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2020/2021

Communication Theories

Code: 103862 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2501935 Advertising and Public Relations FB 2 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Ezequiel Ramón Pinat
Email:
Ezequiel.Ramon@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
Yes

Teachers

Nuria Torras Planas

Prerequisites

No specific knowledge is required.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This module belongs to the Communication matter and it is qualified as fundamental within the Advertising and Public Relations Bachelor Degree. It is believed there is a progressive logic linking the basic modules of the Communication matter, based on a long teaching experience and structured as follows:

  1. History of Communication. Introduces the student in the historical evolution of communication from the first communicative phenomena to nowadays communicative experiences.
  2. Structure of Communication. Presents the communicative ecosystem, its dynamics and structural logic.
  3. Communication theories. Presents and specifies the different theories, schools, authors and different communication analysis perspectives.

The general training objectives of this modules are: 1) identify the main theories in the communication field, the conceptual elaboration and the theoretical approaches that lay the foundations of its knowledge; 2) favour critical thinking about the role of the media within society.

Competences

  • Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
  • Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
  • Demonstrate adequate knowledge of Catalonia’s socio-communicative reality in the Spanish, European and global context.
  • Develop autonomous learning strategies.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay ideas effectively, in both official languages (Catalan and Spanish) and a third language.
  • Differentiate the discipline’s main theories, fields, conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and approaches that lay the foundations for the discipline’s knowledge and its different areas and sub-areas, as well as its value for professional practice by means of specific cases.
  • Identify modern communication traditions in Catalonia, Spain and worldwide and their specific forms of expression, as well as their historic development and the theories and concepts that study them.
  • Manage time effectively.
  • Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  • Rigorously apply scientific thinking.
  • Use a third language as a working language and means of professional expression in the media

Learning Outcomes

  1. Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
  2. Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
  3. Describe the structure of the media and its dynamics.
  4. Develop autonomous learning strategies.
  5. Develop critical thinking and reasoning and be able to relay ideas effectively, in both official languages (Catalan and Spanish) and a third language.
  6. Differentiate the specificities of written and audiovisual languages.
  7. Explain the development of modern advertising traditions in the world.
  8. Find substance and relevance in documents on theory, structure and communication in a third language.
  9. Identify the fundamentals of theories and the history of communication.
  10. Identify the media system and groups that have had, at a given point in time, the power to inform, and be able to describe the legal framework that exerts a certain governance on the media.
  11. Identify the structural foundations of the communication system.
  12. Interpret and discuss texts regarding the main communication, advertising and public relations theories and present the summary of the analysis in writing and in public.
  13. Link social analysis and impacts of new communication technologies.
  14. Manage time effectively.
  15. Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  16. Rigorously apply scientific thinking.

Content

1. Introduction.

2. Interpersonal communication.

3. Nonverbal interpersonal communication.

4. Media communication. Start of communication research.

5. Media communication. Functionalist paradigm.

6. Media communication. Critical theory.

7. Media communication. Agenda setting theory.

8. Spiral of silence theory.

9. Media communication. Social construction of reality.

10. Media communication. Birmingham School.

11. Mediatization theory.

12. Post-truth.

Detailed calendar with the content of the different sessions will be presented on subject first day. It will be uploaded to the Virtual Campus, where students will also be able to access the detailed description of the seminars, the various teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject.

The gender perspective wil be incorporated as an integral part of the program.

Methodology

The learning methodology will be based on lectures, class debates, readings, tutoring, projects and tests. The main goal of this module is to lay the foundation and develop a critical analysis and critical thinking.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 34 1.36 5, 9, 12, 13
Seminars 15 0.6 5, 9, 12, 13, 15, 8
Type: Supervised      
Evaluation 3 0.12 16, 2, 1, 14
Tutoring 13 0.52 4, 15
Type: Autonomous      
Personal study and oriented readings 67 2.68 4, 5, 14, 12, 8
Self-organized work 18 0.72 16, 2, 1, 4, 5, 14, 15, 8

Assessment

1. Continued evaluation of students enrolling this module for the first time

All the students who are taking the module for the first time will follow the continued evaluation system: two tests (test type) + individual work project + participating on the seminars

1.1 Tests (having a 37% value each of the final grade), which will be about the theories and debates given in the lectures and about the content of the module’s mandatory readings. The aim of these tests is to prove the students’ knowledge on communication theories, conceptual definitions, theoretical approaches and social communication analysis.

1.2 Fulfilment of an individual project (16% value of the final grade) within the module’s seminars. The project will be an academic essay about a current topic brought up by the communication media only after the date this module started on. The aim of the project is to evaluate the comprehension, the analysis capability, structuring and systematization of knowledge acquired during the module and applied to a case or situation.

It will have to be carried on from the perspective of the analysed theories in the lectures work of frame. The seminars’ teachers will decide if the essay topic suggested by the student is appropriate or not. If necessary, the teachers will give the indications for the students to reformulate the project. The same teachers will be doing a follow up and tutoring on the student’s project.

