Communication with Purpose : Intro to Communication Practice

Course Description

Throughout the course, students will develop skills in idea generation, argument formulation, and the use of tools and platforms to communicate their ideas effectively. Interactive and engaging hands-on activities will be a central component of the course. It will combine group activities, practical and laboratory exercises, as well as brief final presentations of student projects.

Specifically, the course will center on creating a two-page community newsletter using a graphic design tool or platform.

For the newsletter content, students will select a community — such as their neighborhood, dance school, sports club, or after-school activity — and apply critical thinking to determine what is important to communicate about this community, why it matters, and who the target audience is. Students may also choose to reflect on their insights about Carleton University and decide on the angle to cover in their newsletters, such as nature and green spaces, Carleton Athletics, MacOdrum Library, food courts and vending machine options, transportation access, and more.

The main structural elements of the newsletter will include a title, an editorial corner outlining the main focus, purpose, and argument, a main story with a conclusion, photographs with captions, and an infographic.

Students will participate in group activities designed to help them develop the skills needed to create a newsletter. These activities will include practicing how to customize and edit a newsletter template, creating an infographic, taking, captioning, and inserting photos into the template, conducting brief surveys, writing short stories, and brainstorming effective titles. They will also have time in class to design their newsletters and collaborate in groups on strategies to approach their newsletter tasks.