BA 374 Business communication Week 1 Discussion Issues and Resolutions
BA 374 Business communication Week 1 Discussion Issues and Resolutions
Applying your own thinking, experiences, and application and citation of information from at least one resource, respond to the following Discussion topic(s). Remember, the Discussions are a dialog (conversation) and an opportunity to build community. This is the second of two Discussions in Week 1. In this Issues and Resolutions Discussion, post your main response on or before Day 4 (Thursday night). Post at least three additional responses (one-two paragraphs each) during Monday through Sunday, all on different days. It is a UIU requirement for Discussion participation to occur on at least four of the seven days in each Week. With the exception of Week 8, “Weeks” begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. It is assumed in this Business Communication class that all writing will have been thoroughly proofread, grammar and spell-checked and never represent the first draft. Writing is always a process, one which requires more than one draft prior to submitting a final, polished posting. Grading rubrics for the Issues and Resolutions Discussion are included below the Directions.
The Issues and Resolutions Discussion is the place for you to familiarize yourself with the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process by applying a real-world situation and communicating the outcome from your critical thinking and decision-making. Below is a visual representation of the process.
One important point made in Chapter 1 of our Guffey and Loewy (2018) textbook is you first must be able to think critically and make decisions before you can clearly communicate those decisions (p. 7). This also explains why our first Week’s Discussion is focused on this important reality.
Directions:
Write your response using paragraph format (include a topic sentence plus 3-4 additional sentences). Do not use the second-person perspective. You may use the first and/or third-perspective perspective for this “Issues and Resolutions” Discussion response.
Following the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process, begin with “Explore the Challenge”. It is your choice what challenge you identify but it must relate to Business Communication. You will need to think about what you need to know about the problem, perhaps gather information (e.g., from people, from research) and ultimately, clearly state what is the problem (e.g, “the business communication challenge I have chosen is…” .Understanding the problem is essential” (Guffey& Loewy, 2018, p. 7). This section of your main response is likely one paragraph in length.
Next is the second phase of the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process, “Generate Ideas”. Write in full sentences (not bullet-point sentence fragments) articulate ideas that could solve the problem. From this information, (perhaps one or two paragraphs = appropriate for this phase) choose one or two of the most promising ideas.
The third and final phase is “Implement Solutions”. This phase transitions ideas to solutions, including action planning. This section of your main response is likely one or two paragraphs in length.
Write a paragraph (paragraphs require at least three if not four sentences to be considered a paragraph) reflecting upon your experience using the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving Process.
Somewhere, within the entire main response include one quote from either our textbook or from a UIU library article. Refer to the Overview section to 1) see how to correctly format references using APA formatting (a UIU requirement), and 2) see how to access information using the UIU library.
Give yourself the gift of allocating an appropriate amount of time to think, research, and write. Follow the directions. Run spell and grammar check and proofread your crafted response (reading aloud is highly recommended because it slows down the review, indicates where pauses are appropriate, and suggests where editing is beneficial). Discussion settings allow you to edit an already posted response without any change in date or time.
As noted above, postings should be made on four of seven days during the week. The main response plus three additional conversational responses to other postings is a requirement. Main postings should be present on or before Day 4 (Thursday night).
Enjoy the learning adventure. If you have questions or need clarification, send an email to petersonm@uiu.edu.
(note: this is the correct APA formatting so copy and paste it – see Overview section for additional information on using APA formatting to cite references)
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Also Read: NR 305 Week 6 Assignment Physical Examination Video Demonstration
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.