Artifacts
This page contains all the artifacts that relate to my Communication minor degree. There will be an introductory paragraph that describes the purpose, when it was created, and who was the target audience, followed by a "Behind the Artifact" section that gives more insight into the specific project. The artifact will be fully available imbedded in the section and can be opened in a new tab for further exploration.
Barnes and Noble Research Paper
This research paper was a group paper completed during the COME 323: Nonverbal class the fall semester of my junior year in 2021. The target audience for this paper was the professor and the learning objective revolved around becoming familiarized with nonverbal communication in theory application and research and data collection.
Behind the Artifact:
This group project contained myself and two other people who all did independent field research at the same Barnes and Noble in Green Bay, WI. We went at different times of the day and of the week to gather as much information as we could about the nonverbal actions people and the company took and the results of those. We specifically focused on how Barnes and Noble uses color, sound, and smell to make customers feel more comfortable and willing to come back. This paper was written mostly by me with the input and resources of the other group members and their observations, with it being completely edited and revised by myself.
Annotated Bibliography
The Impact of Internet Research Proposal
This artifact was done in part of a group project that culminated in the research proposal, located to the left, for the COME 180: Communication Research Methods class. It was completed during the spring semester of my junior year in 2022 and the target audience for this was the professor and our group for use as a reference for the final paper. The overarching objective for this project was to find existing research that could be used to provide a foundation for answering the research question we created as a group.
Behind the Artifact:
This group was one of the best academic groups I have been apart of in my educational career, and we used this information, a well as many other sources, to create a final research proposal listed below. We each gathered one of the four articles in this bibliography, and connected them to our research question via two strong conclusions we drew at the end of the page. I revised and edited this project, solely wrote one of the bibliographies, and used group input to write the conclusions.
This Research Proposal was built in part from the Annotated Bibliography to the right, but also used several other sources to support the topic. This was completed during the COME 180: Communication Research Methods class in the 2022 spring semester. This proposal had the objectives for our group to be able to outline research related to the topic we chose, methods that could be used to conduct research, examples of the surveys and interviews that would be conducted, and the predicted results of the data results.
Behind the Artifact:
This paper was written in collaboration by all four group members, and started with an in-depth literature review that expanded upon the conclusions built from the annotated bibliography. We created survey and interview questions individually and then hand-selected the best of them to create the final versions of the questions included in the proposal. Included in the appendix of this proposal is a work log for the group that includes which member did what. I edited and revised the entire paper and wrote many of the sections myself with input and collaboration from other team members.
Group Charter
The Group Charter was created in COME 222: Small Group Communication in the fall semester of my senior year in 2022. The target audience was for the professor as well as the other groupmates to keep each other responsible for their commitments to the group and the project as a whole. The objective was to define clear and consise boundaries for all members to adhere and agree to uphold throughout the semester within the small group.
Behind the Artifact:
This charter was written in a team effort to help establish boundaries and responsibilities of the individual group members related to the project. There were four of us in total that were a part of the group and we had to come up with a name four ourselves that would encompass something that all of us liked; we landed on the topic of what our favorite drinks were and could not decide between coffee and tea as the group favorite. We decided that the commonality is that both drinks are warm, and thus, the Warm Drink Lovers group was formed. This charter outlined the Code of Conduct for the group, which members were responsible for what, as well as a Notes section at the bottom that states the date of every meeting, where it was held, and what was covered. This helped to keep track of what we had completed and discussed during certain meetings, as well as make sure we were making good use of the meeting times that we scheduled.
Podcast and Podcast Script
The Bona Fide Group Perspective PodcastThis artifact comes as a combination deal since one is the script for the other and was also completed during the fall semester of my senior year in 2022 during the COME 222: Small Group Communication class. This is the same group that the charter from above was made for, and the target audience was the professor, but was written so that anyone could use it as an educational tool to help members of a small group. The main objective of this project was to create an artifact that could help others who may not have any special knowledge or expertise understand and apply the communication theory in their life. Ideally this would provide a creative option to deliver practical and scholarly information to a mass amount of people so that they might become more informed group members.
