Communication Skills
Communication Skills: Essay tips
Semester 2 2019
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Assessment dates
Census date: Friday 16th August (Week 4)
Communication Skills Essay: Sunday 25th August (Week 5)
Semester
eak: 2nd – 6th September (after Week 6)
Online Quiz 1: Friday 6th September – Sunday 8th September (Week 6)
Online Quiz 2: Friday 4th October – Sunday 6th October (Week 10)
Final Class: Thursday 17th October (Week 12)
Reflective Essay: Monday 21st October (end Week 12)
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Communication Skills Essay
Due: Midnight Sunday 25th August 2019 (end of Week 5)
1000 words
30% of the total grade
Presentation: Word document (compatible with Learnline), double line spacing for ease of marking
Safe Assign enabled
References: Minimum of 8 academic references, at least 3 from the unit materials (includes textbook, e-readings)
Use APA format
Structure: Essay
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
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Essay 1
1. Identify 3 potential ba
iers to effective communication you have noted in your journal
Discuss how communication skills can be used to overcome each of these ba
iers.
2. Seek feedback from someone you interact with regularly concerning the ba
iers and communication skills you have identified above, in terms of your own communication style.
Write about the feedback you received and how you can use this to enhance your own communication skills relevant to your area of study or future profession.
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Task details
Identify 3 potential ba
iers to effective communication you have noted in your journal
Define effective communication
Identify ba
iers using topics and learning materials from Weeks 1-5
Don’t just list/name the ba
iers – define what they are and explain/analyse how they impact effective communication, using literature.
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Task details
Discuss how communication skills can be used to overcome each of these ba
iers.
Take time to research this topic and critically analyse the literature that explains the relationship between your chosen communication ba
iers and skills.
Don’t just list the communication skills – explain why they are useful
There might be some skills that are relevant to overcoming a number of ba
iers
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Task details
Seek feedback from someone you interact with regularly concerning the ba
iers and communication skills you have identified above, in terms of your own communication style.
Apply the knowledge gained in Part 1 to your communication style
Prepare for feedback: give the person information/context, complete your self-assessment questionnaire (Week 1), use a model of reflective practice (Week 2) to analyse your communication style, draw on your journal entries & reflections
Feedback can be ve
al or written, but take notes to do the next step…
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Task details
Write about the feedback you received and how you can use this to enhance your own communication skills relevant to your area of study or future profession.
Apply knowledge of communication skills and self awareness to future practice – what is the relevance of ba
iers and communication skills for your chosen profession?
Use the feedback you received to evaluate your communication skills – articulate the strategies you could use to develop your skills, and minimise those ba
iers, relevant to working in your future profession.
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Assessment criteria
30% Understanding ba
iers to effective communication
30% Analysis of communication skills required to overcome these ba
iers
20% Ability to integrate feedback into a reflection on personal communication skills
10% Clarity of expression and adherence to essay writing standards (flow, logic, punctuation, grammar, spelling)
10% Evidence of wide reading (at least 8 academic references, including 3 from the unit), and adherence to APA referencing standards
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Essay structure
INTRODUCTION
A paragraph which introduces the essay topic and gives some background information or context, states the main point (thesis) that is going to be argued and provides the reader with an outline of how the essay will be organised.
BODY
The main part of the essay, made up of a series of paragraphs presenting the argument, and evidence for that argument
CONCLUSION
A summary of the argument and restates the main claim. It may also make some final statements about the topic, however nothing new is introduced in the conclusion.
(Retrieved from http:
learnline.cdu.edu.au/studyskills/studyskills/constructingessays.html)
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Essay structure
PARAGRAPHS
A group of sentences that relates to a certain theme or idea. Includes the following sentences:
Topic sentence – the main idea
Supporting sentences – provide further information and explanation of the main idea
Concluding sentence – clarifies main argument/idea for the reader.
(Retrieved from http:
learnline.cdu.edu.au/studyskills/studyskills/draftingessays.html)
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Kol
Gi
Driscoll
Example of Description vs analysis
Description Analysis
I listened to others in the group. It was good. In the group I demonstrated active listening. This allowed me to engage with the group and establish a stronger relationship. This is one aspect that Harms XXXXXXXXXXidentifies as important to facilitating engagement in a therapeutic context. I was also to achieve this by establishing point of commonality within the group by talking in a non-questioning way (Gibney, 2003).
I helped others by drawing on their resilience. When using a strengths-based approach, resilience is considered important in helping service users identify skills they can adopt to support themselves in time of adversity. In the scenario I identified that my client had a strong family support network. This is identified by Howe XXXXXXXXXXas one component of resilience that can feed-forward into other strengths being developed. Support networks can be used to facilitate further support for the client.
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Example of Critical & Reflective Analysis
The meeting commenced rather a
uptly and I was not prepared to respond to my client’s concerns. I gauged some based comments from the client but I was quite put off by the task to hearing their concerns. I found that not actively listening to the client’s need challenging when it came to providing strategies to them for support (Shulman, XXXXXXXXXXI was however able to use my open-ended questioning skills to try and get the client to repeat information I should have heard initially. I noticed a shift in body language (turning away from me) which signalled that they were disengaged with my repeat of a question they has already answered. According to Woodcock-Ross (1969), this skill of ‘tuning-in’ is imperative in communication with service users as strategy for ensuring that their needs and concerns are heard and the priority of the social worker. After reading the literature and reflecting on my communication style I recognise I need to be more engaged in the client’s concerns through preparation and more empathetic acknowledgement of such concerns throughout the interaction.
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Support
ALLSP: Academic Language and Learning Success Program
https:
www.cdu.edu.au/academic-language-learning/allsp
Li
ary APA Referencing Guide
http:
libguides.cdu.edu.au/cdureferencing/apa
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