English Reflection Assignment

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COM101-FormerStudentsLettersfromFall2022.pdf

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COM 101-Former Student Letters from Fall 2022

Dear Future Youngling,

The most important thing to know in this course is the workload. The class which you

may be attending in the future will have a very low workload amount, something you may not

pay too much detail to. But be warned for the dark side is ever near. If you choose to not

participate in the Group Activities, it will haunt you and affect your grade in the long run. Your

teammates can report you to the professor himself or the Teacher Assistants if you do not put in

any effort. This will result in points possibly being deducted from your Group Activity grade. It

would be wise to not let your friends down, for the dark side can take the best of any Master

Jedis.

If one wishes to be an exemplary knight, he/she must participate in the iClicker questions.

During class whether you are on WebEx (possibly Zoom) or in person the professor throughout

the lecture will ask questions regarding the material. How it works is that you will choose the

best answers from the listed choices. Sometimes you can choose multiple options, and often one.

Overall, the process is not complicated. These questions amount to 185 of your XP so it would

be reasonable to participate in every session. Also, in order to earn the participation part of the

credit (10xp) you will need to answer at least 75% of the questions. So please create your

iClicker account as soon as possible!

The most rewarding aspect of this class is the idea of increasing your grade at any given

chance. Throughout the semester there will be a lot of other optional activities to do that will

increase your grade/xp. Some of these activities include just recording yourself and talking about

the discussion at hand. The professor is generous to those who are willing to try and do their

best.

The only thing which I found to be the least exciting were the long sessions that lasted for

three hours. Sometimes during these sessions, my mind would wander and then only come back

to do the iClicker sessions. It may be due to my own attention span, but I believe that some

changes are needed so that students do not become underwhelmed in moments like these. On the

bright side, the professor does let us have a 15-minute break. My advice would be to get rid of all

distractions so that you will not feel bored more quickly.

Finally, the student who is reading this should be aware of thinking this is an easy A

class. It is true that the workload is light, but this is what turns great Jedis into the dark side. It is

laziness and carelessness. So be extra alert regarding the due dates for group activities and study

for the challenges. You will need to understand certain concepts that cannot sometimes be used

with pure logic. If you abide by these rules, you are on your way to becoming a Master Jedi

Knight. May the force be with you.

This concludes the Holocron recording.

Dear Fortunate Intro to Comm Student,

So you got lucky during registration week huh? You landed one of the best professors in

the Communications Department here at Rutgers. First things first, Dr. Nick is a truly wonderful

professor- and I’m not just saying that because he likes Starbucks as much as I do. He is passionate

about what he’s teaching and cares about his students and their ability to succeed in his class. He

gives us many opportunities for extra credit, a chance to regain points on a challenge, or even a

vote on how we want our exams presented!

I walked into Comm 101 thinking it was going to be an easy A and here I am 28 XP away

from my goal. While Professor Nick is generous, he also stands firm on his belief that you get back

from the course as much as you choose to put in. In the beginning of the semester, I genuinely

believed that I could go through the initial challenge without reviewing or paying attention to the

IClicker questions and boy was I wrong. I quickly realized that the ideas behind “communication

and information processes” require a lot more than just “communication”. The class was difficult if

I’m being honest, but not impossible. Talking with your peers and TA’s and of course Professor

Nick himself is a huge benefit. I would say that is one of the most important things you can know

about this course. Knowing when to reach out for help. Take their advice and give the assignments,

extra credit work, and challenges all you got!

In order to do well in the course, I am going to be honest with you, you’re going to have to

go to class. Personally, I recommend going in person if you’re able to but Webex works fine as

well. In person, you’re able to better connect with your classmates and form better bonds. During

this semester, I grew especially close with my small group for assignments and the group paper.

Although halfway through the semester I did have to start working and had less flexibility in my

schedule, I ultimately had to go to class through the virtual format. While it was helpful, I felt

isolated and not super in tune with the rest of the class. Taking notes during lectures is also really

beneficial. You always have the option of going back and reviewing what Dr. Nick said about a

certain topic and since the challenges are open notes, it was very helpful not to have to rewrite

everything onto a document prior to the challenge. The last thing I hope you do during class is

advocate for yourself! Dr. Nick is extremely fair and kind. He takes the words of his students very

seriously and does what he can, when he can to better our chances at success.

Something really exciting about this course would simply be the amount of modern-day

references there are. If it’s not the videos we are shown, it is the other students creating hilarious

memes for reflection prompts. The reflection prompts are an almost weekly activity which allow

the students to interact with one another in a sort of horizontal form of communication, or

communication between peers. Students then vote for their favorite post. At the end of the final

voting round, done in class, Dr. Nick awards the winner 6 XP! Which brings me to the next

exciting thing about this class, the way we get our grade. It's almost like a game. I didn’t understand

it at first either but stick with me here. Normally, you begin the semester with a 100%. Not in

Comm 101. In this class, we have to earn points or XP to boost our grade. Therefore, you begin

the semester with 0 XP and for every assignment you complete, you earn experience points. To get

an A, you need 930 XP. Seems easy, right? That’s because it is! As long as you work hard and put

your mind to it, you will walk away with the grade you deserve.

There is a lot of material covered in this introductory course. Whoever said

Communications was easy did not take Comm 101. The challenges, or exams, in particular, were

the most strenuous activities I had ever taken part in. While I’m not saying they were designed to

trick you, they were definitely made to make you think a little more. Especially questions like

“Select all that apply”. Those were definitely not my strong suit. I would recommend taking the

time to study the differences between similar topics. I struggled a lot with the Communication

Theory module which was a part of the initial challenge. Since there was such a development of

the theory of communication throughout the 20th century, it was difficult to keep them all from

getting jumbled up. The last thing I struggled with in this course was the amount of time I had to

dedicate to it. Since it is a three hour class, you only get one day out of the week to learn the

material. The rest of the week, it is your responsibility to stay on top of extra credit assignments

and required supplemental materials.

Comm 101 was one of the best classes I have taken at Rutgers University. It was both

informative and fun and it helped me realize where my passions truly lie. I struggled for a bit trying

to find a major I enjoyed and could see myself doing. The people I met, the topics I learned and

the passion Dr. Nick held for this course was convincing enough. Professor Nick is in the top five

for best instructors I have had the pleasure of being taught by. My last piece of advice is, FILL

OUT THE SIRS SURVEY AT THE END OF THE YEAR! Get those extra XP! Even if you

may not need them, help a fellow classmate out.

- May the force be with you Comm 101, Maria Lachira

Dear Future Intro to Communications 101 Students,

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I am so glad you are taking this course! You

will learn an incredible amount of information about the basics of communication, various

theories, and how to apply this knowledge to real world situations. I was initially expecting this

class to be an easy A, but that is not the case. While this class is fun and engaging, it is also

challenging and requires hard work to do well. Unlike your typical class grading system, Intro to

Communications has a unique structure. The grading system is based on a point/experience (XP)

structure. Everyone starts at zero and you can increase your points by completing more and more

assignments. That being said, the plethora of extra credit assignments will be your best friend in

this class. Also, Professor Nick and his team are extremely helpful and always there to answer

any questions you may have.

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the course/assignments/readings

are:

● Attend as many sessions as you possibly can. During my semester, the class was offered

in a hybrid format allowing students to choose whether they wanted to attend class in

person or online through Webex. The online option was extremely helpful because I was

still able to attend class even when I could not physically be there. Professor Nick and his

team do a great job at making the students on Webex feel just as involved in the session

as the students who are physically in the classroom. Also, each class session has IClicker

sessions, which include a set of questions that you will answer throughout the class

period. These points count toward your participation grade and will greatly help your

understanding of the material. The questions will help reinforce the information learned

in class and you have the opportunity to work with your classmates to answer them.

Some of the questions will also ask about how you feel about the material, which will be

very helpful feedback for Professor Nick and it helps to see how your classmates are also

feeling.

● Group assignments are very important. You will be assigned a group at the beginning of

the semester or you can request to make your own group. There will be a multitude of

group assignments throughout the semester that will require you to collaborate with each

other. I recommend making a groupme or a group chat so your group can communicate

regularly and stay on top of your assignments. I also recommend assigning roles to each

person so you can avoid anyone from doing too much or too little work.

● Extra credit assignments are your friend. This class is great because it provides you the

opportunity to raise your grade throughout the semester. Every week, you have the option

to complete Reflection prompts, which can be completed through a video on the Flipgrid

app or a written post on the Facebook group page. These assignments ask you to reflect

on specific concepts learned in class or how you felt the exams went. You can also

complete surveys to earn some extra XP. Professor Nick also offers sample IClicker

questions before exams, which will earn you extra points and practice.

In order to do well in the course you should…

● Pay attention in class and take your own notes. There were times I would not take notes

during the lecture and then I would go back to the presentation to understand a concept,

but the slides mainly had terms and minimal information. I would find myself very

confused about what certain information meant, so pay close attention in class and take

your own notes to fill in missing information you might need later on.

● Dedicate a certain amount of time to study and review for the exams. You will have three

exams which include: the Initial, Interim, and Final Challenge. These challenges require

you to have a good understanding of the concepts and especially how to apply them to

real life situations. Professor Nick also provides you with a study guide for each exam so

you have a good idea of what to expect.

● Have trust in yourself. There were many times we would do IClicker questions in class

and I would work with my classmates who had a different answer than I did. I would then

second guess myself and go with their answer because I assumed they were probably

right. More often than not I would have the right answer, but because I gave into

groupthink, I would end up getting the question wrong. Now, I'm not saying don't listen

or collaborate with your classmates. This is essential to helping you understand the

information; however, have trust in yourself that you know the content and the right

answer.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course…

● I most enjoyed the environment that was created in every class. While I dreaded a three

hour lecture, I never felt like this class was truly three hours. The course material was

interesting and engaging. There were a plethora of videos and clips that we watched in

class. I also made new friends that made it a very fun and enjoyable experience. The most

rewarding aspect of the course was how much I was challenged. As aforementioned, I

expected this class to be an easy A; however that was not the case. Every week, I was

challenged to learn new concepts and adapt different perspectives. I also had to learn how

to work with a new group of people and collaborate on different assignments. I look back

at all the hard work I put in and how much this class challenged me, and I feel very

rewarded.