Behind the Artifact:
This podcast script, and ultimately the podcast, revolves around the Bona Fide Group Perspective and uses one of the group members as a special guest on the show. Having one of our members be a special guest allowed for them to bring a practical example to the table while our two hosts would use various resources and scholarly evidence to help explain why there are issues and how to fix them. The example situation used was a combination of various situations all of the members have experienced being part of an academic group. These solutions can be applied to any small group, but is demonstrated through an academic small group to increase relatability with ourselves and peers who might listen to the podcast. I wrote a majority of the script with some input from the other members on which topic to tackle next. I played the narrator and edited the entire podcast, adding sound effects, music, and cutting out any mistakes or excessive pauses. I loved this project as it allowed me to work with audio editing software, as well as helped to explain a communication method in a way that could be easily understood by almost anyone through a practical example and application.
Mass Media Poster Project
The Mass Media Poster Project was the final project for the COME 124: Principles of Mass Communication class that I took during the fall semester of my senior year in 2022. The target audience for this poster project was for the professor and other classmates that it would be presented to during finals week. The overarching objective of this project was to select a particular type of media and use one of four research options to gather information and later present the findings to the class in poster form. The four options were through mass media content analysis, media oral history, media professional exploration, or historical investigation.
Behind the Artifact:
I chose the historical investigation research option and focused on how arcades transitioned to the modern mass media giant known as modern video games. I used a variety of references that depicted and explained how arcades used to be a mass media outlet and slowly dwindled until it was revamped as nostalgia, leading to bigger and better video games in the modern day. We had to tell a story through the poster, and I chose to follow the rise and fall of arcades by using different levels to indicate the theme of the section, similar to how games have levels for different sections as you continue through the story. The presentation of the poster was very relaxed and had half the class stand next to their boards while the other half explored the other projects; we had to explain our project to anyone that approached us and answer any questions they had to the best of our abilities. This project was very fun for me as I was able to do research into an era that seems so nostalgic for so many even if they never lived it. There is a magic feeling that happens when you look at old arcade video games and stores and see the improvements and adaptions that have been created throughout the years that show our steadily advancing technology.
Poster Project ArtifactTheory Application Presentation
TMIM Application ArtifactThe Theory Application Presentation was a part of the COME 427: Communication Theory class I took my senior year in spring of 2023. The target audience for this artifact were my classmates and the professor as it was a student lead class to present the project. The objective of this was to be able to conduct theoretically guided research while being able to apply and explain the connections in a public presentation. There were two additional written aspects to this project that are not included: a written evaluation of the research article itself and an evaluation of how I perceived the presentation went.
Behind the Artifact:
This was my last communication class I took, and this project was one of my favorites of my entire academic career. I researched an article regarding the Theory of Motivated Information Managment (TMIM) and broke down the presentation into a few distinct sections. I started by briefly reviewing the TMIM process, and then continued on to break down the article in terms of the purpose, method, impact with TMIM, definitions used, and the five hypotheses. I then reviewed the findings of the article and shifted into two class participation activities, starting with discussion questions. The class was very receptive to my questions and gave tons of great examples that related to the research and the theory as a whole. The last participation activity was a practical example that they read while I drew the TMIM process on the board. We then went through each step of the process to break down the example, and included the research article's additions to the theory as well. It was such a fun presentation to be able to teach a class how to use the TMIM in a practical way in their lives; I loved the participation of the class and the success of the presentation as a whole.
Workplace Communication Capstone Website
The last of my artifacts is one of my most recently completed, being my communication capstone. I completed this during COME 427: Communication Theory during the 2023 spring semester of my senior year. The target audience was the professor, as well as anyone who wants to learn about organization and communication in the workplace. The goal of this project was to create an artifact that used research articles to support the content we created and be guided by a specific communication theory. This theory must be explained in depth either within the artifact itself or via a supplemental paper that would be submitted in addition to the capstone. There were a few options that were available to choose from as a platform for our content: social media accounts, website, blog, oral presentation, research proposal or study, podcast, videos, or a white paper.
Behind the Artifact:
I chose to do a website for this project, and focused on three communication theories and how it related to my broad idea of workplace communication. I used the Theory of Information Management, Communication Privacy Management, and Affection Exchange Theory in conjunction with 14 research articles to illustrate some practical applications and impacts certain types of communication have on employees. This website contains sections for the communications theories that are explained in depth, workplace relationships, connections to stress and burnout, and various types of leadership and implications based on the communication they use. This project was interesting to research and gather information as it can help you become a better employee, in addition to a better leader, in any group or workplace.