protected]
Academic integrity policy
Policies for this online course
Written assignments: Your written assignments, including discussion posts, should be your own original work. In formal assignments, you should follow APA style to cite the ideas and words of your research sources. You are encouraged to ask a trusted person to proofread your assignments before you turn them in--but no one else should revise or rewrite your work.
Reusing past work: In general, you are prohibited in university courses from turning in work from a past class to your current class, even if you modify it. If you want to build on past research or revisit a topic you've explored in previous courses, please discuss the situation with me.
Academic Misconduct
It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term “academic misconduct” includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever
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committed; illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487). For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct http://studentlife.osu.edu/csc/
Accessibility accommodations for students with disabilities
Requesting accommodations
The University strives to make all learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience academic barriers based on your disability (including mental health, chronic or temporary medical conditions), please let me know via email immediately so that we can privately discuss options. You are also welcome to register with Student Life Disability Services to establish reasonable accommodations. After registration, make arrangements with me as soon as possible to discuss your accommodations so that they may be implemented in a timely fashion. SLDS contact information: [email protected] ; 614-292-3307; slds.osu.edu ; 098 Baker Hall, 113 W. 12th Avenue.
Course schedule (tentative)
Standard Week Most weeks will follow a similar pattern of when content is released and when assignments are due etc. The beneath is meant as a guide to this:
Wednesday/Thursday before the week stats: Content for the following week (eg lecture videos) and weekly assignment released and posted to Carmen
Monday (by 11:59pm): Discussion leader posts questions and starts discussion for their group
Wednesday (by 11:59pm): First discussion post made
Friday (by 11:59pm): Second and third discussion posts made, weekly assignment due
Tuesday the week after (by 11:59pm): Discussion leader posts review of group discussion and responds to other discussion leader
Wednesday the week after: A review video that responds to the discussion leader reports will be posted to Camen.
Week by Week Guide Week Start
Date Topic Readings Media Discussion Post
Deadlines1
Discussion Leading Deadlines2
Other Assignment Deadlines
1 10-May Syllabus/Overview Syllabus
NA NA Weekly assignment due 5/12
2 15-May Introduction to Mass Media Effects Research
Ch 1 (p 3-20)
5/17 & 5/19 NA Weekly assignment due 5/19
3 22-May Historical Perspectives & Concerns of Mass Media
Ch 2 (p 21-33) Audio: War of the Worlds radio broadcast
5/24 & 5/26 5/22 & 5/30 Weekly assignment due 5/26
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4 30-May Social Cognitive
Theory Ch 4 (p 57-73) Video: Bandura's Socia
Cognitive Theory: An Introduction
5/31 & 6/2 5/30 & 6/6 Weekly assignment due 6/2
5 5-Jun Cultivation, Media Violence
Ch 8 (p 108-121), Ch 11 (p. 155-177)
Video: The Mean World Syndrome, The Killing Screens: Media and the Culture of Violence
6/7 & 6/9 6/5 & 6/13 Weekly assignment due 6/9
6 12-Jun Fright Reaction Ch 13 (p 198-213)
6/14 & 6/16 NA Midterm Essay Exam (available 6/12) due 6/16
7 19-Jun Children and Media
Ch 17 (p 266-279) Video: Mickey Mouse Monopoly
6/21 & 6/23 6/19 & 6/27 Weekly assignment due 6/23
8 26-Jun News and Agenda Setting/Political Communication
Ch 6 (p 87-99), Ch 14 (p. 214-227)
Video: News War (Part 3), Now with Bill Moyers: Kathleen Hall Jamieson on Political Advertising
6/28 & 6/30 6/26 & 7//4 Weekly assignment due 6/30
9 3-Jul Media and Health Ch 15 (p 228-241)
7/5 &7/7 7/3 & 7/11 Weekly assignment due 7/7
10 10-Jul Media Stereotypes and Identity
Ch 16 (p 242 - 265)
Video: The Codes of Gender: Identity and Performance in Popular Culture
7/12 & 7/14 7/10 & 7/18 Weekly assignment due 7/14
11 17-Jul Video Games Ch 18 (p 280 - 293)
7/19 & 7/21 7/17 & 7/25 Weekly assignment
die 7/21
12 24-Jul Class Review
NA NA Weekly assignment due 7/28
Finals
Final Essay Exam due 7/31
1 First deadline date refers to date first discussion post is due, second date is the due date for the second and third discussion posts
2 First deadline date refers to the date questions should be posted and discussion started, the second due date refers to when the discussion leading report and response should be posted.