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is…

● Staying on top of your assignments. I mainly struggled with completing my required

assignments because I was so focused on completing all the extra credit assignments. I

suggest creating a weekly schedule with what is due on what day and what assignments

are optional and required. I started doing this towards the end of the semester and it

helped me immensely. A piece of advice I wish I was told is that the extra credit is there

to help you not stress you out. It is most definitely helpful for your grade, but at the end

of the day it is not required. Focus on the assignments you need to get done and complete

those with the best of your ability, then see if you can complete some extra credit

assignments.

● The exam challenges are quite challenging. The Initial challenge is particularly difficult

because you are getting used to the format of the exam and the types of questions asked.

For my class, the exams were open book which was helpful, but I most definitely needed

to understand the concepts to do well on the exam. There are many application questions

so I recommend spending time creating some sample questions to know how to apply the

concepts. The exams also focus on applying concepts to clips you watch in class so pay

attention to those during class and your review. Also, Professor Nick offers sample

questions on IClicker for extra credit points. These questions are very helpful for review

and gaining extra points for your grade. Overall, the exams are not incredibly difficult.

As long as you study and understand the concepts, you will do well.

Any other comments you feel future students should be aware of

Often on exams, Professor Nick will put extra credit questions that will ask you fun facts about

him. Here are a few that may be useful:

● He was born in Athens, Greece

● He has been working at Rutgers University for 12+ years

● His favorite drink is White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks

● His favorite movie is Office Space, but he also really likes Star Wars.

Overall, you will learn so much in this course that will be helpful in your daily life. Don’t put too

much pressure on yourself and do your best! I believe in you and May the Force Be With You!

Sincerely,

Former Student

Dear Future Students of Comm 101,

Welcome to the Introduction to Communications 101 with Professor Nick. This class is completely what you make of it, and you are set up to succeed from the beginning. Professor Nick is a wonderful professor with a unique grading system based on points. This is something you probably have never seen in a class before, and I learned to appreciate it, as you will too. I have a surplus of tips to help guide you in this class.

The most important thing(s) that you will need to know about the course/assignments/readings are:

 Do all the optional assignments! Since the grading system is out of a point grading system, each ‘optional’ assignment you do gives you more room for missed points on tests, projects, papers, etc.

 Professor Nick WANTS you to succeed, hence the fact that he gives us so many optional assignments.

 It’s important to prepare for class the night before. Professor Nick posts all of his lectures on canvas. If you watch the 15-30 minute lecture the night before, you will do so much better on the iclicker questions.

 Trust your gut. While you might be easily swayed by what answers your classmates share, make sure you feel confident in your answers.

 Have a positive outlook on the class and the assignments. You have the ability to be successful in this class if you believe in yourself.

In order to do well in the course you should…

 Prioritize studying and reviewing the materials before exams. The ‘challenges,’ as Professor Nick calls them, are based on ALL of the material covered in the class. This means the lectures, videos, readings, iclicker questions, and the professor's words during class. This means that preparing for the tests requires more than just rereading the lecture slides. You need to be paying attention during class time as well as reviewing the material on your own.

 Make sure you are taking advantage of all the XP points you can get. If you choose to do that paper and are unhappy with your grade, take advantage of the re-write opportunity. There are plenty of chances for a higher grade, and more XP in you are taking advantage of them.

 I also would recommend forming a relationship with people in your class. This is such an important suggestion because this class is about communication, so the best way to learn is to communicate!

 Along with your peers, definitely try to form a relationship with the professor and your TA by doing the optional assignments to put your name out there. This guarantees that you will have a successful semester.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course…

 The most rewarding aspect of the course was your control over your grade. A typical classroom grade is based on just test grades and homework grades. In this class, you can enhance your knowledge and earn more points. The assignments are not boring; they require you to think about what you know and share your experience and opinion. This makes the class far from boring as there are constantly new learning opportunities.

 Another exciting aspect of the course is the way that Professor Nick influences us to work together and communicate. During the iclicker questions, he gives us time to discuss with our peers, which is very rewarding. In most classes with iclicker questions, you are shamed for working together and are not allowed to speak while the questions are up. This ability to communicate and work together makes this class that much better because you are able to be a human and work with people who might have different ideas than you. This allows the classroom to be fun and engaging. This also allows the iclicker questions to enhance our learning rather than a punishment.

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is…

 I would say the most challenging aspects of the course is the three exams, better know as the initial challenge, interim challenge, and final challenge. It’s important to understand more than just the basic topics. For example, in the final challenge, knowing the different types of interviews is important, but you also need to know how to identify the interview types from videos and whether the questions are a funnel sequence or an inverted funnel sequence. Another example would be nonverbal communication and the idea that it is messages that can’t be written, heard, or spoken, which is the definition; you also have to know that roughly 90% of our communication is nonverbal. The challenges are beyond just the basic conceptual knowledge; you also need a deeper understanding to apply your knowledge in real-life situations.

Any other comments you feel future students should be aware of…

 It’s very important to note some FUN facts about the professor, such as: o He is from Athens, Greece o His favorite movie is Office Space o He also loves Star Wars and thinks it’s great for examples of

communication o He loves coffee, especially a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha

 It is very important that you put in the work for the grades that you want. If you try your best, the results will reflect that. This class is different from other classes because it’s not all about cramming for a test in order to pass. This class is focused on enriching our knowledge with a unique learning experience. You are given countless opportunities to be a successful student in Professor Nick’s class.

 I took this class in a hybrid format. There was an in-person section and an online section. I was in the online section, and I can confidently say that I felt I had the same opportunities to succeed as the students in the in-person section. Due to technology, I was able to communicate successfully with multiple people in my class, which improved my experience. Sometimes doing a class online can be very isolating, but I didn’t feel like that in Professor Nick’s class. I think he does a great job of including all his students in his classes, whether they are there in person. You have the ability

to either go to class or do class online, depending on your flexibility. If you can. I would recommend trying both options and seeing what is better for you.

 Take all the opportunities for success offered to you, keep a positive mindset, and try your hardest!

Good luck in this class and get the grade you deserve!

Sincerely,

Dear students who will get the opportunity to take COM101 with professor Nick Linardopoulos after finishing the course, I have reflected and would like to share my experience with this course. First, I would like to share that I am incredibly grateful to have taken this course with Professor Nick; he has made this course so fun and interactive. The way professor teaches the material of COM101 makes you want to go to every lecture and want to learn more. He really cares about his students and wants them to succeed. Although it might feel like a huge class, and you may not feel close to the professor, he really does know everyone in the class. For example, it was either the first class or the second, but I was sitting in the back of the lecture. When it was class break, the professor held the class roster, went around every row, introduced himself, and memorized each name with each student. He introduced himself to me, and I told him how I went to Greece this summer (he is Greek). He said he remembered that I mentioned that in my introduction video, and I was so shocked that he remembered that. The introduction video was due only a day before, so I was so surprised that the professor had enough time to watch every single video, let alone remember what each student said in their video. I include this experience with professor Nick because it shows how he truly cares about every student he has. He also makes it fun by making the class theme star wars; he uses vocabulary from star wars which is funny. It helps you get a break from thinking about the course like any other class you take, but it makes you feel like you are a part of something bigger.

The most important thing you need to know about the course is that the amount of work you put in reflects your overall grade. It is really important to attend and pay attention to all the lectures because the professor is passionate about what he is teaching, so all the information is detailed and well-explained. It is also essential to read all the readings, so you know what the class is talking about, especially since a lot of the assignments are on lessons or videos you watch. I would also say to watch every lecture and attend each class because professor uses IClicker for attendance. He will ask questions, and you get credit for answering them and can get even more credit for getting the questions correct. Also, the questions he uses on IClicker are sometimes the same questions he uses for the exams. I would study by going back and reviewing the IClicker questions, which helped me a lot in understanding the material. It is also essential to get comfortable with using IClicker since, with the final challenge, you may use it. For my classes’ final challenge, we used IClicker, which I liked and felt ready for since I was already familiar with it. I would recommend rewatching professor’s Nick recorded lectures because they helped prepare

me for the exams. He posts them each Sunday, so I would ensure you watch every lesson and take notes so you do not fall behind and have to catch up on work.

In order to excel in this course, you should complete all the extra credit assignments professor gives. There are always additional credit assignments each week that will allow you to bring up your grade. The additional credit assignments are helpful when trying to understand the material. It is an effective strategy for increasing engagement in class and with the material. Studies show that extra credit assignments reinforce a student’s learning. I would set aside time each week to focus on completing all the assignments. This way, at the end of the semester, you have as many points as you could have gotten. Your overall grade reflects on how much work you decide to put in all semester, so I say start as soon as possible and do the extra credit early. I wish I had dedicated my time to completing all the extra credit work. It would have helped my grade increase overall, but it was hard for me to manage all my school work and my job personally. I wish I had spent more time on the extra credit because I sometimes put it off since it was optional, but it really shaped my grade. If you do poorly on an exam, you have the opportunity to bring your grade up by completing the extra credit assignments. The assignment is also not that challenging; they are manageable, especially if you attend lectures and understand the material.

