| Semester 1, 2022 Online | |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences |
| School or Department : | School of Psychology and Wellbeing |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
| Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Examiner:
Requisites
Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BPSH or BSCI (13815 Psychology) or BSCI (17582 Psychology Extended) or BPSB or BSEH
Overview
To be a competent psychologist, counsellor or helping professional in any domain requires good communication skills that can be deployed across a range of contexts. Whatever the domain, a psychologist, counsellor or helping professional must be able to understand the message that is being communicated, and to facilitate communication with others. They must also be able to communicate their thoughts and ideas in a clear manner, be it verbally or in written form. Importantly, psychologists, counsellors and helping professionals need to be aware of the problems that may arise when two or more people are involved in interactive communication, and to facilitate resolution. This course attempts to highlight and develop skills in these areas.
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 into their constituent parts in the first instance. That is, students' abilities to discern the meaning in other people's communication is examined. Students' skills to communicate meaning via speaking and writing are then addressed. These constituent processes are then combined in an interactive context.
Course learning outcomes
On completion of this course students should be able to:
- articulate and apply a range of communication models;
- articulate and apply a range of interpersonal communication theoretical concepts and associated skills;
- identify a range of influences on effective communication;
- articulate the influence of culture on effective communication and reflect on modifying communication for cultural appropriateness and working with diverse communities;
- critically reflect on their awareness of receptive and expressive communication;
- competently observe and interpret interpersonal communication skills;
- critically reflect on interpersonal communication skills implementation.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Foundations of Interpersonal Communication; elements of interpersonal communication - theories and models of interpersonal communication 鈥� principles of interpersonal communication 鈥� critical self-reflection and interpersonal communication. | 20.00 |
| 2. | Verbal and Nonverbal Communication; principles, elements, and models of verbal and nonverbal messages 鈥� effective verbal communication - listening models, processes and skills鈥� listening processes and skills 鈥� effective and ineffective listening. | 30.00 |
| 3. | Everyday Communication: principles, elements, and models of everyday conversations 鈥� self-disclosure and conversation 鈥� guidelines for 鈥渟mall talk鈥�. | 10.00 |
| 4. | Emotion and Interpersonal Communication: principles, elements, and models of emotional communication 鈥� barriers to emotional communication 鈥揺ffective emotional communications (emotional competence and emotional intelligence). | 10.00 |
| 5. | Self and Perception in Interpersonal Communication: self-concept, self-awareness and self-esteem 鈥� stages of perception in communication 鈥� impression formation and management. | 10.00 |
| 6. |
Managing Interpersonal Communications Processes: relationships and interpersonal communication processes - conflict and barriers: principle of interpersonal conflict 鈥� conflict management strategies 鈥� prosocial communication 鈥� power, influence and facilitating prosocial communications. |
15.00 |
| 7. | An Introduction to Augmentative and Alternate Communication: defining augmentative and alternate communication 鈥� communication disorders 鈥� augmentative and alternative communication systems 鈥� augmentative and alternative systems and strategies. | 5.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
King, J. M. (2014) Augmentative and alternative communication. In L. Justice & E. Redle (Eds.), Communication sciences and disorders: A clinical evidence-based approach (pp. 114-135). Pearson Publishing.
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
| Description | Group Assessment |
Weighting (%) | Course learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning document | No | 25 | 2,5,6,7 |
| Portfolio | No | 45 | 1,2,3,5,6,7 |
| Quiz | No | 30 | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 |