Interpersonal Communication - CST 126 at Northern Virginia Community College
https://courses.vccs.edu./colleges/nova/courses/CST126-InterpersonalCommunication
Effective: 2022-05-01
Course Description
Teaches interpersonal communication skills for both daily living and the world of work, including perception, self- concept, self-disclosure, listening and feedback, nonverbal communication, attitudes, assertiveness, and other interpersonal skills. The assignments in the course require college-level reading and analysis of scholarly studies and coherent communication through written reports including the production of at least one APA/MLA-formatted individual writing assignment.
Lecture 3 hours. Total 3 hours per week.
3 credits
The course outline below was developed as part of a statewide standardization process.
General Course Purpose
CST 126 is designed to be an intensive study into the theories and strategies of interpersonal communication, communication between two people who have a relationship.
Course Objectives
- Critical Thinking
- Apply major theoretical concepts in the field of relational communication to real world relationships
- Analyze roles in interpersonal relationships in a family, professional, friendship, interracial/intercultural, or intimate context
- Formulate a plan for improved interpersonal competencies in family, romantic, friendship, and work conversations
- Construct a plan for setting personal boundaries in interpersonal relationships
- Evaluate and use information, ideas and arguments from a variety of perspectives to make sense of complex issues
- Use critical thinking to understand and resolve issues
- Communication
- Use written, spoken, and nonverbal communication to express thoughts, philosophies, and strategies for daily interpersonal communication
- Listen to and interpret complex ideas
- Demonstrate principles of organization and synthesis of information
- Send and interpret verbal and nonverbal messages with accuracy
- Cultural and Civic Engagement
- Demonstrate the ability to competently work with people of different genders, sexual orientations, cultures, religions, ages, cognitive/physical abilities, and socioeconomic statuses
- Exhibit the ability to connect with others across communities
- Adapt behaviors appropriately to live and work in an evolving, diverse world
- Demonstrate care and concern for the welfare of others
- Evaluate incompetent interpersonal communication strategies for use in creating competent interpersonal communication strategies
- Communication Process
- Define and use a vocabulary of relational communication terms
- Demonstrate the communication process by creating a model of communication
- Identify how interpersonal communication is distinct from public speaking and other communication contexts
- Cultural Influences
- Identify the influence of ethnicity and gender on culture
- Influence of Self in the Communication Process
- Describe how a view of oneself influences the communication process
- Identify the influences of others on self-identity and communication with others
- Define self-disclosure and illustrate its use in competent interpersonal communication and relationships
- Understanding Perception and its role on Interpersonal Communication
- Describe the three parts of the perception process and its role in competent communication
- Identify the factors influencing attribution of meaning in communication and relationship
- Evaluate conversations for fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias as well as other perception missteps in interpersonal communication
- Verbal and Nonverbal Communication in Interpersonal Relationships
- Distinguish between succinct, clearly spoken communication, and arbitrary, ambiguous use of words
- Identify consequences of loaded language, biased communication, and prejudice in dialogue
- Practice effective verbal and nonverbal communication
- Communication of Emotion in Interpersonal Communication
- Define emotional intelligence
- Identify feeling and framing rules and their influence on communication in interpersonal relationships
- Identify ineffective expression of emotions and choose competent strategies for expressing emotion
- Evaluate the expression of emotion and solve dialogue challenges by owning the emotion and expression of it
- Mindful Listening and its Role in Interpersonal Communication
- Distinguish the difference between hearing and listening
- Create a strategy for competent listening
- Identify and classify poor listening behaviors
- Demonstrate effective mindful listening strategies
- Describe the various types of noise that interfere with competent listening
- Identify non-listening and barriers to effective listening
- Define mindful listening and its role in communication, and create a strategy for it
- Creating Competent Interpersonal Climates
- Define relational dialectics and assess competent negotiations of tensions
- Identify disconfirming and confirming communication climates
- Assess strategies for turning disconfirming environments into confirming environments
- Identify types of nonlistening
- Define interpersonal conflict
- Construct a plan to use effective communication strategies for managing conflict in interpersonal relationships
- Describe the responses to conflict and the appropriate use of each response
- Evaluate ineffective responses to conflict and demonstrate a plan for correction
- Recognize the stages of relationship and adjust communication strategies based on the stage of the relationship
Major Topics to be Included
- Communication Process
- Cultural Influences
- Influence of Self in the Communication Process
- Understanding Perception and its Role on Interpersonal Communication
- Verbal and Nonverbal Communication in Interpersonal Relationships
- Communication of Emotion in Interpersonal Communication
- Mindful Listening and its role in Interpersonal Communication
- Creating Competent Interpersonal Climates