OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Reference No. : XMUM.OAA - 100/2/8-V2.0

Effective Date : 23 APRIL 2018

DESCRIPTION OF COURSEWORK

Course Code ADT008

Course Name Introduction to International Communication

Lecturer Dr. Markus G. T. Heidingsfelder
Academic Session 04/21
Assessment Title Assignment: Video Presentation (Individual Work)

A. Introduction/ Situation/ Background Information

The course introduces the historical context of international communication and examines
different approaches to the field. Students will learn about the increasing effects of globalization
and discuss a range of theories that deal with inter- and transnational communication practices,
from cultural studies to systems theory to big data models and theories of digital citizenship. It
also addresses the implications for politics and international relations and the need to develop new
frameworks for transnational data policy, as well as the controversies surrounding the access to
and the regulation of information.

B. Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) covered

At the end of this assessment, students are – hopefully - able to:
CLO 1 - Comprehend the concept of international communication in the global perspective.

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C. University Policy on Academic Misconduct

1. Academic misconduct is a serious offense in Xiamen University Malaysia. It can be defined

as any of the following:
i. Plagiarism is submitting or presenting someone else’s work, words, ideas, data or
information as your own intentionally or unintentionally. This includes incorporating
published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form into
your work without acknowledging the source (the person and the work).
ii. Collusion is two or more people collaborating on a piece of work (in part or whole) which
is intended to be wholly individual and passed it off as own individual work.
iii. Cheating is an act of dishonesty or fraud in order to gain an unfair advantage in an
assessment. This includes using or attempting to use, or assisting another to use materials
that are prohibited or inappropriate, commissioning work from a third party, falsifying data,
or breaching any examination rules.

2. All the assessment submitted must be the outcome of the student. Any form of academic
misconduct is a serious offense which will be penalised by being given a zero mark for the
entire assessment in question or part of the assessment in question. If there is more than one
guilty party as in the case of collusion, both you and your collusion partner(s) will be subjected
to the same penalty.

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D. Instruction to Students

For this assessment, you are required to work individually. The assignment consists of a -
minimum 5 maximum 20 minutes long - video presentation on a specific aspect of international
communication (see the list below, F. Task). The presentation will make up for 50% of your
overall final grade for this course. The style is up to you: You can act as a news presenter, you
can choose to only use slides and audio, you can combine the two or you can come up with an
interesting alternative – as long as you get the main information across and follow the structure:

I. Introduction;
II. Main Body (the individual title of part II depends on the topic of your talk, for instance:
„Imagined Communities“);
III. Conclusion/Summary (what are the consewuences of this apoproach);
IV. Evaluation (which presents your own point of view).

Feel free to be as creative as possible: You are a student of advertising, not of the law! A
presentation does not need to be boring.
But be careful: Don’t go too wild. Focus! Make sure the creativity serves the main purpose of
getting the information across. For instance when it comes to the use of music. Don’t let it doodle
all the time in the background. Make sure one can still hear you talking. It is much more effective
to only have music now and then. Choose wisely which kind of music and why – in other words,
make sure it is motivated – maybe to accompany a visual sequence without any words? Etc. All
these things can be discussed via email or phone or in the live class sessions with the lecturer.
A handout (max. 2 pages!) that contains all the relevant information is an essential part of your
presentation. You will find a guideline on how to do a handout here:
https://speakingaboutpresenting.com/delivery/presentation-handouts/.

Make sure to include:

 the title of your presentation;
 the course name and the name of the lecturer;
 your name and ID;
 the date of your presentation as a header and your references at the end (APA style).

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Please note: Penalties for late submission of assessed work can be severe if not supported by
mitigating circumstances documentation and supporting evidence (or if the exceptional
circumstances claimed are in the list of those not judged by the university to be acceptable).
Penalties can also be applied for other reasons, e.g., over- or under-length work, incomplete work,
poor presentation (including illustrations), inadequate proof reading etc.
Resits or extensions to assessments are only allowed in exceptional circumstances. To be accepted,
these must be serious and unusual relative to the normal daily challenges that academic study
presents, and unpredictable in that you could not reasonably have been expected either to avoid
them, or to allow for them in planning the assessment work or preparation.

E. Evaluation Breakdown

No. Percentage
Component Title
(%)
1. Content (CLO 1, C2) 20
2. Delivery (no CLO) 20
3. Organization (CLO 1, C2) 20
4. Originality (no CLO) 20
5. Hand-out (CLO 1, C2) 20
TOTAL 100

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F. Task
Assignment: Presentation (Individual Work)

Choose one of the following topics of international communication you would like to present on:

 Historical Context of International Communication: The Silk Roads

 Historical Context of International Communication: Empire & Communications

 Historical Context of International Communication: The British East India Company

 Communication & Culture: The 7 Dimensions of Culture

 Communication & Culture: Imagined Communities

 History of International Communication: Case Study (One Belt One Road Initiative,
China/US rivalry, Public Sphere in China, Corona virus, Myanmar etc.)

 Theories of International Communication (Hegemony Theory; Critical Theory, Public

Sphere, Network Society, Systems Theory etc.)

The lecturer will then assign you different texts on the topic you need to read carefully (make
notes!), then present on them (focus on the key aspects, CLO 1: comprehension), including your
personal evaluation at the end (Do you agree? Do you disagree? Why? What did you find
problematic/fruitful?).

