Week 1: Course Introduction, What are the Media (1/27 - 1/29)

Course Overview: This course is designed to assist students in the, "effective and ethical gathering, evaluation, application, and presentation of information in the study of mass communication. At the end of the course the student should be able to:

1. Learn how to gather relevant information from human, print, and electronic sources.

2. Develop and apply critical thinking skills in the evaluation and use of information.

3. Learn how to process and synthesize information in spoken, written, and electronic form.

4. Learn how information may be effectively and ethically gathered, evaluated, applied, and presented in the study of mass communication" (Towson Bulletin).

One main goal is to assist in your understanding of how people obtain information, how they interpret it, what they do with it.

A second intention of this course is to enhance student's ability to consume information. In other words, student knowledge of how and why information is produced by mass media organizations should be enhanced at the end of this course. Often labeled "information literacy," this second aspect of the course is intended to increase your ability to understand and use information from a wide array of mass media sources. Accordingly, we will examine the social and cultural implications that information and information delivery systems have upon society.

Texts and Other Readings: There are two text books and other reading materials that are required for this course.

Basic computer skills and access you will need to acquire: Aside from the course content and specialized internet/web skills, you will need: (a) a Towson user account for Web publishing and email or email and Internet space through a commercial provider (Earthlink, MSN, AOL, etc); (b) an ability to log-on to the campus network or commercial ISP; (c) an ability to use current versions of Netscape or Internet Explorer. I will provide help with these needs during the first week. Much of the class' communication is through these means. Much of your submitted work will be in either email or web form (fear not; I'll show you how).

USE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE COURSE. You must be willing to learn their effective use if you don't already use them. You will also need either a floppy disk or a USB flash drive.

Format: The basis of our class approach is a mix of structured lectures, group discussion and individual exercises. This is punctuated by live and computer/network/videotape demonstrations. Given the cumulative nature of the course content and many of the readings, it is important for you to keep pace.

Work: There will be a mid-term and final in this course. You are expected to participate and attend all class sessions. There will be 2 to 5 "pop" quizzes throughout the semester which may be given with no notice, in addition to exercises that will be completed during class. There will be no make-ups for any pop quizzes or the class exercises. Two short (1 - 2 pages) response papers are required where you will critically analyze print and electronic media sources. Also there are numerous computer/Internet related assignments. The final project is a longer paper (about 6 to 8 pages or equivalent) that summarizes, synthesizes and organizes previous literature on a subject of your choice as long as it relates to topic(s) covered in this course. Here you will find numerous sources from differing perspectives and this information will be presented to the class while using many of the production strategies discussed in class. I will discuss each of these in more detail later in the semester.

The exams and quizzes will cover lecture, reading, video, and other course materials.

What:	Percent:
Attendance/	10
Paper #1 (Library Search)	10
Paper #2 (Magazine Cover)	10
Paper #3 (Web critique)	10
Web Site/Blog Assignment	15
Power Point Assignment	5
Photoshop Assignment	10
Podcast Assignment	10
Presentation 1	10
Presentation 2	10

Total	100

You are responsible for these as well as conventional materials (texts, handouts, tapes). Attendance is mandatory (unless excused by illness or other urgent need). Excused absences will only be given if you notify me prior to class time and you must provide documentation. Missing assignments (unexcused) will count as zero and late assignments will receive a 10% grade reduction per calendar day they are late.

I use plus/minus grading and here is my policy regarding letter and numerical equivalency:

A Above 90%	Student attends all classes, participates, and completes all work on time. Pursues ideas and concepts that are outside of the course requirements. Quality is above and beyond the assignments. Work and effort is excellent without error.
B 80% - 89%	Student attends all classes, participates, and completes all work on time. Pursues ideas and concepts that are discussed within the course requirements with some extra effort. Quality is consistent with assignment expectations. Work and effort is good and above average with minimal error.
C 70% - 79%	Student attends most classes, participates, and completes most work on time. Pursues ideas and concepts that are discussed within the course requirements. Quality is mostly consistent with assignment expectations. Work and effort is average with minimal error.
D 60% - 69%	Student attends many classes, participates, and completes most work on time. Pursues ideas and concepts that are discussed within the course requirements. Quality is generally consistent with assignment expectations. Work and effort is below average with error.
F Below 60%

Plagiarism (knowingly representing someone else's' work as your own) is not acceptable behavior in universities, nor is copying materials from your classmates. I will spot check papers for plagiarism. Any form of cheating will not be tolerated and papers/assignments/tests with clearly plagiarized material will result in course failure and university officials on academic conduct will be notified. Please see the attached Plagiarism Memo for more on this.