This assignment is designed to help students:
- Understand the pragmatic value of communication in life.
- Recognize how others view communication.
- Identify various characteristics of communication.
- Apply the five principles of communication addressed in the book.
- Develop and conduct an interview.
Students should identify a professional they can interview. The professional may be a current or former employer, doctor, counselor, clergyman, etc., but the professional should NOT be a professor or in any way connected to Del Mar College. Students’ parents are equally off limits. Each student should conduct an interview with the chosen professional about the role and importance communication plays in their lives and the people they work with. Interviews should be well thought-out in advance and should last no more than thirty minutes. After collecting the information, students should write an analysis of their findings.
The analysis should be typed, double-spaced, and range between three to five pages. The paper should include an introduction, body, and conclusion. Interview questions should be included in an appendix at the end of the paper.
In writing their analyses, students should be sure to use quotation marks to accurately identify specific quotations. Students are encouraged to use ideas from the text and other sources to help shape both the interview and the paper.
Papers will be graded on the following criteria:
- Choice of interview subject.
- Quality of interview questions.
- Quality of writing in both technique and interest.
- Incorporation of ideas from text and lecture.
- Depth and breadth of original insight.