The most rewarding part of the course is taking the final challenge. It tests your knowledge and understanding of COM101 material. It makes you feel good at the end because it shows that your hard work pays off. All the studying and completing the assignments prepared for the final. All the work and material we learned all semester was enough information to understand COM 101. We had the opportunity to either take the last challenge in person or online via WebEx. I decided to take it online because I focus better on my own and would somewhat not get distracted by the people around me. It is rewarding to work hard and study for the final. I also really enjoyed when we had group activities to complete, the professor put you in a group, and for the group assignments, you would have to work with that group. My group ended up making a group chat so we could plan and organize our work to submit it on time and overall get a good grade. I liked my group and ended up getting close with my group. We met once in person to work on one of the activities, which was a lot of fun. The last time I worked in a group was in high school pre covid so working as a group was an adjustment positively. Attending the lectures in person or even online helped meeting new people. Everyone is willing to help and get to know each other since everyone is sharing their input on the class. I liked that professor Nick had us post discussion posts on Flipgrid because it allowed us to put ourselves out there and get to know each other. Since, at times with the assignments, we would have to reply to each other. I liked this because I would have people comment on my video and reply to what I said. I watched their video and got to know someone else in the class. It also made me feel like I was in person because I got to see everyone who posted a video; some of them were my friends that I did not even know were in the class before.

The least exciting thing about this class was that it was a three-hour course, but that is what I signed up for. The class was pretty lecture-heavy since we met once a week, but you get a break in the middle of course, so that helps a lot. Try to go to class in person and sit in front of the course, so it helps you concentrate. If you have the option to have a type online as well helps whenever you do not feel like going in person. I liked having these two options because I like classes in person, but if I did not feel good one day, I would just be able to log on to WebEx. This way, I did not have to miss any material and

would not be behind on any work. Overall, in my opinion, that was the only most minor exciting thing about COM101, but that is just because I have had a hard time focusing on a single thing for a long time. It was just the only option for me to take the three-hour lecture, but Professor Nick made it fun to go to every lesson, and it was interesting to learn.

Overall future students of COM101 I am so excited for your journey on taking this course. It is a great opportunity to learn all about communication and Professor Nick really is an amazing professor. I hope this letter was informative and gave you an understanding of what the course will be like. Also, a fun fact do not forget that professor Nick loves white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. This is course is inspirational and makes you love communications.

I had the opportunity to take Introduction to Communication and Information Processes

course this semester at Rutgers. A few important things that a student should know about the

course and assignments is that you should work hard and pay attention. Even though these are

common advice given to students, I feel they are very important in this class. Paying attention in

the weekly lectures is a must because there are IClicker questions randomly and the professor

goes over topics and ideas that for sure will be in the exams.

In order to succeed in an Introduction to Communication and Information Processes

course, there are several key things that you should focus on. Firstly, it is important to have a

strong foundation in the principles and theories of communication and information processing.

This includes an understanding of how communication and information processing work, the

different types of communication and information processing, and the factors that can influence

the effectiveness of communication and information processing. Secondly, it is important to

develop strong communication and information processing skills. This includes being able to

effectively communicate ideas and thoughts through speaking and writing, as well as being able

to effectively process, analyze, and use information. It also involves being able to communicate

and process information in a variety of different contexts, including one-on-one conversations,

group discussions, and public speaking. Thirdly, it is important to be open-minded and willing to

learn from others. An Introduction to Communication and Information Processes course will

often involve discussions and activities that require students to consider different perspectives

and experiences. It is important to approach these discussions with an open mind and be willing

to listen to and learn from others. Lastly, it is important to be committed to the course and

willing to put in the necessary effort to succeed. This means attending class regularly,

participating in discussions and activities, completing assignments on time, and seeking help

when needed. By being dedicated and committed to the course, you will be able to make the

most of the learning opportunities and succeed in the class.

The most rewarding aspect of taking a course in college is the opportunity to learn new

information and skills that can help you in your future career or personal life. College courses

can also be a great way to meet new people and make connections with others who share your

interests. Additionally, earning a degree from a college or university can open up many doors for

you in terms of job opportunities and can lead to higher earning potential. I took this course

because it will help me progress further in getting my degree and teach me valuable things that I

will need to know in future classes.

The most challenging part of an intro to communication and information processes course

can vary depending on the individual student and the specific course content. However, some

common challenges in this type of course may include learning new theories and concepts

related to communication and information processing, applying these theories to real-world

situations, and improving your own communication and information processing skills. Other

challenges may include participating in group discussions and collaborative projects, as well as

completing assignments on time. Additionally, keeping up with the coursework and staying

organized can also be challenging for some students.

Students should definitely be ready to work with other students on projects together.

Majority of the assignments for this class used group work. Having good teamwork skills is very

important. The final challenge for this class was done by the whole class together, so that just

shows how important it is to be able to communicate together. Another thing that students should

focus on is the studying. Majority of the class found the challenges to be the hardest part of this

class. Students who studied for more hours were more likely to score higher on the challenges. It

is very important to start studying early and use all the resources that are given to you.

Dear future students,

The most important thing you will need to know about this course is that main purpose of

it, it focuses on developing and understanding the different type of communication skills. The

assignment and reading will help you learn that material for the class to better learn how to

implement this in life. You learn how to effectively communicate in a variety of contexts, such

as writing, speaking, and presenting. To fully succeed in the class, you would will need to be

prepared to actively participate in the class, via the clicker app, be able to work in a group

setting, and along side that complete the readings and assignments, and do the extra credit work.

It will bump your grade up so much!! It is also important to ask for help when you need it and to

practice your communication skills outside of class. The most exciting and rewarding aspect of

the course is the opportunity to improve your communication skills and to see the progress you

make over the term. The skills you learn on this course will be valuable in a variety of settings,

both personal and professional. The most challenging aspect of the course is the need to actively

participate and put yourself out there. It can be intimidating to speak up in class or to share your

work, but it is an important part of the learning process. In terms of the remote teaching and

delivery mode, it may take some time to get used to, but the instructor and TA are both very

supportive and accessible. They are always available to answer any questions you may have.

Overall, the course is both challenging and rewarding, and I highly recommend it.

Prior to the start of the fall semester, I was in your position. Anxious about the trajectory of this course, anticipating what the semester would bring and most of all, ready to acquire knowledge. For whatever reasons you find yourself taking COM101, I'd say you made a good choice. This letter is to grant you a glimpse into how to navigate this course. I will discuss the steps I took to lead me to success in this course and some that I would have taken. The first step to success is analyzing the syllabus as it'll be your guide book to COM101. The second you get your hands on the syllabus, make the high XP assignments noted. Whilst you are scouring through the syllabus, get familiar with the XP system, although it may be new and intimidating, it is fairly straightforward. I did this within the first week of the semester to understand the backbones of COM101 with Professor Nick. During your second week, I strongly encourage you to get acquainted with your Teaching assistant (Refer back to syllabus). This was a step I missed out on. It is never too late in the semester to contact your TA but you will be more inclined to do so during the semester if you accomplish it earlier on. At this point you should have bearings within the course.

The next phase is how you tackle the content of the courses. Besure to be attentive during lectures. Take notes, focus on the clicker questions, and focus on additional clips. I would advise you to jot down questions that arise during lecture (remote or live) and revise those questions with your TA. As the course progresses, be sure to participate in the discussion posts as it connects you to your classmates and allows your opinions to be voiced. This was my favorite part. Watching everyone's creative videos was very entertaining. Through the course of the week, familiarize yourself with the required and optional readings, and rewatch the lecture videos if time permits. This helped me recall and apply the knowledge we learned during class. If you follow this regime, study frequently, complete assignments you will be guaranteed Jedi Knight.

Ironically, the most challenging part of the course is the challenges. For success on the challenges, be sure to be diligent with time management and discipline. Review notes ahead of time and keep up with reviewing lectures and you'll be fine! COM101 will teach you a lot about yourself and the relationships in your life. It gives perspective so just give it your all!

Dear future intro to communication students, this class will definitely end up being your favorite

one at Rutgers, if I’m being honest. The course itself is very interesting especially since it is a topic that is

useful to anyone no matter what your major is or your background. Not only is it interesting but it is

super fun it will feel like you are playing a game especially with the theme of the class being star wars

and how the grading system works. To start off I’ll be telling you some important things that you need

to know about this course including assignments and readings. In this intro to communication course

you will learn about the definition of communication and the difference between communication and

communications…yes there is a difference surprisingly. You will also be learning about non‐verbal and

verbal communication which will be the basic fundamental knowledge for the rest of the topics

discussed in this class so make sure to pay attention and really understand these topics the most as it

will help understand the other communication theories.

Getting into the discussion of the assignments in this class almost majority of the assignments

are optional… so you can decide to do them or not. The grading system instead of starting from one

hundred percent everyone starts at zero. So that means the assignments you do will count towards your

grade which in this class are called XP points. Of course if you want a A in this class try to do all or most

of the assignments. The more of the assignments you do the better your grade at the end. Every week

you will have weekly optional reflection assignments which will be to either make a post through video,

face book, or twitter. I suggest to do them all if you can but if not at least one of them, it is pretty easy

and it is only once a week. Reflecting on the prompts will also help you stay on track with the class and

the topics being talked about during lecture. Each week you will also have a pre‐recorded lecture you

can watch on your own time to refresh certain communication terms. Apart from having the recordings

every week there are also assigned/required readings which are helpful to gain more insight into topics.

Also, it helps understand certain communication aspects beyond what you're learning in the classroom

and its helpful as it demonstrates how it is applied to the real world.

Overall to do well in this class do as many as the optional assignments as possible, participate in

the group activities, and review the concepts and material weekly so when the midterms come you will

be prepared. One thing that is challenging in this course I can say are the challenges(exams). The

challenges are something you have to prepare with by really reviewing scenarios and how the different

theories can be applied to them. Just knowing basic terms won’t help you much especially if you're

striving for a good grade or to be a master jedi. Overall, the only thing in this class that might be

challenging is the exams but everything else is doable. However, don’t fret because the opportunity to

get XP points are amazing. This is one of the most exciting and most rewarding aspect of this course. If

you don’t do so well on the challenges it is not the end of the world as you can still earn extra points in

order to get a pretty good grade. So instead of feeling hopeless after not doing good on the exam, you

will have hope. During class which is a live Hyflex lecture there is going to be iclicker questions which has

to be answered during class. This is fun because it feels like playing a jeopardy game and makes you pay

attention during class as it is almost a three hour class so it’s easy to get distracted. In this course you

will have two options to attend lecture, option 1 is going in person to the actual classroom, option 2 is

online through Webex. You can choose the format you want to attend anytime so it is very convenient.

