OVERVIEW READINGS

OVERVIEW FOR EDP 5285 GROUP PROCESSES GUIDE 1:  INTRODUCTION GUIDE 2: METHODS FOR STUDYING GROUPS GUIDE 3: GROUP STRUCTURE GUIDE 4: ASPECTS OF GROUP STRUCTURE II GUIDE 5: ATTRACTION TO GROUPS GUIDE 6: COHESIVENESS II GUIDE 7: INFLUENCE PROCESSES GUIDE 8: PERFORMANCE & DECISION-MAKING GUIDE 9: LEADERSHIP GUIDE 10: GROUP COOPERATION & CONFLICT

COURSE PAPER PRESENTATION

Reference number = 01094

INSTRUCTOR: Professor Susan Carol Losh 307K Stone Building  850-644-8778  slosh@fsu.edu

Spring 2009 G151 Stone Building Tuesday  2:15-4:45 P.M. CLICK HERE  to find The Stone Building

This graduate course examines group dynamics in education, industry, sports, the military, religious congregations, family life, peer groups, and other formal and informal organizations. We study processes of interaction among peers and between leaders and members, the role of social structure (e.g., types of organizational roles), and intra- and inter-group relations. Topics include group structure, cohesion and teamwork, "Groupthink," group decision-making, conformity and persuasion, leadership, communication, how groups influence achievement, and the role of groups in organizational and social change. I also include a section on methods of studying groups and the role of groups in assessments and evaluations (e.g., focus groups, "brainstorming").

Thus the major objective of this course is to make you conversant with the basic group processes literature and its applications in many different settings. Group dynamics has applications to many fields. Each student will conduct a presentation related to their paper/project about group processes to demonstrate applying the material to a field of their interest. Past examples include:

• Cooperative learning
• Campus organizations, including fraternities, sororities, political action groups, and religious groups
• Implementing group processes in the business world, including the adoption of new technology and making work groups more effective
• Making workgroups more effective in other organizations including the military and education
• Increasing volunteer group effectiveness
• The role of groups in violence, family violence, school violence, bullying

FORSYTH: Donelson Forsyth (2006) Group Dynamics (FOURTH edition). Wadsworth (Cengage); hardcover; ISBN = 0-534-36822-0

JOHNSON: David W. Johnson and Frank P. Johnson (2009). Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills (TENTH Edition). Pearson; paperback; ISBN = 0205578632

Please be sure to check for the correct edition number. Look for possible deals on Amazon!
Another way to cut costs is to split the cost of the books with a buddy.
 
 

Here’s how I can be reached:
 

307K Stone Building 850-644-8778 VOICE MAIL AVAILABLE CLICK HERE for Campus Map Location  The OLD Stone Building

Tuesday & Thursday 1:00-2:05 PM Generally Wednesday afternoons and by appointment I will be in my office other times too, so please see me about alternative times for an appointment. We can also meet just after class. An excellent way to reach me to set up an appointment is through email: slosh@fsu.edu

We are a "Web-assisted course" with a Web site on the Internet. The Blackboard url is:

(However, I find it easier to just remember: http://campus.fsu.edu (the site will forward you to the url above.)

Enter your GARNET or MAILER username and password to enter Blackboard. For example, I would enter "slosh" ONLY and omit the "@fsu.edu" part.

If you DON'T have an FSU ID and account, you need one NOW! Go to the Academic Computing and Network Services site:

Follow the links to register online for your FSU account. It typically takes 24 hours to process your request. (You can always forward from your FSU email account to another email account that you use the most often.)

Please check our class Web site AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK for:

ANNOUNCEMENTS, such as: Any schedule changes Any changes to assignments or topics Weekly study guides to download

More details on an assignment  Links  On-line questions and discussion AND MORE TO BE ADDED

Be sure you log into this Overview weekly to check for any updates. Each topic will be linked with a study guide so this page and the Readings page act as a course portal. Check into Blackboard too, because announcements will be placed on the main entrance page.

Many of the pages that I post to Blackboard are also available through FSU's mailer system. Start with this site:

and you will be able to link to Study Guides and updates on the paper and presentation.

However, resource links and other communications, and our class presentations, will only be available through the Blackboard system.

Because we also in a technology-enhanced classroom, we can check in with the Internet and our course url during class, as well as view videos and display PowerPoint presentations.
 

DATE	TOPIC AND OBJECTIVES
January 6	Introduction: Navigating all the Web-assists.  What defines a group? How do groups differ from aggregates and cohorts?
January 13-20	Methods and Theories: Experiments, observations, surveys, archives, simulations, focus groups. How can we use these to study groups?.
January 20-27	Group Composition and Group Structure I: Ascribed versus achieved groups. Formal versus informal groups. Status hierarchies. Reference groups. Roles. Role conflict.
February 3-10	Group Composition and Group Structure II:
February 10	Course paper prospectus due
February 10-17	Attraction to Groups: Who joins groups? What makes groups attractive? What are different types of exchange theories? Group Boundaries
February 17-24	Group Cohesion I: What is it? How is it measured? What are bases and outcomes of group cohesion?
March 3	Course paper update due
February 24-March 3	Group Cohesion II: An advanced look at the most widely used construct in group processes.
March 9-13	Spring Break!
March 17-24	Group Influence and Conformity: Culture and  conformity. Conformity versus compliance. Which factors increase group influence? How do groups exert influence?
March 24-31	Group Performance and Group Decision-Making:  Do groups enhance individual performance? What kinds of situational factors influence group performance? Which factors motivate groups to "better" performance? How do groups make decisions? Groupthink.
March 31	First draft of paper due
March 31-April 7	Leadership:  What is leadership? Are leaders born or made? "Generic" types of leaders. Leadership processes. Presentations begin (April 7)
April 7-14	Intra- and Inter-Group Cooperation and Conflict:  What conditions increase cooperation and conflict? Which conditions decrease it? How can cooperation across and within groups be promoted?  PRESENTATIONS CONTINUE
April 14 -21	Applications   PRESENTATIONS CONTINUE
April 24 (Friday)	Final Course Paper due (including any rewrites) by NOON

This course has two required assignments. Updates during the semester provide more detail and format specifications. Please complete readings according to the timetable in this syllabus and be prepared with assignments by their due date.

PLEASE SEE COURSE POLICY ON E-MAIL AND SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS. CLICK HERE!
 

Students often produce especially good work when they work in teams (and we are a course on Group Processes, after all). This is particularly true for the Course Paper. It is easier for teams to plan and execute a small experiment, survey, or observation in a semester's time than it is for an individual to do so, and the project can be more ambitious. You may choose to work in teams for the Course Paper, and we may coordinate teams for the Presentations. I will need to know the names of all team members on the Course Paper by February 5.  Using the course paper prospectus, I also will alert you to possible teammates (but the choice is yours).
 

I use plus and minus grading, throughout and for final grades.

• Participation in class discussion and class attendance are an intangible, but real, consideration, especially when a student is "between grades."
• Adherence to principles of essay organization, and the conventions of spelling and grammar is expected and understood.
• The course paper MUST relate to course material in some way.

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SCHEDULE OF EDP 5285 READINGS AND ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES: CLICK HERE

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Susan Carol Losh January 3 2009