T1 - Course Introduction, Group Dynamics, and Research Methodology Note

Total course marks are distributed across four primary assessment categories:
- Final Exam: Weighted at $40\%$ . This is an in-person assessment occurring during the End of Semester Exam Period, scheduled between $7/11/2026$ and $21/11/2026$ .
- Critical Essay on Improving Personal Communication: Weighted at $30\%$ . The submission deadline is $6/10/2026$ at $4:00\,\text{pm}$ .
- Public Speaking Presentation: Weighted at $10\%$ . These occur during assigned tutorials between $12/10/2026$ and $23/10/2026$ .
- Tutorial Worksheets/Problem Set: Weighted at $20\%$ . Worksheets must be handed in during or following the final tutorial, scheduled between $19/10/2026$ and $23/10/2026$ .
Assessment resources, including marking criteria and information sheets, are available on Blackboard. It is recommended to wait until these are reviewed in detail during tutorials before commencing work to ensure all necessary information is understood.

The UQ School of Psychology provides an assignment help service known as PSST.
The service offers assistance with several areas of academic development:
- Generating ideas for assignments and reports.
- Planning assignments.
- Improving the structure and flow of written work.
- Providing writing tips specific to assignments.
- Offering study tips for examinations.
Due to high demand, this service often books out far in advance. Students are encouraged to book appointments early in the semester.

The grading process does not involve taking marks away from a total. Instead, every student starts at $0$ and earns marks by meeting specific marking criteria.
The Glass Metaphor: Assessments should be viewed like an empty glass of water. As requirements in the marking criteria are met, water is added to the glass.
Quality Variations: Marking criteria allow for a range of quality from no work to outstanding work. The highest marks are reserved for work that is exceptional in quality.
To earn a very high grade, work must demonstrate an outstanding understanding of the topic and extreme clarity in writing.
Commendable and well-done work will receive a good grade but may not necessarily receive full marks; failing to get full marks does not mean the work was not successful.

There are $10$ worksheets in total throughout the semester, each worth $2.5\%$ .
The 1% Component: This is earned by answering the question at the end of the corresponding week's lecture. This task must be completed online before attending the tutorial and is cross-referenced during the session.
The 1.5% Component: This is earned by properly completing all questions on the worksheet by the end of the tutorial session.
Full Credit (20%): If a student submits at least $8$ out of the $10$ worksheets (including the pre-tutorial homework questions), they will receive the full $20\%$ allocated to this assessment category.

Tutorial groups are randomly assigned and remain consistent throughout the semester for bouncing ideas and collaborative projects.
The Concept of Grouphate: Termed by Sorenson (1981), many students experience negative feelings toward group work due to poor past experiences, such as being the only contributor.
Cultural Context: Individualistic cultures often prioritize individual achievement, making group interdependence feel difficult.
Group Realities: Challenges include working with people who are not chosen friends, disparities in effort levels, and the struggle between talking too much and not talking at all.
The Camel Metaphor: There is a saying that "a camel is a horse designed by a group," reflecting the potential for disjointed results when collaboration is poorly managed.

Modern employers prioritize three core skills:
1. Oral communication skills
2. Interpersonal skills
3. Teamwork skills
Professional relevance: Managers spend between $30\%$ and $80\%$ of their time in meetings.
Kreps (1990) argues that group interactions are the primary sites for accomplishing major activities in modern organizations.
Personal Benefits (Keyton, Harmon, & Frey, 1996):
- Students who like their groups tend to achieve better grades at university.
- Increased group experience reduces anxiety in future interactions.
- Membership in social groups correlates with being happier, healthier, and living longer.

Fast Friends Game: A structured activity to build quick rapport. It involves a list of $40$ questions. Each member picks a number, and everyone in the group answers the corresponding question in detail (avoiding simple "yes" or "no" answers).
Group Naming: Every group must select a name that reflects a shared interest or sense of humor (e.g., "The Detectives" for Sherlock Holmes fans). This name must be recorded in activity $3.1$ of the worksheet.
Communication Infrastructure: Groups are required to create a shared Google Doc. One member creates the document and sets the sharing permissions to allow all members to edit. Contact details and preferred communication methods (e.g., email, Facebook) must be exchanged.

The presentation (worth $10\%$ ) is based on a "mini study" conducted within the tutorial groups.
The Research Question: Each group must identify one construct or variable that they believe has a relationship with communication skills.
Process:
1. The group identifies a variable (e.g., personality traits, habits).
2. Every group's question is compiled into an online survey.
3. The survey include a self-report scale to measure communication skills.
4. Tutors and staff analyze the results from the collected data.
Presentation Structure: Individual speeches must recount the study using the following format:
- Introduction
- Method
- Results
- Discussion
While the study is conducted as a group, the talks and marks are assigned individually.

Effective research requires knowing existing literature rather than relying solely on intuition or hunches, which are often incorrect.
Search Strategies: Using Google Scholar to find predictors of communication skills.
Example Search Terms:
- "Predictors of communication skills"
- "Spicy foods communication skills"
Case Study (Riggio & Taylor, 2000): A study titled "Personality and communication skills as predictors of hospice nurse performance" published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, Volume $15$ , Issue $2$ , pages $351-359$ .
- This research used job analysis to identify personality dimensions and communication skills (social competence and empathy) as predictors of performance.

Question: How many people dislike being in groups?
Response: Many people raise their hands, often because of bad experiences where they felt they were the only ones contributing.
Instructions for Group Discussion: Groups must discuss and record the characteristics of the best and worst communicators they have ever met. Every member must propose one specific 'thing' they believe relates to being a good or bad communicator for activity $4.1$ .