When you feel like going in person you can or if you are on campus already attend live lecture. If you're

a commuter or not close to campus you can attend online. This is the best option to have because a lot

of other classes don’t offer an option like this.

Dear Future Student of Intro to Comm,

Being a student in a big class can be intimidating, and you might feel like you’ll get lost in this ocean of

your peers and academia. I was quite nervous myself the first day of class realizing there were over 200

people in this class, when the biggest class I had ever been a part of was only about 50 students. But the

efforts of Professor Linardopoulous and the instructional team in making sure you achieve your goals

and the way they designed this course made me go through it with ease and learn concepts that are

going to be significant in the rest of my academic and professional journey. So whether this class is a

requirement for your chosen degree or you are wanting to just try out a class in a field different from

yours, Intro to Communication will not only be extremely informative and helpful in any venture of life,

but is also an exceptionally fun class!

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the course/assignments/readings are:

● Being in class will make a massive difference. I registered for the online section of the class, and

while online classes are so easy to miss, I made sure to attend as many as I could, only missing

one because of a personal issue. Firstly, there are the iClicker questions in class which add up to

a lot of points in your final grade. Secondly, learning in class and being present has so much

more value than just watching a lecture before the exam. You get to participate, and talk to your

fellow classmates about what answer is the best choice and learn actual concepts of

communication just by being present in class.

● Take every extra credit opportunity you get. Throughout the semester, Professor

Linardopoulous offered a multitude of optional activities, and speaking from personal

experience, they all boosted my grade by a whole letter grade. They require just a little bit of

your time and effort and many of them prepare you for the exam even better.

● Put in the effort. Because it is an intro class many people think you don’t need to work a lot in it,

just do the exams and the assignments right before it’s due and you’ll be good. But that is not

going to work. If you want that A, you have to go to class, take notes, do the extra credit, and

take this class seriously. The professor is very kind and helpful and the instructional team has

been such a support, so ask them for help if you need to. Go the extra mile!

In order to do well in the course you should…

● Make time for the class. Don’t rush your assignments because they look easy. Try to understand

the concepts deeper and put extra effort in your assignments, the hard work does not go

unnoticed by the professor and the instructional team, and you do get extra points for being

extra awesome!

● Take good notes. Yes, there are recordings, and there are powerpoints, but taking notes and

understanding the concepts while you learn them is going to make a huge difference in your

exams.

● Watch the video clips and movies well! This was an aspect that I failed to do well in. I didn’t

focus while watching the movie and the video clips and that showed in my exams when the

questions were about those clips. Learn the concepts, and watch the clips and apply it to them.

It will make a huge difference.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course…

● Being able to collaborate with my peers. This class really allowed me to communicate with my

classmates and work together with them. The iClicker questions gave us an opportunity to use

our knowledge together and it was always really fun when we got them right. Even the small

group activities were really fun, but be sure to create a good game plan with your groups for the

assignments.

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is…

● The exams. I have no idea why I thought the exams were going to be a piece of cake but I was so

wrong. The exams dig into the concepts we learned in class, and give questions applying them to

different scenarios. Which is why attending class and taking good notes is so crucial in doing well

in this exam. The exams are open book, but you still need to have a good understanding of what

you learn rather than just trying to google it or writing it down. If you focus and work hard, this

class can be so fun and useful!

Any other comments you feel future students should be aware of

● Have good wifi. If you are going to be taking this class online, make sure to be in an area where

your wifi isn’t breaking. This might seem silly, but it sucks when you miss an iClicker question, or

what the professor is talking about because the wifi broke. Of course, if this is a once or twice

thing, the instructional team will be there to help you! But if you know that you don’t have a

good network in a particular area, find one where you do!

● Just work hard. This is an intro class but it requires you to put in the work. Try to manage your

time well and ask for help when you need it!

● Enjoy. This is a fun class with one of the best professors I have ever come across. Professor

Linardopolous cares about his students and truly wants them to do their best, and not only will

you learn a lot from him, but he will also inspire you. Take this class, it will be one of your best

college decisions!

Dear future students of COM 101,

As you are about to embark on the best educational experience of your life, it is important to know the

most crucial things to learn about this course. The most important thing to know is where to find the

lectures and how beneficial it is to study from them. The assignments in this course are due mainly on

Fridays or Sundays and require you to look through the lectures to get a better understanding. To do well

in this course, you need to not view the class as an easy “A.” Many of the challenges do require hours of

prior studying and critical thinking, so to pass this class you are required to spend time going over the

lectures and taking notes. My mistake during the initial challenge was waiting till 2 days prior to start

studying and during that time I had to study on my team's away trip. When completing that initial

challenge, I did struggle because I did not spend the appropriate amount of time studying and taking notes

which was a learning lesson for me for future challenges. For the new students, take my advice and

understand that this class is not easy and does require a good amount of studying. The most rewarding

aspect of this course is the professor since he truly enjoys what he does and creates a positive learning

environment for the students both virtual and in person. Professor Nick provides informative slides and

interesting example videos which makes the class a rewarding experience. His use of movie clips from

Star Wars, Office space, and Sully were a unique approach to making the class more interesting and

allowing the information to be more clear to students. With how exciting the Professor's teaching was I

would say the challenging aspects were the graded challenges. When studying for the challenges the best

approach was looking through each individual lecture and taking notes on them which required a good

amount of time and attention span. Another difficult aspect was the Iclicker questions at first, if you

participate virtually being introduced to the Iclicker questions is a challenge. The questions appear

quickly and only last for a minute so if you lose attention during that time, you could hurt your grade.

Lastly, a challenging aspect of the course is the groupthink in the chat. When Iclicker questions pop up

the virtual chat provides different answers which can lead to groupthink and affect your results. In

conclusion, for future students, it is important to appreciate your time in this class through both the

rewarding and challenging times since this class is one of the most exciting courses at Rutgers

University.

Dear future 101 Students,

I hope this letter finds you well and you are excited to embark on your 101 journeys! As

a former 101 student, I have a few tips on how you can potentially excel in this course.

First and foremost you must prepare yourself to sometimes work on your own but also

be able to work in a group. There is a lot of material that is not covered during the class

but it is extremely important to go over this supplemental material to do well in the

assignments and the exams. There are additional lecture videos that are posted every

week and it will be helpful to go over them before the class. As for the group activities,

they are very crucial but it makes this big class feel a lot smaller and it gives you a

chance to meet people in your class. Sometimes it can be frustrating to work with a

group but since this is a communication class, it is important to communicate with your

classmates clearly and frequently in order to avoid misunderstandings and confusion

and get a good grade for each assignment.

It is important to note that attending each class is extremely crucial not only for you to

understand and keep up with what is going on in class but also for your grade. The

professor monitors your attendance and if you are paying attention by using an app

called iClicker. He posts around 15 questions throughout the class and uses that not only

to take attendance but it is also an opportunity for you to give your feedback and

mention if you want the professor to go over anything in particular in class. The iClicker

questions also give you a good idea about what kind of questions are going to appear on

the test and let you know how far behind you are.

Even if you do end up falling behind or if you miss a lecture you do not have to worry

because there are an abundant amount of opportunities for you to make up those lost

points through optional assignments. There are many optional assignments on iClicker

based on stuff that we go over in class and some material covered in the lecture videos

and supplemental readings. The optional assignments can help you reach the next letter

grade. There are so many opportunities to redo an assignment to get a better grade and

the TA’s feedback is usually extremely helpful and they respond quickly. You should also

take advantage of the tutors. They are readily available and incredibly knowledgeable.

Another advantage of this class is that you can either go on person or join the class

online. This is incredibly helpful in case of emergencies.

I personally enjoy all of the movie and tv show references all throughout the semester.

Especially the Star Wars references! Professor Nick is extremely personable and if you

enjoy movies and Starbucks you will enjoy this class!

May the force be with you!

Dear Future Students of Intro to Comm and Info,

If you are reading this letter, you have decided to take Introduction to Communication

and Information Processes with Professor Nick Linardopoulos. While it will undoubtedly be a

large class and potentially a three-hour section, I think you will soon realize this was a good

decision. I have decided to write this letter as a way to help better prepare you for the semester

ahead, and not to make some of the mistakes that I and many other students like myself have

made in the past.

One of the most important things to know about this class is that you have to show up.

Whether you are attending virtually or in person, attendance and participation are not only

graded, but also essential when it comes to understanding the concepts taught throughout this

course. There may be a lot of information to take in at times, and a three-hour class can be

overwhelming to a lot of students, but all of the material you learn in class is relatively

straightforward and pretty easy to wrap your head around, and Professor Nick does a really great

job of finding different and unique ways of making the material more approachable and easier to

understand. At the end of the day, almost everything you learn in Comm 101 is applicable in the

real world, so take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about communication as well as

interpersonal relationships.

In order to succeed in this course, you first and foremost must show up to class.

Participation is a big part of your grade, and showing up and answering the iClicker questions

during the lecture can make or break your grade. Paying attention in class also makes it a lot

easier to understand the material, which will come in handy when it comes time to take an exam.

