CRJ 283 -Interviewing Skills

This is a hybrid course with class activities taking place in class and online. We will rely on this online course outline, e-mail, and other web-based tools to complete this course. In addition to this site, some content may be included in the WebCT site designed for this course. Students are responsible for keeping up with assignments, whether discussed in class or online.

Shearer, R.A. (2005). Interviewing: Theories, Techniques and Practices. Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-119070-9

Class Participation (20%)
Exams (40%)
Short Essays (20%)
In-class Activities (20%)

A = 90% - 100%
B = 80% - 89.99%
C = 70% - 79.99%
D = 60% - 69.99%
F = 59.99% or below

Class Participation: (20%)

This class includes a variety of in-class activities. Active participation in role plays, negotiation and mediation exercises, and other activities is required. Your grade will depend on active participation in these activities as well as participation in class discussion throughout the semester. Of course, it will be difficult for you to participate if you are not in attendance.

Students are expected to attend each class fully prepared to discuss the reading material assigned for that day. The instructor will call upon different students to share what they have learned from the readings with the rest of the class. Each student is expected to come to class with notes on the themes and main points of each of the readings. Attendance will be taken regularly and will be included in the computation of grades, but remember that the focus is on active participation rather than attendance alone.

Exams: (40%)

Four exams will be completed during the class. Exam questions will be published on this site one week prior to the due date. Essays should have sufficient breadth and depth to indicate more than a passing awareness of the issues raised in the questions. Grading will be determined based on the thoroughness of response and the ability to properly apply knowledge gained through reading the text. Exams may include essays, multiple choice, and other questions. Essays should be "term paper quality." Pay attention to spelling, sentence and paragraph structure, organization, and citations. Your papers should use APA style.

Questions typically contain multiple parts. This is not done to make questions more difficult. Multiple parts are recommended to provide guidance that will lead to a high quality answer. Remember to address each section but do not assume that the ideas raised in each section are the only issues to be addressed in your response.

Short Essays: (20%)

Each student is expected to submit a two 500 word essays on a topic agreed upon in advance. These articles must be written in a formal style, similar to that used in research papers, including citations (in APA format) and links to related online material. All plagiarism rules apply. This assignment will also include web publication through a process that will be described later in the semester.

Ten class activities will be completed throughout the semester. These activities will include worksheets, group activities, and other assignments. In general, these assignments will be designed so that each participant receives full credit. These activities will be completed on predetermined dates that are not known to students. These assignments are measures of attendance, participation, and knowledge.

Deadlines are not suggestions. All written material will rapidly lose points in the days following the due date. Zero points will be awarded for missed assignments.

Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak directly to Disability Support Services and the instructor, as early in the semester (preferably within the first week) as possible. All discussions will remain confidential. Please contact Disability Support Services, DF Lowry Building, 910-521-6695. Please see http://www.uncp.edu/dss/ for more information.

Class Withdrawal

Class withdrawal is your responsibility. If you disappear, we will wonder where you are. However, we will not drop you from the class. Withdrawals should follow University procedure. The student is responsible for obtaining all necessary signatures on drop slips.

Academic Misconduct

A very high price can be paid when you are caught cheating. Too high to risk. All written material must be your own composition. Appropriate credit must be given for sources used in developing your ideas and arguments. Provide appropriate citations. It is easy to see when large sections of text have been lifted from other Web pages. This is quite easy to verify as well.

It is not appropriate to submit work that was originally completed for another course.

NOTE: The penalties for engaging in any of these acts of academic misconduct will be determined on a case-by-case basis, but will follow general university guidelines as to severity.

Classroom Climate

Classroom climate is not solely the Professor's responsibility. We encourage each of you to engage in conversation on any issue. The University is a place for free speech, limited through individual choice. These choices may be altered with awareness of the real or potential reaction of others. However, you should not be intimidated into keeping quiet. We do not condone racist, sexist, homophobic, or other hateful speech. You are all adults, capable of understanding generally accepted rules of conduct and modifying your behavior in an effort to comply with these social or legal expectations. You are responsible for your behavior.

If grades are made available online, be advised that if there is any error the grade you receive from the registrar is your official grade. Grade changes will be made only in cases of data or computation error. Please do not ask, beg, or otherwise attempt to change a properly computed grade.

Course Outline and Schedule

Click on the "Calendar," "Essays," and "Web Content" buttons to review the expectations for this class. Assignments and due dates are listed in the calendar page. Be sure you review the entire Outline and Calendar within the first few days of the semester.

This course outline is intended to define much of what will happen throughout this course. Changes are possible. Any changes will be clearly presented to the class and will often include class discussion. Changes will apply to all students enrolled in this course, without regard to whether they were involved in the discussion.