CMNS 380 (Corporate Communication) – Discussion of Key Concepts
Grade weight:
20%
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your mastery of the course material through application, synthesis and evaluation. You will compile an electronic portfolio (e-Portfolio) comprised of evidence that demonstrate three key concepts from Unit 7 and Unit 8 of the course. You will discuss, within the introduction and conclusion of your paper, how these concepts relate to one another and how they contribute to the overall effectiveness of communication processes within an organization.
For this assignment, you will:
- build an electronic portfolio that clearly demonstrates the three concepts chosen from the course material;
- write an introduction explaining how these concepts relate to one another and how they contribute to the overall effectiveness of communication processes within an organization; write a 200 – 250 word commentary for each piece of evidence included in the e-Portfolio that explains how they relate to the course material; write a conclusion that revisits the main ideas of your project and that reflects on the research process.
A recommended methodology is presented below as well as a marking rubric that will be used to evaluate your work. Your finished e-Portfolio should contain 3 commented pieces of evidence, or blocks, per concept (9 blocks in total). Note that APA or MLA formatting should be used consistently throughout your commentary to acknowledge the source of the material included; please advise your tutor if you require guidance or resources for citation. Note that the Purdue University On-Line Writing Lab (OWL) offers current information on both styles of academic formatting, which could be of great use to you. Athabasca University’s WriteSite also presents useful tools and information on academic writing and formatting.
It is essential to include textual proof within your essay; quotes and citations taken directly from the course material should appear within your content whenever possible, properly cited, to support the arguments presented.
Methodology:
- choose three key concepts from Unit 7 and/or Unit 8 of the course material. Such concepts include, but are not limited to organizational boundaries, the learning organization, corporate social responsibility, ethical compliance, sustainability and networking.
- Write an introduction that contextualizes the three concepts chosen – define the concepts and discuss how these concepts relate to contemporary organizations. Consider how these concepts relate to one another - are they symbiotic? Where/how do these concepts manifest themselves within organizations?
- review the Mahara e-Portfolio tutorial, create an e-Portfolio that will enable you to collect and upload examples of the media formats chosen, whether these are photographs, images, links to YouTube videos, etc.; the items you upload into your ePortfolio are called “blocks.” You will base the written component of your assignment on these blocks.
- build an e-Portfolio of electronic evidence (videos, news stories, editorials, etc.) that focus on your chosen concepts. Note that you should upload 3 blocks per concept chosen for your project (9 blocks total). This evidence should be compiled from a variety of sources such as news articles, video broadcasts, TED Talks, among numerous other options. Each artefact chosen must in some way reflect upon/discuss the key concepts chosen. Please contact your tutor if you require recommendations.
- comment on the evidence you have included within your e-Portfolio. Include comments of roughly one complete paragraph in length for each piece of evidence included within your e-Portfolio. The commentary included should explain how the evidence presents the topic chosen and how it relates to the course concepts. In each entry, summarize the important points according to the source and discuss how these compare to the course material. Cite all your sources in APA or MLA style.
- write a conclusion of 1 – 2 paragraphs that both revisits the key concepts discussed throughout and reflects upon the process of acquiring the evidence – how did the acquisition affect your thinking about the topic? Did your ideas change as you acquired the evidence? Did your perception of the issue change as you researched on the Internet for this specific purpose? Did the process inspire new questions about the topic for you?
- Note that instead of writing your introduction, commentary and conclusion, you could record the information (audio or audio-visual) and provide your tutor with a list of Works Cited/References by e-mail. If you are interested in such an option, kindly contact your tutor in this respect.
Evaluation:
The following rubric will be used to evaluate your submission. Please read the criteria before beginning the assignment and refer back to it as you work on your paper to make sure that assignment expectations are being met.
|
Criterion |
A Range |
B Range 70 – 79% |
C Range 60 – 69% |
D Range 50 – 59% |
|
Content |
Relevance - demonstrates thorough understanding of course concepts by synthesizing the most appropriate information from the materials chosen - demonstrates thorough understanding of the artefacts chosen by focusing on the most appropriate aspects of these media forms |
- demonstrates a considerable degree of understanding of course concepts by synthesizing highly appropriate information from the materials chosen - demonstrates a considerable degree of understanding of the artefacts chosen by focusing on highly appropriate aspects of these media forms |
- demonstrates understanding of course concepts by synthesizing some appropriate information from the materials chosen - demonstrates understanding of the artefacts chosen by focusing on some appropriate aspects of these media forms
|
- demonstrates little understanding of course concepts by synthesizing little to no appropriate information from the materials chosen - demonstrates limited understanding of the artefacts chosen by focusing on few appropriate aspects of these media forms
|
|
Reasoning |
Definition and precision of terms - shows thorough understanding of the relationship between the assignment requirements and content (artefacts and theory)
Use of evidence - offers pertinent arguments to justify response, draws from a variety of course materials; demonstrates a subtle understanding of relationships between ideas |
- shows definite understanding of the relationship between the assignment requirements and content (artefacts and theory)
- offers pertinent arguments to justify response, draws from course materials |
- shows some understanding of the relationship between the assignment requirements and content (artefacts and theory)
- offers some arguments to justify response, draws from a limited selection of course materials |
- shows limited understanding of the relationship between the assignment requirements and content (artefacts and theory)
- offers few arguments to justify response |
|
Organization |
Logical consistency - follows all recommended writing guidelines as set forth in the Student Manual, follows an appropriate academic style rigorously (APA or MLA) |
- follows most Recommended writing guidelines as set forth in the Student Manual, follows an appropriate academic style consistently (APA or MLA) |
- follows some of the recommended writing guidelines as set forth in the Student Manual, follows an appropriate academic style (APA or MLA) |
- follows few of the recommended writing guidelines as set forth in the Student Manual, and fails to use an appropriate academic style (APA or MLA) |
|
Research Skills |
Accuracy and variety of information - demonstrates a high degree of research ability: applies a wide variety of course concepts; consistently and accurately references sources - includes a wide variety of artefacts from different media within portfolio (ex.: youtube video, still image, website, etc.) |
- demonstrates research abilities: applies a variety of course concepts; consistently and accurately references sources
- includes a variety of artefacts from different media within portfolio |
- demonstrates some degree of research ability: applies some course concepts; references sources
- includes some variety of artefacts from different media within portfolio |
- demonstrates little research ability: applies few course concepts; references sources
- includes little variety of artefacts from different media within portfolio |
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