Make sure to raise your hand or reach out to the professor or the teaching assistants if you have

any questions, they are more than happy to help you out. A big part of this class is also based on

group work, so make sure you get to know your groupmates well. There are multiple small group

activities throughout the semester as well as the option for a group project as well, so working

well together as a team puts you in a much better position to succeed. On the plus side, having a

tight-knit group of people with you ensures that you are not alone when it comes to any

assignments or studying for an exam, and having group members you gel with offers up even

more people to reach out to if you are struggling with something. Finally, if you want to be

successful in this course you have to go above and beyond. Doing the required work is the main

part of your grade, but if you find your grade falling off a bit, Professor Nick offers countless

opportunities throughout the course to gain back some extra points. Doing more than what is

required gives you the potential to earn more XP, and more XP means you end up with a higher

grade.

The best part of the course has to be watching clips from different movies and television

shows. Not only do you get to watch a full-length movie (in our section we watched Sully

starring Tom Hanks), but Professor Nick always finds ways to tie in communication concepts

into different clips. In our class, I remember us watching many clips from Office Space, Star

Wars, and The Office, not to mention a clip from one of my personal favorite shows, Ted Lasso.

Professor Nick also uses clips from news outlets or political debates, so even if the section is

three hours long, it is definitely not just straight-up lecturing. One of the most challenging parts

of the course is, unsurprisingly, the exams. The exams are conducted online and on your own

time, which is a plus, but because there is so much information in this course, it can be a lot to go

through. The exams will probably be your lowest grades in the class, but Professor Nick offers a

lot of ways to boost those scores. If your class is anything like mine, we were able to take our

final exam together during class time using iClicker, which I found a lot more comforting than

taking an exam alone. Professor Nick always lets his students collaborate with each other,

because at the end of the day we are learning about communication.

I would hope that by the time you are taking this class it is still offered in hyflex mode.

This means that students signing up for the class have the option to go to the lectures in-person

or attend synchronously through Webex. The hyflex mode was a big part of why I decided to

choose this section, and I think having the option to go to class in-person or virtually is a big

plus. This class was certainly one of the more enjoyable courses I have taken at Rutgers

University, and I hope you find that you enjoy it too.

Sincerely,

A Former Comm 101 Student

Dear Future Intro to Comm 101 Students,

Intro to Comm 101 was a course that I did not know what to expect. I knew that it was a

course that was required for me to finish my Journalism and Media Studies major requirements,

but I had not gotten any advice from my friends or fellow students about the class. That being

said, I am here to tell you what you need to know before you embark on your Intro to Comm 101

journey so you can be as prepared and successful as possible.

To start, it is important to lay out the most important things that you need to know from

the assignments and readings in the course. There are four main assignments that will make up

the majority of your grade: the Initial Challenge, the Interim Challenge, your choice between the

group presentation or individual paper, and the Final Challenge. While these assignments are not

the sole factor in determining your final grade, it is very important that you study and prepare for

these assignments. For me, the Initial Challenge was a wake-up-call for how the class would go.

In my college experience, I have seen that I usually perform worse on the first assignments in a

class. This is mainly because I do not know what to expect from the professor, and this was the

case with the Initial Challenge. Since I did not know the type of questions that I would be

presented with, it was difficult for me to prepare for that challenge. Nonetheless, I grew from this

challenge, and I know that you will too because Professor Nick teaches and molds his class in a

way that allows for his students to grow and learn. In this context, I felt much, much more

confident in the Interim Challenge and my score reflected that. For this exam, you should have a

grasp of how you need to study, and for me, this was definitely the case, as I ended up doing

much better on this assignment than the Initial Challenge. In between the Interim Challenge and

the Final Challenge is the presentation or individual paper. I took the individual paper route, so

that is what I will speak on. Your class will be presented with a choice of which movie to watch

for the semester. If you write the individual paper, you can choose to write on the movie your

class ends up selecting. For this semester, we chose the movie “Sully”, which is about the 2009

“Miracle on the Hudson”. In order to succeed on this individual paper, you should really focus

on researching your topic very carefully. Sources are key to the success of this paper, and you

need a lot of sources for this paper to churn out a good grade.

The last major assignment is the Final Challenge. If I had to give future students one

piece of advice on this class, it would be that while the group option to the final challenge seems

enticing, it is a double-edged sword. It is good to debate questions with your classmates, but

groupthink is a huge risk if you choose this route. Take this semester’s class and my experience

as a precaution. After our Final Challenge concluded, I felt pretty confident with myself. But, I

ended up doing a lot worse than I thought primarily because of groupthink. Now, if you did not

do as well as you initially anticipated on the four major assignments, do not worry, because there

are plenty of other minor assignments and extra credit opportunities that could boost your grade.

These minor assignments include in-class questions through iClicker and video discussions

through FlipGrid, to name a few. Professor Nick also provides many extra credit opportunities

mixed in with the class and optional activities on a weekly basis. As you can see, there are many

other ways to support your grade, all you have to do is put in the effort. That said, in order to do

well in the class, you no doubt have to put the time in. This is something that many people look

over when starting this class, thinking that it is just a 100-level class that could be taken lightly.

That is not the case, as while Professor Nick wants his students to do well, he is also going to be

very fair with his grades. In addition, new students should take advantage of all of the optional

activities that are available to you. This is something that I did not do and regret, as these

assignments can help your grade in the long run.

That said, there are very rewarding moments to the class as well as some challenging

aspects of the class. Starting with the rewards of the class, Intro to Comm 101 is very practical to

the real world. There are many good examples of this, but the best example of real-world

practicality is from our unit where we talked about organizational communication. Professor

Nick covers forms of communication such as situational contingency theory and the three types

of formal communication (upward, downward, and horizontal). Later on in the lecture, he

explained the different models of management such as McGregor’s theory, Traditional model,

Human Resources model, Contingency theory, and the Systems Contingency model, to name a

few. All of these different models and theories are all different ways to approach how to lead a

company. One could create an environment based on the Human Resources model that is team-

oriented and participative, or one could create a Traditional model where things are more rigid

and the social side is less important. These types of principles are ideas that you can carry into

your professional life, and that is one of the most rewarding parts of the class to me. On the other

side of the coin is the most challenging part of the course, which for me were definitely the

Initial, Interim, and Final Challenges. The types of questions that Professor Nick asks challenge

your knowledge of the class material. Because of this, it is not always reliable to look at your

class notes during the challenge, rather you should use Professor Nick’s study guide and iClicker

optional practice quizzes. If you take advantage of these opportunities, these challenges will be a

lot easier for you to do well on.

In all, Intro to Comm 101 is what you make out of it. I would recommend going to class

in person, especially if you are taking the three hour version of the class. From my experience, it

is way easier to do the class that way instead of sitting in front of a computer for multiple hours.

Best of luck in the course!

Dear Future Students of COM 101,

I want to start by saying that this course is very useful and I am glad that I had the

opportunity to take this class. The most important thing that you need to know about the

course/assignments/readings is that it is at your disposal. Always refer back to the syllabus and

the course shell as it will help you keep track of all the content and assignments you need to do. I

appreciated that the course shell was organized by the weeks. Those sections have the lectures,

readings, and videos that you will see. In order to do well in the course, I would recommend that

you watch the lectures and take notes. I found this to be helpful in understanding the material. It

will also help you be prepared for clicker questions during class sessions. You should also take

every opportunity to earn ‘experience points’ with the optional assignments, which include video

discussions and clicker assignments. I want to emphasize doing them all because it will help you

in the end. I also found attending tutoring sessions helpful to ask questions and get clarification

on the material. You can always reach out to the professor and the instructional team when you

need help or have questions. They are here to help you. I would also pay attention to the

announcements and Canvas messages for updates. I appreciate that Professor Nick is consistent

with updating us and letting us know about deadlines coming up and what to expect for the

week.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course is working in small groups for the

small group activities. I enjoyed it because I was paired up with other students to be in a group. I

found it fun to work with my group members. I liked that I was able to meet new people. I also

like that I receive written feedback on assignments from the professor or the instructional team. I

feel that it is more personable and not many professors do that. The most challenging/least

exciting aspect of the course is having groupthink when it comes to clicker questions. Sometimes

it can be hard to think you know the answer, but see that everyone else has a different answer. It

can create some doubt, but what matters most is that you try your best. The class being a hybrid

one is such an amazing part of the class. Personally, I prefer being in the classroom, but I like

that there is the option to learn remotely over Webex. If for any reason you cannot go in-person,

you can always attend online. I think that it does not take away from the class. Overall, this class

was great. You will enjoy COM 101 with Professor Nick. I wish you well in your semester!

Sincerely,

After about 4 months of studying the course, I think the word that best describes this session is

"INTERESTING". I am writing a letter here to future students who will or plan to participate in

this course with our interesting professors. This course is by far the most interesting course I

have taken since coming to Rutgers. I'm sure you all here want to know why this course is so

interesting, so let's find out from my letter.

To students who will take 101,

First, we will discuss the structure of our course and some of the assignments and study

materials. In our COM 101, since this is a hybrid course, some students will attend online, and

some will attend offline. The professor allowed us to participate in either the online or offline

course. In general, the classes are held once a week for about 3 hours each, including a break

between classes. During the class, you will find the course exciting and not boring like some

other courses that will make you feel bored. In this class, instead of discussing the textbook

contents, our professor presents communication-related knowledge in various exciting ways

through PowerPoint, pictures, and videos. So often in this class, you will find that 3 hours have

passed before you are aware of it. In each session, students will be asked to use Webex to watch

the professor's live presentation or attend the course in person and are also required to use the

iClicker system to answer questions in real-time. iClicker has the advantage that you can

participate in our class questions wherever and whenever you are. In addition to the iClicker

classroom question answering, our professors offer an extensive range of different types of

assignments. For example, every week or two, you will have the opportunity to participate in

activities outside the classroom by answering questions on Facebook or Twitter or using

recorded videos on the flip platform. These various ways also allow the students to be more

involved in the course. There are also many activities to earn extra XPs, such as answering

surveys and writing questions for exams, etc. The reading material for this course consisted of

three main parts, and the first part is reading the textbook Ruben & Stewart (2020).

