BCOM/275

Business Communications & Critical Thinking

Week 1

Assignment 1.1

Word Count = 681 words!

Complete Assignment 1.1 from Ch. 1 of Communicating in the Workplace.

Choose two misunderstandings you experienced and fill out the chart for these.  Respond to questions 1 and 2 shown under the chart for each example of a misunderstanding. In your response, include the following:

• Cite a meaningful misunderstanding rather than a general or less material misunderstanding.
• Use business- or work-related examples rather than personal ones.
• Identify the roles of the sender and receiver, such as manager, peer, subordinate, client, vendor, and so forth.
  

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BCOM/275 Week 2

Debate Topic Discussion Summary

Review your learning team's discussion regarding the selected topic for the upcoming debate.
Write a 500 to 700-word summary of your learning team discussion and the rationale for choosing the selected topic.
The topic should be controversial and phrased as a "Yes" or "No" question. Examples include "Should guns be outlawed?" or "Should the United States leave Afghanistan?" Be sure to narrow down the topic as needed. Also be sure to choose a topic that is not too controversial
(gender, ethnicity, etc.)
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Career Plan Building Activity: Career Interest Profiler

By completing the My Career Plan Interests Profiler in this course, you are taking some of the first steps to creating a career plan that will help you reach your career goals.
Access the Career Interests Profiler.
Complete the Career Interests Profiler.

Write a paper of no more than 350 words discussing the results of your Career Interest Profiler.
• Do these results fit in with your desired career path? Why or Why not?
• Were you surprised by the results? Why or Why not?

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Rhetorical Devices and Fallacies Paper
Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper giving specific examples on how you can use 5 rhetorical devices. Also explain how you can spot fallacies from other people as well as not falling yourself into mistaken reasoning.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
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BCOM/275 Week 3

Article Rebuttal (Individual Assignment)

Article Rebuttal - Animal Testing

Article Rebuttal - Marijuana Legalization
Locate an article on a controversial subject where the author makes an argument you do not agree with.
Write a 350- to 700-word rebuttal to the article using valid arguments and supporting data. In the rebuttal, offer an analysis in which you do the following:
• Analyze the reliability, credibility, and validity of the data used by the author.
• Identify any logical fallacies in the argument.
Format your rebuttal consistent with APA guidelines.
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Pro Side of Debate Summary

Review the Learning Team's discussion from Week 3.
Write a 350- to 700- word summary of the discussion including the key points for the pro side of the debate and the supporting arguments.
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BCOM/275 Week 4

Knowing Your Audience Paper and Communication Release

Includes Option #1

Includes Option #2

Resource: “Over 30 Workers Trapped After Chilean Copper Mine Collapse” article found in the Electronic Reserve Readings. Research additional articles and information about the Chilean mine collapse.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper using this and other articles as a resource. Because communications must be designed with the audience in mind, answer the following questions:

• What are some considerations to remember given the different roles and people in the audience?
• What would be the potential needs of the families of the miners in receiving a message about this incident?
• What would be the potential needs of the company’s employees when receiving a message about this incident?
• What actions must you take before and after the message is delivered to ensure that it was received as intended?

Format the paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Draft two communications from the mining company announcing the accident, using what you have learned about the audience and effective messages. One communication should be directed to the families of the trapped miners and the other as an internal news release to employees in the company. For both, identify the most appropriate channel—faceto-
face, e-mail, video, memo, and so on.

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Con Side of Debate Summary

Review the Learning Team's discussion from Week 4.
Write a 350- to 700- word summary of the discussion including the key points for the con side of the debate and the supporting arguments.
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BCOM/275 - Week 5

Debate Winners Summary
Review the Learning Team's discussion from Week 5.
Write a 350- to 700- word summary of the discussion including which was the winning side of argument. Explain your rationale for make this decision.
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Debate Presentation

Create a PowerPoint presentation.
Describe the issue, state and explain the cons and pros. Then state your team’s position. Anticipate questions and critics of your position and arguments, and prepare professional, sound responses.

Final Examination
Complete the Final Examination. You are allowed one attempt to complete the exam, which is timed and must be completed in 3 hours.
Results are auto graded and sent to your instructor.

Note: Final Exam questions may not be in order of test.

1) The term channel in communication means
2) In which of the following communication activities do people spend the greatest percent of their day?
3) A receiver’s response to a sender’s message is called
4) With this type of response, you analyze or teach the sender about the cause of his or her concern.
5) This happens when you receive, construct meaning from, and respond to the sender’s message.
6) When the receiver uses this response style, he clarifies or seeks more information.
7) Which of the following are the most common types of doubts people may have about a source?
8) Which of the following is the most reliable source of information?
9) Consider the following exchange: “How do I know God exists? How do you know he doesn’t?” Which fallacy does the second statement illustrate?
10) Stating someone has negative features and his claim is invalid is an example of which fallacy?
11) Consider the following statement: “So what if the Senator accepted a little kickback money—most politicians are corrupt after all.” This is an example of which fallacy?
12) Consider the following statement: “Studies confirm what everyone already knows: Smaller class sizes make better learners.” This is an example of which fallacy?
13) Audience analysis should occur at what point in the creation of a message?
14) Behavior descriptions should meet which of the following criteria?
15) An effective message should be
16) Which informal communication channel involves its own abbreviations to accommodate the limited number of characters available in any given message?
17) Sound and light waves are an example of which part of the communication model?
18) In this channel of communication, messages are carried by sound and light waves.
19) A framework for putting all of your information together in a logical sequence is called
20) Which verbal support breaks down complex processes or concepts into their component parts to ensure understanding?
21) What type of language is used when communicating with classmates, coworkers, family, and friends?
22) The connotation of words such as skinny or thin focuses on the
23) If you try to persuade your classmates to donate canned goods for the hungry in your community, your topic is one of
24) Persuasive topics that attempt to show an audience that something is good, bad, right, or wrong are topics of
25) If you use only a few examples to represent the whole of the conclusion, you are committing this logical fallacy.
26) What logical fallacy can occur when a speaker focuses on similarities and ignores significant differences?
27) When you display ethos in your persuasive presentation, you have
28) Developing cross-cultural competence includes which of the following?
29) An attempt to characterize causes of events to either personalities or external situations is called
30) Groups that value higher power distance believe relationships are
31) What is the belief that laws are justified if they prevent a person from harming him- or herself known as?
32) What is the belief that correct moral principles are those accepted by the correct religion known as?
33) The practice of using a case that has already been decided as a guide when deciding new cases is referred to as