Concepts Requiring Further Discussion

The one thing that I feel the book could have expanded on would be interpersonal construction of individuals affected from emotional or physical abuse and more disability coverage. I think the book did a great job of representing the communication of gender, gay, and race communication but I feel like it is important to cover abused individuals and ability-impaired people because I feel like these categories are often left out in textbooks but they are huge categories of people within our society who are chronically overlooked.

       Another group that I feel would have been beneficial to write about are the people who have given up on life; either in a suicidal manner or those nearing death for other reasons but choice.  I feel like this would have been extremely beneficial to write about because I feel like everyone at the college age has had contact with at least one person who has passed due to one of the above reasons.  I feel like knowing how to understand both what they may be going through and also better expect what emotions you may be dealing with will better preserve the relationship which could save a life or make a passing more peaceful.

Feedback on COMM 10 Course This Semester

My favorite thing about the class was the book. It seemed like the readings each week were directly applicable to whatever was occurring at the time in my life. The style it was written in makes it very easy to read and follow along with and relate to. It addressed all aspects of relationships including: aspects such as discovery of self, attachment styles, the different stages of friendships, recurrent tensions that may happen and possible ways to address them, the different stages of romantic relationships, the different stages of families, etc.

My least favorite thing about this class was the absence of a direct study guide for the testing. I feel like there were general definitions provided to review but I do not feel like they were always applicable to the testing as there were dates and names that were not included but randomly thrown in. As I stated above, I really enjoyed the readings and I studied the provided suggestions but I got a C on the first test and was absolutely devastated. The fact the final has nothing provided for testing worries me greatly.

I think the only thing that the class would need improvement on would be the study guide issue. I felt like the teacher and materials were great but I feel like the testing was sometimes not relevant to the important points of the chapter.

What I Have Learned Over the Course of the Semester

Over the course of the semester, I have learned many things about myself that I feel have really empowered me in my confidence in how far I have come within my range of communication.  For example, the discussion of the discovery and process of creating the “self” was extremely helpful in identifying my communication attachment styles and how they have evolved from when I was a child to being an adult today (I switched from an anxious ambivalent attachment style to a secure attachment style).  Another thing that comforted me was the discussion of relational dialectics.  When we read that chapter, I was going through some stuff in a personal relationship and I was considering ending the relationship due to the recurrent tensions occurring.  This section squelched those fears as I realized that the tensions occurring were natural and will be everlasting.  I have learned more about myself in this class than any other course I have taken in my college career; so much so that I a planning on purchasing the book at the end of the semester as I had only rented it.