| Semester 1, 2023 Online | |
| Units : | 1 |
| School or Department : | School of Psychology and Wellbeing |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
| Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Course Coordinator:
Overview
To be a competent helping professional in any domain requires good communication skills that can be deployed across a range of contexts. Whatever the domain, a psychologist, counsellor, social worker 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, individuals and professionals need to be aware of the problems that may arise when two or more people are involved in interactive communication. This course attempts to highlight and develop skills in these areas.
Good communication skills are attributes that UniSQ 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 and for communicating as a health-care professional;
- 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. | 35.00 |
| 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. | 15.00 |
| 6. | Managing Interpersonal Communications Processes: interpersonal communication processes - conflict and barriers: principle of interpersonal conflict 鈥� conflict management strategies. | 10.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
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 |