Communication and Human Behavior. 7th Edition. The second part is that we will participate in

a live classroom session. The third part is that we will watch the recordings. Once we had

completed all three parts, the three challenges included in the course could be easily overcome.

In order to do well in the course, you should actively participate in each live lesson, listen

carefully to all the new knowledge presented by the professor in each lesson, and take notes if

necessary. Complete the assignments on time, including the iClicker questions that coincide with

the class time, the questionnaire questions, the weekly discussions, etc. Actively participate in a

variety of extra points activities as well, and most importantly, complete the reflection paper and

the 3 challenges. Of course, if you just participate in the weekly lessons, it doesn't help you to get

a high score. The 3 challenges and a reflection paper are important because these four activities

take up a total of 700 XP, if you find your grades dragged down by some low-scoring

assignments, do not ever miss those extra credit activities provided by professors, this is a very

good opportunity to help you maintain a good score. Review carefully before the exam, watch

the course videos easily and repeatedly, and actively contact your professor or TAs if you have

any questions or content that you do not understand. When you have met all of the above points,

I see no reason why you should not get a high score.

The most exciting aspect of the course has to be the fun nature of the way our professor teaches.

In this course, I feel the biggest difference to other courses is that our professor doesn't just talk

about the content in PowerPoint or textbook but explains all pieces of knowledge to students in a

variety of ways, including showing movies, showing some small videos and a lot of exciting

pictures and also through a lot of interesting interactive activities. I was fascinated by this course

because I thought it would be a lot of work before I actually took this class, but it was actually a

very easy and fun memory for me. The most valuable part of the class was that we had a great

time learning a lot about communication and information knowledge during these 4 months. The

way of teaching makes students feel less overwhelmed, and this relaxed way of learning also

promotes students' independent learning ability and also enhances students' communication

skills, which met one of the main goals of this class.

The most challenging aspect of the course is that each of the three challenges in the course will

test students' understanding of communication and information, not a fixed-answer test like other

courses. So, for all students, I think, we have to have to use our own judgment on this course

most of the time. In addition to the three challenges, we also need to write a reflection paper,

which accounts for a total of 300XP, about 30% of the total. And in this paper, we need to

answer a real-life question or movies related question or some exciting topics and show our own

opinions based on the context of the course. It was also necessary to integrate the course content

and to find some academic articles from the library or academic websites in order to better cite

and support the arguments of our paper. Therefore, it took me a lot of time to complete this task,

but in the end, I got a very satisfactory grade. Overall, the least exciting aspect of the course was

that we had to pay for the iClicke platform, but other than that, there was really nothing that I

was not excited about.

I don't think there are too many other things should be aware of before attending this class. Back

when I first chose this course, no one told me the specific difficulty level of this course, etc., but

after I read the syllabus of the course and heard the professor's explanation of the structure of the

course in the first week, I already have a pretty comprehensive understanding of the course. And

I have also effectively used the platform of Canvas/Webex/iClicker for a lot of activities. So, in

general, I think the information/knowledge delivery method of this class is also very efficient.

Personally, I prefer the online format because it saves me a lot of commuting time. For online

courses, the biggest disadvantage is that the electronic platform may face some faults sometime,

which cannot be repaired in a timely manner, and cause a lot of loss of scores or miss some class

content. And if you participate in an in-person way, even if these problems arise, you can solve

them much faster and more conveniently.

Greetings to the future students of COM 101! Please read these letters, because they are

important for your future success in this class. There is no doubt that this class is one of the most

beneficial you can take. This applies not just to your academic studies, but also to your character.

The most important thing you should know about this course is that Professor Nick, as well as all

the TAs, are extremely passionate about what they do. Their goal isn't just to teach students but

to see them succeed and grow as well. You can only enjoy positive results if you put genuine

effort into it - combined with a dedication to learning from the instructional team, your honest

effort will allow for positive results. Despite only enrolling in this class to fulfill a requirement, I

thoroughly enjoyed it and the content. Here I will discuss some advice and aspects of this course

that I found to be helpful when it comes to how to succeed in this course.

● The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the

course/assignments/readings are:

Be sure to attend every class. This class was offered as an online or live option during the

semester I attended it. As there is so much flexibility in how to attend class, it should be a good

reason not to skip class. Even though not attending class may seem inconsequential since it isn't

noted, beware because Professor Linardopolos would assign iClicker questions to each class,

which were included in the grade. Attending class will not only allow you to learn material

needed for midterms and finals, but will also allow you to gain XP through participation and

answering questions. Never underestimate the importance of XP points, don't wait until it's too

late! Take advantage as much as possible!! There are no easy A's in this class. If you are taking

this class thinking you can get an A without trying, I am sorry, but you will not. I personally

struggled with this course because of the load, despite the content not being too complex. To get

an A in this class, you need 930 xp out of 1000 xp. The importance of staying on top of things

cannot be overstated. Regularly check or follow your calendar to write down when all

assignments are due to avoid being penalized for late submissions. Professor Linardopulos would

also send us weekly announcements on Canvas that would inform us when exams are due.

● In order to do well in the course you should…

It is important to manage your time well in this class. Keep track of all the deadlines in this class

and make sure all assignments are completed before the deadlines, because balancing this class

with other classes can be challenging. Study way in advance for the exams, midterm, and final.

Personally I had a tough time with the first exam. However, I was able to improve the next few

times due to being a little more used to the exam structure. As for the interim final, my class

went with the group clicker option, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but also have some mixed

feelings about. In total, there were 25 questions to answer, and we got to vote on the ones we felt

less confident about overall, which was pretty helpful. Although this may seem straightforward,

the questions are challenging and conceptual, so in order to answer them correctly, you must

understand the concepts. Therefore, I recommend following the study guide Professor

Linardoupoulos provides you as a guide to what you need to know. I discovered that watching

him lecture helped me better understand each concept by providing examples. Be prepared to

answer multiple-choice, true/false, and multi-select questions on the exam. Hence, you should

study ahead of time, read all required readings, and review previous lectures.

● The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course…

I personally thought the most exciting or most rewarding aspect of this course was when we

would work together in groups. I thought this was the most rewarding as when we would work in

groups it was a very collective experience, not one person did all of the work for the group it was

all evenly spread out. It was also really rewarding when you would get back your group grades

together and seeing your group doing well together was a great feeling!!

● The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is…

It is without a doubt the exams that present the greatest challenge to students in this course. For

you to do well on the exams, you need to understand how to apply the concepts. Additionally, I

would say that managing your time is difficult, especially if you're a freshman, so make sure you

focus a ton.

● Any other comments

Some fun facts about Professor Linardopoulos!! (Could be used for extra credit in the future:)

- Professor Linardopoulos’ favorite movie is Office Space

- Professor Linardopoulos’ favorite drink is a Starbuck White Chocolate Mocha.

- Professor Linardopoulos is from Athens, Greece.

- He also loves Star Wars and references it a lot for Communication principles

Dear Future Comm 101 Student,

Welcome to the course! I hope you are excited to be in this class and prepared to learn a lot throughout the semester. Comm 101 is a very enjoyable class and will be beneficial to you regardless of your reasoning for enrolling. Before you begin your journey to becoming a Senior Jedi Master, there are a few important things you need to know.

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the course/assignments/readings are:

● First, attend all of the class sessions. Whether you attend virtually or in person, the class sessions are essential to doing well in the course. During class, the material is reviewed in detail and you can gain much more insight into the topics, which will be crucial during the exams.

● Be prepared to study. While the material is interesting and applicable to everyday life, it is important to study the material to gain a strong understanding. This will make the course activities much easier and you will benefit from knowing the material. One way to do this is to review the week’s material a few times to ensure that you grasp the key concepts before the next week’s lecture.

● Take advantage of the IClicker questions. The IClicker questions are a great way to ensure you are understanding the material and are able to apply the concepts in a practical way. The previous two tips will help you to be successful with the IClicker questions. The questions during the class sessions can help you to gauge your knowledge of the concepts and show you areas you may need to review. The extra IClicker questions are a useful tool to prepare for the challenges as they use similar types of questions.

● Lastly, there are many opportunities to earn bonus XP which you should take every chance you get. The reflection prompts, challenge contests, and video discussions are all great ways to earn extra points and they do not require the same time commitment as a typical assignment. Keep in mind that since your grade is determined by the number of XP you earn, every point counts and these assignments can make a great difference in your final grade.

The Most Exciting/Rewarding Parts of the Course:

● One of the best parts of the course is the hyflex format. It is very convenient to be able to join the lecture from a virtual setting or go in person. The format is very successful because even if you are watching online, you are still able to interact with your

classmates and instructor in the chat and get to collaborate in that way. Further, you will get to work with your classmates on group activities and this is one way you can get to know other members of the class.

● Additionally, the topics discussed in class such as verbal and nonverbal communication, relationships, and interviews, are all topics that are relevant to us as college students. Being knowledgeable on these topics will help us in the future to navigate communication at home, school, and work.

The Most Challenging Aspect of the Course:

● The most challenging aspects of the course are the exams, also called challenges. The challenges can seem tricky at first but by the final challenge, your confidence will grow regarding the types of questions and being able to apply the concepts. My best tip for the challenges is to study the concepts thoroughly, and be able to apply them to everyday scenarios versus only being able to recall the concept definition. Also, avoid the influence of the dark side and do not procrastinate studying for the exams.

Final Thoughts:

● Overall, this course will exceed your expectations and teach you many things. You will be able to grow not only as a student but as a person. Always give your best efforts and take advantage of all the opportunities in front of you.

I hope that these tips are able to help you throughout the course and wish you the best of luck on your journey to become a Senior Jedi Master!