Deadline:
.
 Submission of your CLO 1 presentation video: Week 6, Monday 10th May 2021.

Submission:

 Send an email that addresses the lecturer to markus.heidingsfelder@xmu.edu.my. It should

consist of a 5-20 minutes clickable (!) video link: MP4 or MOV only via OneDrive. Subject
line: Assignment CLO 1 Introduction to International Communication 4-21. Don’t send it
anywhere else!

 Make sure to name the video file correctly: Student ID_Assignment CLO 1_Your
Name_Title of Presentation (example: JRN1902222_Assignment 1_Alicia Fang Jia

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 Lynn_Transformations of the Public Sphere). This is important! If you write your name
AliciaFangJiaLynn, lecturer may not find your file!

 The handout (pdf-document only) consists of a filled-in official XMUM cover page, a
undersigned and dated own work declaration, the hand-out, and marking rubrics at the end.

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 APPENDIX 1
MARKING RUBRICS

The following tables explain the criteria for assessing the presentation in order to determine its
overall classification. (Assessed work often displays varied strengths and weaknesses: for instance
knowledge of content may be significantly stronger than the organization, or organization may be
stronger than the syntax. Teachers therefore evaluate the various aspects of each piece of work in
order to determine the most appropriate overall mark.)

Component International Communication – Video Presentation Percentage

Title 50
(Individual Work) (%)
Score and Descriptors

Need Weight
Criteria Excellent Good Average Poor (%)
Marks
Improvement
(5) (4) (3) (1)
(2)
The presentation was Presenter focuses on side
Appropriate amount of Presenter focuses primarily informative but several aspects, wanders off the topic
Presenter says practically
material is prepared, and on relevant content and elements went unanswered. and is unable to summarize
Content (CLO nothing and focuses
points made reflect well their sticks to the topic. Presenter An overall view that the chapter. Presenter uses
primarily on irrelevant
1 C2) relative importance. adapts the content in a summarized the content was words and concepts which
content. Presenter appears to
20
Presenter adds individual general way to the listener missing. Much of the are inappropriate for the
ignore the listener and the
reserarch on era/artist and and the local situation. information irrelevant; knowledge and experiences
situation.
presents the chapter in his coverage of some of major of the listener (e.g., slang,
own words. points. jargon, technical language).

The volume is too low or too

Presenter uses a clear,
audible voice. Visual aids are
well prepared, informative,
effective, and not (too)
distracting. If distracting,
presenter intentionally uses
Delivery (no distraction for the opposite:
CLO)
to allow for reflection and
contemplation. Length of
presentation is within the
assigned time limits.
Extremely prepared and
rehearsed.
The volume is not too low or
too loud and the rate is not
too fast or too slow. The
pronunciation and
enunciation are clear. The
speaker exhibits few
disfluencies, such as "ahs,"
"uhms," or "like" and "you
knows”. Very well prepared.
loud and the rate is too fast or
too slow. The pronunciation
and enunciation are unclear.
The speaker exhibits many
disfluencies, such as "ahs,"
"uhms," or "you knows." The
listener is distracted by
problems in the delivery of
the message and has
difficulty understanding the
words in the message.
Primarily prepared but with
some dependence on just
reading off slides.
The volume is so low and the
rate is so fast and the music
The presenter appears
so loud that one cannot
uninterested. Unbalanced
understand most of the
message. The pronunciation
presentation. Evident lack of
20
preparation. Total
and enunciation are very
dependence on reading off
unclear. The presented slides
slides.
and images don’t add to the
oral presentation.

Introduction is attention-
getting, lays out the key
aspects well, and establishes
a framework for the rest of
the presentation.Information The message is organized. Command of ideas and
arguments: some reference The organization of the
is presented in a logical The listener has no difficulty
to topics raised by the message is mixed up and The message is so
sequence. The speaker helps understanding the sequence
Organization the listener understand the and relationships among the module but with limited random. The listener must disorganized you cannot
20
(CLO 1, C2) understanding of their make some assumptions understand most of the
sequence and relationships ideas in the message. The
significance; limited ability about the sequence and message.
of ideas by using ideas in the message can
to organise material or relationship of ideas.
organizational aids such as outlined easily.
announcing the topic, concepts; short and
previewing the organization, impoverished answers.
using transitions, and
summarizing.

Medium variety and

Very original presentation of Some originality apparent; Little or no variation; Repetitive with little or no
Originality (no material; captures the good variety and blending of
blending of materials /
material presented with little variety; insufficient use of 20
CLO) media. Standard
audience’s attention. materials / media. originality or interpretation. material.
presentation.

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 An effective and inspiring
hand-out that carries all the
relevant and also some extra
A good hand-out, but
information. It makes
somewhat ineffective. It A hand-out that commits
audience members want to
doesn’t follow the Lazily designed and
find out more about the topic information overload,
An effective hand-out with presentation, and there is no ineffective, too much or not
and has an aesthetic quality
Hand-out to it. It reflects the
all the relevant information balance between texts and inconsistently designed, enough information, a
20
(CLO 1, C2) (including the references) images. Some information is disbalance between texts
presentation and follows its some wrongly spelled words
and a clear design. missing. People not present and images, misspelled
structure, so audience
at the presentation cannot and names. words, no references.
members can easily find the
make sense of it. References
information they are looking
partly incorrect.
for, but it can also stand
alone and makes sense
without it.

TOTAL 100

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