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COMM 2072: Communication and Organisational Practices

1. About this guide

This page has been created to help you get started with assignment 1 & 2. Please refer to your course outline and LearnOnline site for the full assessment details and requirements.

2. Assignment 1 & 2: Finding resources

Before you start searching for academic sources, it is a good idea to plan your approach. 

For example, if for your reflective journal you want to explore the causes of miscommunication within the workplace start by:

  • Thinking about what your key concepts are.
  • Then brainstorm other synonyms or alternative concepts you could use in your searches.
  • Consider word plurals, different word endings, common acronyms or different word spellings. This is important as not everyone refers to ideas in the same way. 

 A mind map or table can be a good strategy for organising ideas:

Key concepts Miscommunication Workplace
Alternative concepts

miscommunicating

misunderstanding

communication barriers

communication distortion

work

organization

organisation

job

As you start searching you can add to the table or mind map.

Do the same for your reflective report. Remember, for this assessment you will need to choose an organisation or group which you belong to. If you do not have work experience consider the below options:

  • work place
  • university group
  • sporting club
  • social group
  • volunteer group
  • religious group

You will also need to choose a communication exchange which could be one of the following:

  • social media
  • YouTube video
  • current affairs
  • TV show segment
  • novel
  • other creative work
In addition to referring to the Readings for both topics in both assignments, you need to find academic sources and theory to reflect on and support your analysis.


The Library Collection can be a useful starting point in locating academic references. The library collection contains resources such as print and electronic books, DVDs, journals and theses, together with journal and newspaper articles from numerous databases.

To do a search, try using

  • double quotes for phrases
  • truncation* to find the plural and other forms of a word
  • connect using AND, OR and NOT

Library collection search: online communication AND customer engagement

At the results list you can:

  • Limit to articles from Peer Reviewed publications 
  • Limit by Date eg 2010 to 2020
  • See the full text for many items by selecting the title, then look for the Online link
  • See Library Collection Help for additional searching tips.

Google Scholar searches only within academic or scholarly sites, rather than over the whole internet like a regular Google Search. For more information on using Google Scholar, have a look at our Library research skills guide.

By accessing Google Scholar from within the library website, you will be able to link directly to articles that the Library has access to by clicking on the Full-text at UniSA link.

Business Source Ultimate provides information covering all areas of business including accounting and finance; banking; finance and insurance; construction; computer science; economics and more.

This is an example of an Advanced Search using Business Source Ultimate.

You can limit your search by date range and to Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals from the box on the left hand side of the results screen.

3. Assignment 1: Reflective writing

For Assignment 1 you are asked to write a short (300 word) journal response to an aspect of the theory for each week. You will need to use academic resources and theory (see box 2 for how to find resources) to reflect on and analyse the communication in your organisation.

The below resources may assist you in writing your journal entries. 

4. Assignment 2: Oral presentation

For Assignment 2A you have been asked to make a short (2-3 minute) video presentation. Look at the resources below to learn more about making a recording, and using Zoom to record a video.

 

5. Providing feedback

For Assignment 2A you will also need to peer review 3 presentations.

6. Assignment 2: Write a report

Now that you have done your research it is time to put all of your information together. Watch this short video (approx 3 mins) for tips on how to write a report or access the overview document at the bottom of this box.

For more help on improving your academic skills and referencing, please visit the Study Help page.

7. Referencing support

Managing your references

What do you do with all those references you have found? You can use a bibliographic management software to store, organise, and cite your references.

There are many free systems available. The Library supports the bibliographic management tool EndNote. EndNote automates citing your references and allows you to create and organise a library of references. For more information and to download the software, check out the EndNote Guide:

8. Language and grammar

Both assignment 1 and 2 require you to use correct English grammar, spelling and punctuation. The following resources will provide you with some language skills and guidance for your journal and report writing. 


Watch the following video through LinkedIn Learning to brush up on your grammar skills. Use the time stamps to jump to sections you need.

Grammar Foundations (Steiner-Williams)
Note: You must be logged into your student account to access LinkedIn Learning resources.