Best Wishes,

Dear Future 101ers of Dr. Nick,

Intro to Communications and Information is not a very difficult course, assuming you put

in the required amount of effort and try to go beyond. In my opinion, the most important aspect

of the class is your ability to work and communicate with other group members; this class is very

collaboration-intensive, and without a group that cooperates and communicates with each other

clearly and frequently, it may be a bit of a struggle. However, this is not the end all be all: Dr..

Nick gives a lot of opportunities to earn extra credit with optional assignments. I cannot

emphasize enough how useful and helpful these assignments are to your final grade. These

assignments should not feel optional to you. They may feel like a lot of work at times, and since

there is no penalty for not completing them, you may feel like you can miss one without many

consequences, but if you complete all of them throughout the semester, you will be almost

guaranteed an A in the class (assuming you complete all the mandatory assignments). The bonus

XP you earn from the optional assignments adds up and can give you almost 300 extra credit

points, drastically increasing your final grade.

Dr. Nick posts weekly lecture videos and live lectures in person or on Webex. I

recommend you watch these videos since they serve as the primary source of content you will

learn. Live lectures are there more so to test your knowledge (through iClicker) and reinforce a

lot of topics discussed during the online lectures. Without watching the online lectures, you may

find yourself lost during the live lectures and struggle to answer the participation questions (you

get bonus points for answering them correctly).

The most rewarding part of the course is definitely watching the movie that the class

voted upon. You get to apply what you learned in class and have the option to write an essay on

the movie (or other topics); this can be done in a group you choose so it is a fun experience to

analyze the movie, whether it be Sully, Star Wars, Office Space, or something else. The part of

the class I liked the least was definitely studying for the “challenges.” These were essentially the

midterms and finals that all students had to take. I am not a great test taker so it definitely was

not a fun experience to study intensely for these exams.

I was a huge fan of the “hyflex” model of the class; it gives you the option of either going

in person or watching the lecture live. I live on Busch and the class is on College Ave, so if I am

ever running late or feeling down, I could just attend class online with no repercussions. Overall

this class is a great experience and if you try your best, you can get an A!

Sincerely,

Arnav Desai

While much of the content this course taught is crucial in terms of communication, some specifics are important to know. The course itself is based on theories and scenarios. While you can understand the readings and use them and other sources to do the assignments, you will better understand them if you apply the concepts to real life. For instance, memorizing the definition of nonverbal communication can only help you define it. To see where this type of communication is used, you need to bring in real-life examples, as Dr. Nick did with the Biden and Trump debate video. We were also able to see interpersonal communication in the movie, Sully. The professor does not teach just to teach and get paid, so you should not learn just to learn and get a grade. Few professors are passionate about their fields and Dr. Nick is one of them. His passion for this Information and Communication class should fuel you to learn things in order to apply them to real-world scenarios.

Gaining full credit on exams and assignments is most likely not possible, so to do well in this course, students should take advantage of the optional activities offered by the professor. These include reflection prompts, in the video, written, or Facebook post forms, surveys, and the option to do a paper or group presentation. Also, if students in the future end up taking the final challenge lice, on Webex, I would advise them to avoid group thinking and only look in the chat if they are really stuck on something but put their opinion first. To add on, reaching out to Tas for help, clarification, guidance, or anything at all is important if you’re falling behind or confused. The Tas and professor are there to help you and I have gotten nothing but a great response every time I reached out. They reply quickly and offer fair grades with a rubric description so I would suggest that understanding and building a relationship with them will benefit you if you need it.

The most exciting/ most rewarding aspect of this course is seeing your XP build up. In the beginning, you may not feel like you’ve gained as much as everyone else but after the group assignments, reflection prompts, and challenges, everything adds up. Personally, it was most rewarding to see my end result, even if it wasn’t what I wanted or expected, at least I saw my efforts in numbers. The harder you work and the more effective study hours you put into this course, the better the outcome you will see in the form of XP. Do you want to be a Master Jedi or a member of the dark side?

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is the challenges. When the first challenge rolls around, many students are nervous and unaware of the format in which the professor gives the challenges in; What kind of questions will be asked? What specifics should students focus on when studying? For the second challenge, most students become accustomed and are aware, but the course content is much more in-depth at that point. Regarding the last challenge, if it is offered in the live Webex format like it was in this session, that impacts many students. Trusting the input of your classmates, trying not to be peer-pressured and avoiding group think, and dealing with technological issues and noise, the final challenge is less dependent on how well you studied and more dependent on the impact your environment has on you during the exam.

The remote delivery mode of this class, along with having the option to attend in person has worked in the favor of many students. Being a young adult and managing school, family, work, and extracurriculars, it may be hard to show up for a class in person on time or if you are not in the area. Personally, there were two experiences where I was unable to join the class in person and so I opted for the WebEx session. The first instance happened when my grandma had a heart attack and was in the hospital 5 hours away from New Jersey, in Virginia. I was sitting in the hospital waiting room when I attended class over WebEx and was able to participate through the clicker app on my phone. The second instance occurred when my daughter got sick, with RSV towards the end of the course, during the week that led up to the final challenge. I stayed awake with her at night and studied during the day, running on less than 4 hours of sleep. She is only 6 months old and very attached to me, so it was hard to leave her the week before and of the final challenge, which is why I attended online. I was very grateful for the remote delivery option. Regarding the remote teaching of this course, Dr. Nick provided students with the most resources and help I have seen offered since my time at Rutgers. With class recordings, supplemental lectures, optional and required readings, group activities, optional reflection prompts, and TAs, the course did its best to remotely provide for students and ensure their success.

The most important things to know as the future students taking the course Introduction to Communication and Information Processes with Professor Nick is that there are a lot of opportunities for extra credit through many optional and mandatory assignments. Even in the mandatory assignments there are opportunities for extra credit for things like going above and beyond in the assignments. In order to do well in the course, you should make sure that your small group for the small group assignments are actually interested in the course and aren't waiting till the last minute to do their portion of the assignment. In order to go above and beyond to receive a good grade for the assignments, all the group members must be actively involved in the assignment and helping to get a good grade. Without having your group members full attention, it can be easy to not realize someone didn't do their portion of the assignment or just didn't put any effort into their portion.

In order to do well in the course, you should do as many optional activities as possible if you want a really good grade. There are many options and different types of assignments to get extra credit on so you can have a variety of different ways to get some extra credit. To do well in this course you should also do every optional survey that Professor Nick offers, and tell as many other people in the course to take it as well because this can add more points to your grade if they do take it. Another way you can do good in the course is by paying attention to all the short videos or clips that Professor Nick shows. These clips may not seem like they are important, or it can be easy to get distracted from the videos but these

videos will come up on tests or assignments and they can all be found in canvas to go back and watch before a test. I think that the most rewarding and exciting part of the course was watching the movie. The movie that my class picked I didn't think I would be very interested in at first but as I watched it I was very interested in it and even enjoyed the assignments that involved the movie.

The most challenging part of the course for me was getting into a system or a rhythm with my small group. It is a communication course so part of having small group assignments is to practice communication skills. It takes a few assignments to get to know your group and create a system that works for the group as a whole. Another challenging part of the course is the final challenge. My class chose the option to work together for the final challenge which I don't think necessarily affected my performance on the final challenge, but it did create tension between classmates followed by a lot of doubt if we chose the wrong option. It was also a new way of test taking that myself and my classmates have never done before which resulted in a lot of confusion and stress while the test was actually happening because no one was used to this type of test format.

In the Hyflex format of the course which is the virtual WebEx and the in-person students all at the same time and you can choose which one you like better; it is important to read the WebEx chat because that is where your classmates are communicating with you. I chose to do virtual through WebEx the whole course and I did not have any problems with it. I enjoyed the course and I feel that I got the same amount out of it as I would have if I was there in person. Another piece of the course I really enjoyed was the Iclicker. Iclicker will take place of attendance and there will be questions as the lecture is happening. As long as you are paying attention you will be able to get a good amount of points on the Iclicker that will really help your grade. Iclicker doesn't seem fun at first but once you see how much it helps your grade and you get used to it, it will be fun. Professor Nick is very understanding and wants to see his students do well. He gives out many opportunities to improve your grade and also get a better understanding of the lesson. To succeed in this course, you definitely need to take advantage of all the optional assignments and complete as many as possible.

To all the future students taking Communications 101, the most important things you need to

know about the course is to really stay on top of the assignments and pay close attention to what

is going on in the course. If I could have done anything differently it would be to try to make

efforts to stay awake in the mornings because personally, I attended class on Webex tired all the

time and was answering clicker questions when I wasn’t fully focused which caused me to miss

some clicker questions or get some wrong. What you really need to know about the course

assignments and readings is to not underestimate the content of the course. If you read what is on

ratemyprofessor you won’t do well. Yes, what is on there is accurate based on another student’s

experience, but your own experience is going to be entirely different. Do not underestimate

questions on clickers, and questions on challenges thinking everything is going to be a breeze.

