Assignment:
Pretend you are observing a group of 3 or more people having a discussion together. You may purposely put together a group of family or friends and give them a discussion topic with a time limit. Or you may choose to go somewhere public and sit near a group that is having their own discussion. Either way, you should plan to observe the discussion for at least 20 minutes and take notes on the communication dynamics during that interaction.
The requirements are as follows:
1. Observe the group communicating for at least 20 minutes. Take notes on various parts of the communication process that apply to our class: verbal and nonverbal communication, good versus bad listening skills, method of communicating using voice (tone, volume, etc.).
2. You may use the names of the individuals or you may decide to number the people in the group (or use some other code) and describe their individual communication styles, making note of excellent or not excellent dynamics.
3. After you observe your group, you are to type up a 2-page minimum paper. Have an introduction of where and when you did your observation. Then in the body give an overview of the participants. NOT a word-for-word transcript, but you may include direct quotes to support your points about excellent or not-excellent communication. In the conclusion you should summarize what you learned about communication through this exercise.
