206-327 Resource Industry Communication

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Prerequisites

202-104 Information Technology and Communication.

Semester

Subject Description

This subject provides an understanding of the principles of effective communication, the practical skills to communicate effectively, and the development of skills in critical analysis of communication problems.

Topics include the communication of agricultural and environmental technology as processes of information exchange; the communication skills of speaking, nonverbal communication, establishing rapport, questioning and listening; ommunity consultation and mass media techniques including oral and radio, newspapers and advertising copy; working with groups, leadership, conflict management, managing difficult people, and assertiveness; marketing as a communication process, determining clients needs; adult learning models and influencing human behavior; interpretation of natural resources, including forest, to the general public; project management, evaluating the effects of communication projects; public and private extension and communication; and case studies.

The industry project provides an opportunity to study communication and marketing problems in resource management industries, to apply the issues studied in lectures to industry, and to make recommendations for enhancing communication processes. Students will be expected to visit and observe or work with a business, examine a communication problem using a range of research strategies and report findings and recommendations. In certain cases the industry project may relate to an extension program run by government or with rural communities.

Assessment

Industry/extension report 3000 words (30%), case study 3000 words (30%), examination 2 hours (40%)

Prescribed Texts

• Mackay, Why Don't People Listen?. Pan, 1994.
• Ban, Ward, Hawkins, Agricultural Extension. Longman, 1998.