Informal Proposal: Student Sample #2

Date: September 22, 2001
To: Rob Hoskins
From: Mary Riggs
Subject: Proposal to investigate course communication.

Summary

This is a proposal to investigate the communication practices for the Music 302 course offered at the Southwest University. It will look at the communication practices already in place and try to offer improvements that benefit both the students and the professors. At this moment, the communication practices are not effective for the students' needs. I am a student within the course this semester and have first hand knowledge of the troubles that are occurring due to a lack of communication between the faculty and the students. Within this proposal are sections discussing the problem statement, introduction and background, project methods, and the project timeline and goals.

Problem Statement

The purpose of the project is to provide suggestions in order to promote better communication between the students and the teaching faculty for the Music 302 course. The suggestions will hopefully be applicable to other courses as well.

Introduction and Background

As of right now, the Music 302 course does not have permanent communication practices in place. As a student in the course, I have first hand knowledge that the course needs to apply one form or another of a type of communication medium. The class has had a slow start in effectively communicating assignments and other important information to the students. One required text for the course arrived late to the bookstore and the second text is not yet completed at the print and copy shop. Assignments are either announced in class or posted on a piece of paper that is in a consistently locked room. This makes it hard for the students to stay updated and on task.

By starting an investigation into why these communication methods are used, this will allow for a better understanding for what can be improved. Music 302 offers three main areas of focus: production, engineering, and law, for recording studio production. Each area has a different instructor, but there is one head instructor. The head instructor is constantly busy, and as a result it is difficult to be in contact with him. One consequence of this was that the instructor for the law portion did not show up to class on the date assigned. The students came to class and waited for a half hour or more for the teacher to arrive. Also, the information from the printed text, which is still not finished, was on the first quiz. If a student missed a class, the only way they could receive the missing information was to contact another student.
The project will allow for an interview with the head instructor to alleviate any problems or difficulties involved with establishing communication practices. Also, the students will have an opportunity to share what they feel would best help the situation; what they consider effective communication.

Once the reasons behind the lack of communication practices are known, then the next task will be to make recommendations for methods that would work for the course, but also what would be beneficial to the students as well as the faculty.

Project Methods

The initial investigation to figure out the already implemented communication practices will be done first hand. I am a student in the course, and I am able to witness what the faculty is doing to communicate with the class.

The second part of the investigation will require two separate tasks. The first task is to set up an interview with the head instructor. In this interview I will ask the instructor about the reasons for the chosen communication. Are there limitations to what the faculty can do? Are there any other circumstances that the students are not aware of that constricts the choices that faculty has in order to communicate better? These and other questions will be asked in order to have a full understanding of the present situation. Once those questions are done, I will ask a different set of questions in order to find out what can be done by the faculty to improve the communication. Is there an inside or outside resource that the faculty can utilize? Do the faculty have any skills that can be applied towards the communication for the course? Once I know what the faculty can and cannot do, I can move on to the student inquiry.

The students are the second half of the investigation. After the interview, I will know more about why the present communication practices are being used. Then I will make up a survey to give during a class period for the students to fill out. This survey will focus on the different communication methods that are used now, and also about the methods that could be. I will ask the students for their opinion about what methods will best help their needs.

As soon as I have information from both the students and the faculty, then I will be able to determine what will best suit the overall course. Taking into consideration the kinds of material being used, the subjects, and the goals for the course is also a part of the final recommendations. I have knowledge of communication practices that have worked for similar courses. As a media arts student, the majority of courses I take involve learning how to communicate to an audience your desired effects or goals. I have learned that if one wants the audience to understand what you are trying to say, the appropriate measures must be taken. For this course, if the main problem is the students are not being informed of assignments, then the most appropriate format should be adopted. One format that has worked well with multiple types of courses is a class web page. There are many different options for web pages, and by looking at specific needs, the page can be made to fit those needs. The most basic example would be a class calendar for important dates. So far in the course, the only dates provided were posted on a piece of paper in a locked room, and it only managed to stay up for a week and a half. Of course, I will need to wait until after the investigations are completed, and all applicable information is known before making any recommendation.

Project Goals and Timeline

The goal for this project is to better improve the communication practices for Music 302. This will enable both the students and the faculty to have a more thorough understanding of the material. At the end of the project, a report on the recommendations for improvements will be made, and even if they are not implemented, there will still be information that can be used in the future. The instructors for the course will know what better suites their students. Also, I will learn more about how communication in the professional world is applied. This is the reason why I am asking about the reasons for the present communication practices. There may be sincere complications behind using one form of communication from another, and it is important to understand this before making recommendations.

In order to make sure the investigation and the report is completed on time; the following timeline will be used.

Draft and Finalize Proposal -----------------------
Contact Mr. Haskell ----------
Conduct Interview --------------------
Progress Report ----------
Draft and Finalize Survey -------
Conduct Survey ----
Finish Investigation ----
Draft Recommendation Report -----------
Finalize and Submit Report -----------------------------

22 24 26 28 30 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
--23 25 27 29 -1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31
September---October

Conclusion

I believe that this project will provide the necessary information to improve communication for the Music 302 course. Whether the recommendations are applied or not, the information will still be available. Also, if the schedule of the head instructor is so busy that it is keeping him from improving the course communication, this project will be able to help him as well. The students should not suffer for the schedule conflicts of a faculty member, but hopefully this project will offer solutions for the students' obstacles.

References

Music 302 Students
Music 302's Head Instructor, Mr. Hoskins