Deliberation & Advocacy

Purpose: to help other instructors teaching the same course

Common Course ID:  HCOM 312
CSU Instructor Open Textbook Adoption Portrait

Abstract: This affordable learning resource is being utilized in a Humanities & Communication course for undergraduate students by Patrick Belanger at California State University Monterey Bay. The affordable resource chosen for this course provides digital reading materials and a textbook on library course reserve. The main motivation to adopt an affordable resource was to reduce student costs. Most students access the resources in digital format.

Course Title and Number:  Deliberation and Advocacy.  HCOM 312
Brief Description of course highlights:  Introduction to cooperative argumentation. Students develop empathetic and critical listening skills for cooperative deliberation and problem solving. They apply and assess reasoning and argumentative skills on various topics in oral and written communication contexts.
https://catalog.csumb.edu/content.php?filter%5B27%5D=HCOM&filter%5B29%5 D=312&filter%5Bkeyword%5D=&filter%5B32%5D=1&filter%5Bcpage%5D=1&cur_ca t_oid=10&expand=&navoid=549&search_database=Filter#acalog_template_course_filter

Student population: Typical students are third year undergraduates majoring in Humanites & Communication. 

Learning or student outcomes: 
- Understand and apply rhetorical knowledge (consider audience, purpose, and context in writing) relevant to the writing task
- Comprehend, analyze, and apply disciplinary course content
- Apply conventions of the discipline and produce important disciplinary genres
- Skillfully use scholarly and credible sources to develop ideas and arguments relevant to the discipline and genre.
- Use language that is clear and relatively free of grammatical errors
-- Effectively use feedback and self-assessment to revise and improve academic writing skills (https://ceetl.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/GWAR%20Learning%20Outcomes_Handout.pdf)

Key challenges you overcame:  I had to determine whether the 1st edition was easily available, affordable for those that wanted to purchase a physical copy, and relevant for course learning outcomes. I had to learn about copyright law and academic fair use guidelines when making digital copies of several sources. And I had to assist students with gaining access to free New York Times educational resources.

Course Syllabus - Deliberation and Advocacy HCOM 312.docx - 

Textbook or OER/Low cost Title: 
Palczewski, Ice, & Fritch, Rhetoric in Civic Life, Strata 2012 (1st edition ; copy @ library reserve)

Grant, The science of changing someone's mind, NYT 2021: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/31/opinion/change-someones-mind.html?referringSource=articleShare Brookfield, Teaching for critical thinking, chapter 1, Jossey-Bass 2012 (scanned and shared as PDF)

Argument grounds (in–class exercise) - created new by myself for a student-focused workshop.
The Economist, The science of conversation, 2024 (scanned and shared as PDF)

Brief Description: I wanted a high quality textbook that outlines key concepts in rhetorical theory and composition, and also a set of scholarly readings on the topics of persuasion and critical thinking.

Student access:  With the exception of the book on course reserve, students access the learning resources through Canvas.

Provide the cost savings from that of a traditional textbook.  The textbook Palczewski, Ice, & Fritch, Rhetoric in Civic Life, Strata 2012 (1st edition) is accessible either by purchase of a 1st edition for approximately $10, or use one of the two copies on reserve at the CSUMB library. The NYT articles are available for CSUMB students for free: https://csumb.libguides.com/newyorktimes . The two chapters from Brookfield, Teaching for critical thinking, chapter 1, Jossey-Bass 2012 are shared under fair use guidelines. Vassallo, Persuading powerfully, Review of General Semantics 2002 is available through the CSUMB library. The chapter by Planalp & Fitness, Handbook of communication ethics, CH 9, Routledge, 2011 is shared under fair use guidelines. The chapters from Hollihan & Baaske, Arguments and Arguing, Waveland Press 2022 are shared under fair use guidelines. The Economist article is available through the CSUMB library.

License: Most materials are copyrighted

OER/Low Cost Adoption Process

Provide an explanation or what motivated you to use this textbook or OER/Low Cost option. I wanted to save students money, and also design specific content to support student learning in the area of critical thinking.

How did you find and select the open textbook for this course? I discussed options with CSUMB librarians and also talked with colleagues about effective practices.

Sharing Best Practices: Course reserves are easy to request. All CSUMB students have free access to a digital NYT account. Instructor-created content, while time consuming, can be highly effective in supporting student learning.

Describe any key challenges you experienced, how they were resolved  and lessons learned. There are times when a physical hard-copy textbook is useful for in-class learning.

Instructor Name - Patrick Belanger
Communication Professor at California State University, Monterey Bay.  

Please provide a link to your university page.
https://csumb.edu/hcom/hcom-faculty--staff/hcom-tt-belanger-patrick https://csumb.edu/directory/679173579/

Please describe the courses you teach 

Critical Thinking & Ethics
Deliberation & Advocacy
Environmental Philosophy & Communication
Free Speech & Responsibility
Interracial Communication
Multicultural Conflict Resolution
Restorative Justice
Senior Capstone (Media, Culture, & Ideology)

Describe your teaching philosophy and any research interests related to your discipline or teaching.  My classes explore the intersection of media, culture, ethics, and ideology. In all courses, I teach students that full societal participation hinges on the ability to think critically and communicate well. To create a welcoming learning environment for all, at the start of each course I introduce five core principles and practices: 1) kindness and respect (I engage students as motivated adults), 2) transparency (we collectively agree on objectives and methods), 3) a discussion-focused classroom environment (we commit to shared readings and norms of interaction), 4) research and writing (our central focus is the creation of theoretically-informed written work), and 5) collaborative group work, including multi-step peer review.