Communication Theories
Code: 103851 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501933 Journalism | FB | 2 | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Maria Corominas Piulats
- Email:
- maria.corominas@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.
Teachers
- Jaume Soriano Clemente
- Frederic Pahisa Fontanals
Prerequisites
No specific knowledge is required.
Objectives and Contextualisation
This module belongs to Communication subject or area and it is qualified as fundamental within the Journalism Bachelor Degree. It is considered that there is a progressive logic linking the basic modules of the Communication subject or area;, based on a long teaching experience and structured as follows:
- History of Communication. It introduces students to the historical evolution of communication and journalism from the first communicative phenomena to nowadays communicative experiences.
- Structure of Communication. It presents the communicative ecosystem, its dynamics and structural logic.
- Communication theories. It presents and specifies the different theories, schools, authors and different communication analysis perspectives and approaches.
The general training objectives of this module are: 1) to identify the main theories in the communication field, the conceptual elaboration and the theoretical approaches that lay the foundations of its knowledge; I 2) to favour critical thinking about the role of the media within society.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- 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.
- Differentiate the discipline's main theories, its fields, conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and approaches that underpin knowledge of the subject and its different areas and sub-areas, and acquire systematic knowledge of the media's structure.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Identify modern journalistic 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.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Use a third language as a working language and means of professional expression in the media.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Contextualise the different journalistic trends and the work of renowned journalists.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
- Describe the structure of the media and its dynamics.
- Differentiate the specificities of audiovisual languages.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Explain the development of modern international journalistic traditions.
- Find substance and relevance in documents on theory, structure and communication in a third language.
- Identify the fundamentals of theories and the history of communication.
- 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.
- Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
- Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within one's own area of knowledge.
- Identify the structural foundations of the communication system.
- Interpret and discuss texts regarding the main communication and journalism theories and present the summary of the analysis in writing and in public.
- Link social analysis and impacts of new communication technologies.
- Link the historic development of journalistic forms and traditions with the groups that have had, at a given point in time, the power to inform and the manner in which this power was accessed.
- Manage time effectively.
- Propose projects and actions that are in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and obligations, diversity and democratic values.
- Research, select and arrange in hierarchical order any kind of source and useful document to develop communication products.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
Content
SYLLABUS:
Introduction and year planning. Presenting the program.
Interpersonal communication.
Non-verbal interpersonal communication.
Media communication. Beginning of the communication media research.
Media communication. Functionalist paradigm.
Media communication. Agenda setting theory.
Media communication. Silent spiral theory.
Media communication. Social construction of reality.
Media communication. Birmingham school.
Media communication. Media events.
Media communication. Journalistic process of scandals.
Media communication. Post-truth.
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the seminar activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.
This teaching guide includes a gender perspective when addressing the module’s content.
Methodology
The learning will be based on theory lectures, leraning throug discussion and debates, readings, tutorials, projects and tests. The main goal of this module is to lay the foundation and develop a critical analysis and critical thinking.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Lectures | 32 | 1.28 | 4, 1, 22, 2, 7, 5, 8, 9, 13, 12, 16, 15, 14, 17, 18, 11, 27 |
| Seminars | 14 | 0.56 | 4, 1, 22, 2, 6, 5, 9, 20, 15, 14, 17, 21, 25, 24, 23, 18, 11, 27 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutoring | 19 | 0.76 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal study and oriented readings | 65 | 2.6 | 4, 1, 22, 6, 7, 5, 8, 20, 13, 12, 16, 15, 14, 17, 21, 26, 18, 11, 27 |
Assessment
FIRST ENROLMENT STUDENTS
Continuous evaluation
Continuous evaluation consist of the following evaluation activities and percentages:
1. Two partial examinations (test format) related to theoretical content of the subject, and representing 25% of the final grade each. Every partial examination deals with different parts of the content.
To pass the course it is necessary to pass these two exams (Minimum: 5/10 each)). If one of the two partial exams is not taken the final grade will be "not assessable".
