PSY1102 Interpersonal Skills

PSY	1102	74993	1, 2008	ONC	Interpersonal Skills	1.00	Springfield
Subject	Cat-nbr	Class	Term	Mode	Description	Units	Campus

Academic group:	FOSCI
Academic org:	FOS005
Student contribution band:	1
ASCED code:	090701

Staffing
Requisites
Rationale
Synopsis
Objectives
Topics
Texts
Reference materials
Student workload
Assessment details
Important assessment information
Assessment notes
Production date
PDF version

STAFFING

Examiner: Graeme Senior
Moderator: Gerry Tehan

REQUISITES

Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BPSH or BPSB. Students enrolled in other degrees may be permitted to enrol in this course with the examiner's approval.

RATIONALE

To be a good psychologist in any domain requires good communications skills that can be deployed across a range of contexts. Whatever the domain, a psychologist must be able to understand the message that is being communicated. In turn they must be able to communicate their thoughts and ideas in a clear manner be it verbally or in writing. Psychologists need also to be aware of the problems introduced when two or more people are involved in interactive communication. This course attempts to highlight and develop skills in these areas.

SYNOPSIS

Good communication skills are attributes that USQ affirms its graduates should have acquired upon completion of their degree. This course is aimed directly at fostering one aspect of communication skills; namely interpersonal communication skills. In this introductory level course, communications are broken down in into their constituent parts in the first instance. That is, students' abilities to discern the meaning in other people's communication is examined. Students' abilities to communicate meaning via speaking and writing are then addressed. These constituent processes are then combined in an interactive context.

OBJECTIVES

On completion of this course students will be able to:

identify own strengths and weaknesses as a communicator (Assessment 3);
describe receptive aspects of interpersonal communication across a range of domains and demonstrate competence in these domains (All Assessment);
describe expressive aspects of interpersonal communication across a range of domains and demonstrate competence in these domains (All Assessment);
describe the interactive aspects of interpersonal communication and demonstrate competence in these domains (All Assessment);
generalise and apply these principles to the analysis of human behaviour (Assessment 1 and 2);
further develop critical evaluation and use of quantitative data and facility with media and computer technologies (All Assessment).

TOPICS

	Description	Weighting (%)
1.	The range of interpersonal communication situations	10.00
2.	Receptive Aspects: Listening, reading, non-verbals	15.00
3.	Expressive Aspects: Speaking, writing	15.00
4.	Interactions: Face-to-face immediate, time delay, telephones, e-mail, one-to-one, group	10.00
5.	Applied behavioural analysis	50.00

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

No text is allocated for this course. Readings and other learning materials will be provided in class.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Adler, RB, Rosenfeld, LB & Proctor, RF 2004, Interplay: the process of interpersonal Communication, 9th edn, Oxford University Press, New York.

Allen, M (ed.) 2002, Interpersonal communication research: advances through meta-analysis, L. Erlbaum, Mahway, NJ.

Aries, E 1996, Men and women in interaction: reconsidering the differences, Oxford University Press, New York.

Beebe, SA, Beebe, SJ & Redmond, MV 2005, Interpersonal communication: relating to others, 4th edn, Pearson, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA.

DeVito, JA 2004, The interpersonal communication book, 10th edn, Pearson Education, Boston, Mass.

Lumsden, G & Lumsden, D 2006, Communicating with credibility and confidence: diverse people, diverse settings, 3rd edn, Thomson/Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

Summers, J & Smith, B (eds.) 2006, Communication skills handbook: how to succeed in written and oral communication, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Milton, QLD.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ACTIVITY	HOURS
Assessment	55.00
Class Contact	108.00

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

Description	Marks out of	Wtg(%)	Due date	Notes
ASSESS 1 BEHAV CODING ASSIGN	50.00	20.00	03 Mar 2008	(see note 1)
ASSESS 2 LYING:BEHAV ANALY TES	50.00	40.00	03 Mar 2008
ASSESS 3 SPECIAL TOPIC PRESENT	20.00	40.00	03 Mar 2008

NOTES

1.: Assessment due dates to be advised.

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

Attendance requirements:
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To complete each of the assessment items satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 50% of the marks available for each assignment.
Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted.
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the available weighted marks for the summative assessment items.
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks (or grades) obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
Examination information:
There is no examination in this course.
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
As there are no examinations in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
University Regulations:
Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6. Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm or in the current USQ Handbook.

ASSESSMENT NOTES

9.	The due date for an assignment is the date by which a student must despatch the assignment to the USQ. The onus is on the student to provide proof of the despatch date, if requested by the Examiner.
10.	Students must retain a copy of each item submitted for assessment. This must be produced within five days if required by the Examiner.
11.	Access to email, discussion groups and the internet is a departmental requirement. Students are expected to open their university provided email account and check it regularly for personal communication. Information sent this way will be regarded as being receivable.

This version produced 27 May 2008.