The individual project will be evaluated using a scoring rubric that will be based on:

    • Introduction (up to 1 point);
    • Appropriate usage of the theoretical frame (up to 2 points);
    • Argumentation (up to 1 point);
    • Conclusions (up to 2 points);
    • Writing style (up to 1 point);
    • References (up to 1 point);
    • Citations (up to 1 point);
    • Originality (up to 1 point).

 1.3 Seminar participation (10% value of the final grade). In the seminars there will be discussions and debates about the mandatory readings. These readings are planned to provide knowledge about the usage of the communication theories within the analysis of reality and news. The readings will be mandatory and, together with the content of the lectures, they are part of the module’s core.

Final qualification 

Each student will have to take, at least, the two tests and the individual project. To pass the module it will be necessary to have passed both of the exams. If one of the tests is failed, the final mark of the module will be the same one of the failed test. Given the case the student doesn’t take one of the tests, the final grade will be “not evaluable”. If the student has failed both of the tests, the final grade will be the average of both tests.

As to the project, in case the student doesn’t have an appropriate topic suggestion, or in case he or she doesn’t do it at all, the student will be “not evaluable”. Because the module has a continued evaluation, if a student is “not evaluable” on the project, he/she will also be “not evaluable” on the module’s final grade.

Because of this, the result would be:

    • Test 1: 37%
    • Test 2: 37%
    • Individual module’s project: 16%
    • Seminar’s participation: 10%

2. Evaluation of students enrolling this module for the second time or more

Students enrolled  for the second time or more will be able to follow one of these two evaluation options:

2.1 Continued evaluation – two tests (test type) + individual work project + participating on the seminars. The student will follow the same procedure of evaluation as explained in the section 1 and will have to inform the teacher. The requirements to pass the module are the same as the ones specified in the section 1.

Final qualification. Same procedure as section 1.

2.2. Final test (test type) the students taking the module for the second time or more will also be able to be evaluated only by completing a test, according to the article 117.2 of UAB’s Academic Regulation, applicable to all the university students regulated accordingly to the Royal Decree 1393/2007, of 29th of October, modified by the Royal Decree 861/2010 of the 2nd of July. The students who choose this evaluating option will be welcomed to join he lectures and the seminars, as long as they are aware that the only evaluated activity they will take will be this test. They will not be evaluated within seminar participation nor the fulfilment of the project.

Final qualification. The final grade of the students who choose this evaluation will be the same as the one they get in the test they’d take.

3. Second-chance exam:

According to the UAB’s Academic Regulation, students will have the chance to make up for the evaluation activities.  The students who will be able to take them are:

3.1 Students taking the module for the first time or more (as long as they chose this evaluation option) – two tests + individual project + seminar participation. Students who took the tests and failed them will have the right to retake one or two of the tests failed. Student will be entitled to subject revaluation  if he or she has been evaluated of the set of activities which weight equals a minimum of 2/3 of the subject total grade. To have acces to revaluation, the previous grades should be equal os superior to 3,5. 

 It will not be possible to retake the individual project. The aim of the project is to evaluate the comprehension, the analysis capability, structuring and systematization of knowledge acquired during the module and applied to a case or situation. It is the result of a continued evaluation started at the beginning of the semester and it will not be able to redo it within a short time.

 It will also not be possible to retake the participation in the seminars for obvious reasons.

 3.2 Students taking the module for the second time or more who chose to follow the one final test evaluation. The students who did this exam and failed will be able to retake that test if they failed with a higher grade than 3.5.

4. Chances to get a higher qualification 

4.1 The students who have followed the continued evaluation and passed the exams can take the make up exam to get a higher grade. They can do it either with both exams or only one. In any case, the student will have to accept the results they get, even if they are worse than before. If one od the make up exams is failed, then the final grade of the module will be the same as the one in the test.

4.2 Students taking the module for the second time or more who choose the final test evaluation system and have passed, will also have the chance to take a make up exam to get a higher grade. In any case, the student will have to accept the results they get. The final grade will be the same as the one in this exam.

5. Ordinary revision of the evaluated activities:

Given the case the student is not satisfied with the grades of his or her different evaluated activities, there will be an option for revising these activities, In the case of the tests and final exam, the ordinary revision will be carried by the teacher in the lectures. The individual project and the seminar participation will be revised with the seminar teacher. The dates and times of the ordinary revision will be made public through UAB’s Virtual Campus.

6. Extraordinary revision of the module’s final grade:

In case of not agreeing with the final qualification of the module, the student will have the right to ask for an extraordinary revision. He or she will have to fill a reasoned request to the Communication Sciences Faculty office within the fifteen days following final mark publication. 

PLAGIARISM: The student who commits any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity fraud, ...) that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment act, will be graded with 0 this assessment activity. In case of several irregularities, the final grade of the subject will be 0. 

NOTE: The teaching methodology and assessments proposed may be subject to changes depending on the attendance restrictions imposed by health authorities.

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Individual module's project 16% 0 0 16, 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 8
Seminar's participation 10% 0 0 2, 1, 4, 5, 12, 13, 15, 8
Tests 74% 0 0 16, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 10, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15

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