2. Essay, 30%. At the beginning of the course, seminar lecturers will provide guidelines about the project and its evaluations, as well as about calendar and deadlines. Seminar lecturers are also responsible for follow up and tutorial of student’s projects.
In case that the student doesn’t deliver it or doesn't do it at all, the mark will be “not evaluable”. Taking into account that the module has a continuous evaluation system, if a student is “not evaluable” on the project, he/she will also be “not evaluable” on the module’s final grade.
3. Seminar: Oral exposition, 10%. Required readings will be presented and discussed at seminars. These readings are planned to promote student learning and the application of communication theories to the analysis of reality and current events. The compulsory readings will be, together with the content of the theoretical classes, one of the main axes of the partial exams.
4. Seminar attendance, 10%.
Recuperation
In the event of failing one or both of partial exams, students are entitled to the revaluation: there is no minimum grade, but partial examination (or examinations) has/have to be taken. In the event that the second chance of one of thetwo exams isn’t passed, the final grade of the subject will be the one obtained in this exam (or the average, if both are failed).
There is no second chance for activities 2, 3 and 4.
Single evaluation
Single evaluation consist of the following evaluation activities and percentages:
- Knowledge control: 50% - Theoretical exam (test format) on the theoretical contents and compulsory readings of the course. To pass the course it is compulsory to pass this exam
- Completion and delivery of practical an individual essay: 30%
- Oral presentation of one of the course mandatory readings, 10%.
- Delivery of an individual analysis and reflection task for each of the compulsory course readings. 10%
Recuperation
In the event of failing the knowledge control, students are entitled to second chance: there is no minimum grade, but the examination has to be taken.
There is no second chance for activities 2, 3 and 4.
SECOND ENROLMENT STUDENTS
In case of second (or third...) enrolment, students can choose between continuous examination (see above) and a single synthesis exam or final examination (test format) with second-chance option (no minimum grade, it is compulsory to have taken the examination in the first chance). The grading of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis or final examination. In the event of failing the second chance examination, the final grade of the subject will be the one obtained in this (second chance) examination.
It will be understood that students from second registration who do not communicate explicitly by e-mail and within the deadline announced at the beginning of the course their evaluationoption will take the synthesis test.
CALENDAR
Evaluation and reevaluation dates will be announced on the day of the presentation of the subject. Information will also be uploaded to Virtual Campus.
Plagiarism
In the event that the student performs any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that could be instructed. In the event, that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
REVIEW OF QUALIFICATIONS
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 marks. In the case of the tests and final exam (test type), the ordinary revision will be carried by the lecturers responsible of theory groups. The individual project and seminar participation will be revised with seminar lecturers. Dates and time of ordinary revisions will be made public through UAB’s Virtual Campus.
Extraordinary revision of the module’s final grade:
In case of not agreeing with the final qualification of the module, students 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 the publication of the final mark. The revision will be carried out following the extraordinary revision instructions approved by the Faculty Board on 5th May of 2016, and revised in May 2019, and in March 2023, available at:
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 30% | 5 | 0.2 | 4, 1, 22, 2, 6, 7, 5, 8, 9, 10, 20, 13, 12, 15, 14, 17, 21, 25, 24, 23, 18, 19, 11, 27 |
| Oral presentation | 10% | 3 | 0.12 | 12, 17, 24, 23 |
| Seminar attendance | 10% | 2 | 0.08 | 4, 1, 2, 6, 5, 13, 12, 16, 15, 14, 17, 21, 26, 25, 24, 23, 18, 11, 27 |
| Test 1 | 25% | 5 | 0.2 | 4, 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 12, 16, 15, 17, 26, 25, 23, 18, 19, 27 |
| Test 2 | 25% | 5 | 0.2 | 4, 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 12, 16, 15, 17, 26, 25, 23, 18, 19, 27 |
Bibliography
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Software
Office pack