Also be prepared to study anything you need to before challenges or else it will kick your ass. In

terms of reflections, they are probably the easiest assignments you are going to get, be

presentable in your videos on flipboard, explain your points well and don’t use simple or filler

vocabulary when speaking. You should maintain good non-verbal communication when doing

these reflections and in terms of Twitter and Facebook posts, be descriptive while also being

creative. Group assignments are overall great if you are able to work well with your group by

maintaining good contact and working efficiently and effectively. Having a good group leader

that will assign roles and take charge is very helpful and makes sure to stay on top of that so you

are not potentially hated by your group. Before challenges, the professor gives study questions

that are somewhat difficult but if you attended class and paid attention, they are easy. Finally,

take advantage of as much extra credit or anything worth any points as much as possible. There

is a big difference for the smallest amount of XP that will help you maintain a good grade. In

order to do well the course just stay on top of work and study on anything that you are confused

about. Professor Nick and the TA’s are there to help you improve and only want the best so if

you need help, please ask and take advantage of that. There isn’t any secret to doing well nor do

you need the best intellect in order to do so. Avoid answering what everyone else says because it

could be wrong and follow your own intuition. I did better working alone on the challenges than

working together on the final challenge. I think on the final challenge there was groupthink and

we all did not think about the questions deeply even though everyone in the class worked

together. I recommend thinking about each and every question deeply and logically and

analyzing each scenario for all the questions. The most exciting or rewarding aspects of this

course is when you do well on challenges or your reflection work gets nominated as the top post

or video in the class. It is satisfying when your hard work pays off. Another rewarding or

exciting aspect of this course is when you get questions right on iClicker through answering

along with the class because everyone does well and it is a satisfying result. The most

challenging aspects of the course is when you don’t do as well as you want on assignments or

challenges. Obviously when things don’t go your way in terms of your academic achievements

for the course, it can be very frustrating when you do bad on the course that you would assume to

be light or easy, but 101 shouldn’t be treated like that. It is also annoying when you do bad on

one challenge and it brings down your expectations on the next challenge where you probably

will get the mindset that “If I fail the first, I might fail the next.” This is the type of behavior you

want to stay away from. If things don’t go your way, there is always an opportunity to make your

grade better or do better later on. And if there are any issues in regard to your grade, professor

Nick and the TA’s will help. It can also be challenging when you don’t get along with your

group but there can be a group change if you request and it is really annoying when you get bad

grades on your groupwork with your assigned group so make sure you stay on top of that work.

For any future comments, I would like to say that this is a great class to take and one that is

worthwhile. I think the material being taught is useful to know for the future and the delivery of

remote teaching really worked out well this year. At the same time, I also felt like it could be

done fully asynchronously if wanted to or if in the future an asynchronous section could work. I

think Professor Nick offers great material in order to succeed and the material given online like

posting slides and lectures as well as the book is enough to succeed in the course. The current

delivery with half online and half in person works out the best because you get to learn online

and you get to learn what the professor teaches on iClicker. If you go in person, it is helpful

because it allows you to pay more attention to the material and helps you focus, you can also ask

questions in person which is cool. I think the current format is the best for the course, but I think

other options like fully asynchronous or fully in person can be explored. In all, future students

should not underestimate this course at all, but at the same time there is nothing to be afraid of

because you can get the necessary help you need whether that is through classmates on GroupMe

or the Professor and his TA’s. This course is overall balanced and I am satisfied with the

outcome. I felt like I could have done better in some areas but I enjoyed my experience overall.

Hello Students of Comm 101! I am here to talk about my experiences taking this class and to

share some details that I think is important. The main thing I feel is important in this class is the iClicker

questions in every session. Compared to other assignments like the challenges or group activities, iClicker

questions are also worth the most XP. Despite their weight, if you do poorly on them, Professor Nick

provide a sort of cushion to earn additional XP. The questions are also not hard, they all circle back to

Professor Nick’s lectures and what we learned in class. Personally, I would do bad on some of the

questions because my own lack of focus. Whenever there is an iClicker question, try not to lose focus and

be in a distract-free environment. A lot of the times, I only missed questions or got them wrong because I

was busy. Again, at the same time, there is a lot of forgiveness if you do mess up.

Another thing that I feel is important is the group activities, like the iClicker, they are not hard,

but it is easy to mess up. It is important to have clear communication with your group members otherwise

a lot of conflict can occur. I know for the group activities; my group and I could have scored higher if we

just put in a little bit more effort. I also felt like I was able to succeed in my group because of how

understanding and empathetic my groupmates were. If possible, try to get to know your groupmates more

because we often forget that they are people just like us with their own responsibilities they must deal

with. When doing this group activities, I felt like it was easy to develop the mindset to procrastinate since

there was people to help me with the assignment. The only reason I did not develop this was because of

our team leader holding us accountable. The people who you surround yourselves with are important and

can possibility motivate you in other aspects of the course.

The most rewarding aspect of the course was Professor Nick’s speech at the end of the semester

congratulating for our hard work. Professor Nick is one of the first professors here at Rutgers that I have

seen that truly cares for his students. He truly does not want anyone to fail his class and is here if you

need his help. His TAs also do a wonderful job at expressing their want to support the class. With every

assignment that you submit, they all do a wonderful job at expressing their support and feedback. It is

different from other classes where the norm is that everything is already expected. It is nice to see that

even when we put all our effort into even smaller weighted assignments, there is still positivity. For me,

having this it made me feel more inclined to put more effort into the bigger assignments. When I saw my

grades throughout the course even to the present, I feel happy. I know some people need more support

than others, so this class is nice to support everyone’s needs. Everything was done in a light-hearted way

where the class did not feel intense at all. The class felt like the main thing was the knowledge learned

where the assignments just felt like additional things.

The most challenging aspect of the course was the challenges. With only three challenges (or

tests) in the semester, it was hard to find a groove in succeeding. I know like any other major test, the best

thing to do is study. But the way the course is laid out, a lot of the material on the challenges is what we

cover in class. The thing that really helped me succeed was creating efficient notes and connecting the

communication concepts we learned to real life. As well as to succeed on the challenges, you must start

studying early. I also do think this class is easier if you are an upperclassman, for freshmen I do think this

class can seem like a lot.

Other things that I feel like are important is to do the extra credit assignments. I wish that I took

advantage of the extra credit more which could have helped my grade a lot. And by doing these

assignments, you could easily bring your grade up. Don’t skip class because every class session is

important, and it is easier to retain the content during class. Remember in the beginning this class can

seem like a lot but it is easier than you think. Take everything slow and do not be afraid to rely on the

people around you. Good luck future students of Comm 101!

Hi future communicators!

Welcome to Communication 101. You chose a great course, as it’s probably one of the most widely valuable ones you’ll take at Rutgers. To get you started, if you choose to read the letters, I’ll try to give you some valuable info.

The number one most important note I have for this course for future students is: you need to put in the work. You might have heard that this course is an “easy A”, and while the material itself might be relatively simple, the class will make you work to earn that A. You can’t just doze off and get it. You need to participate in the optional surveys, video discussions, etc.

And this ties into what you need to do well in the course, which is… do the work!!! It’s not stressful or hard work, so don’t let me scare you, but it should be a no brainer that no effort = no A.

And XP is actually a rewarding part of the class. As a gamer myself, seeing my XP go up slowly until it got to the 900s was actually satisfying to see, however, this does relate to the least exciting part of the course…

Missing the mark on some assignments and not seeing the total XP add up to the grade you want. Like I said before, you have to put in the work, no matter how easy you think the material might be. If anything, don’t count the optional XP activities as optional. You should heavily consider doing all of them, unless you really can’t for some reason. Learn from my mistakes! And like I keep saying, you have to do the work!

Weirdly enough, something I wasn’t expecting was how rewarding taking the final exam as class was. I still would have preferred taking the final challenge asynchronously and by myself to be completely honest, just for the sake of my grade, but there was something nice about taking it as a group. I had cultivated some type of relationship with my classmates through the GroupMe we had, and taking the final challenge as a group was fun for being able to talk to them for one last challenge. Another great aspect of the course was the small group activities. I know most of us don’t like group projects, but honestly, the projects in this class helped a lot. They helped me connect with classmates I maybe otherwise wouldn’t have, and it helped me hone in class concepts.

Another challenging part of the class are the exams. The thing is though, they’re challenging, but they actually feel fair. Because communication concepts are obviously about communication, every question is in the prompt of a real life situation, so having to work through the problems and think about what the correct communication concept was was actually interesting.

But it’s all worth it. It really is. This is one of the most important classes you can take, just in general. This is the closest class you can take to a “socialization” course, as this course is

about communication. We learn all about things as subjective and fluid as love, debating if it's a choice or not, to professional things like interviews, to even the technical stuff like the technology we use to communicate (like me to you guys right now!). Not to mention, Professor Nick and his team are genuinely amazing. I’m not just sucking up, but every lecture you can tell how much Professor Nick genuinely cares about teaching the material and the students. He tore a kid’s $20 bill for Christ’s sake! (I think he gave him a new one…)

One thing I’d advise future students to do is also to go in person if you can. Staying home and being virtual definitely lent itself to a more distracting and destructive environment. At least when you’re in person, you are generally more focused. Professor Nick also has a surprise at the end of the semester for those who come in person!

Another thing I recommend, and this might sound odd, but you should make a class wide GroupMe for this class. The class is so huge, yet everyone in the class is so personable and going through the same experiences. When everyone is in the same GroupMe, there’s almost some type of bonding that happens (which relates to my point of having fun with the group final challenge).

Dear fellow COMM101 student,

First off, I'd like to give you a warm welcome to COMM101! As a former student, I can

tell you that you’re in for a ride; not a bad one, but one that is fun, exciting, rewarding, and

maybe stressful :p. Now, let’s get on with the advice I have to give…

The most important thing to know about this course is Professor Nick's grading system.

Unlike other classes at Rutgers that may use the point earned/total points system, or a weighted

grading system, COMM101 simply cares about the amount of points you accumulate over the

course of the semester. On the syllabus, there is a point scale; depending on the bracket you fall

into, you will be assigned the corresponding letter grade. Of course, it is rather hard to keep track

of how well you are doing in the class with this system, but Professor Nick and the instructional

team do an excellent job in keeping you up to date with your progress after major exams. On the

topic of the instructional team, it’s also important to remember that they are there to help you

with anything you are struggling with or to answer any questions you may have. If you ever need

help, be sure to reach out to them! They are all extremely kind and helpful; they are there to help

you succeed!

Now, onto the logistics of the course. Because COMM101 is a survey course, you will be

introduced to many different topics within the communication discipline. Because of this, it is

important to make sure you don’t underestimate the amount of work you need to do in order to

do well in the class, despite the content being very broad and general. Everyone learns

differently, but I think the most important first step in doing well in this course would be to

review the core lectures that are posted on Canvas. This was, in my opinion, the best way to first

learn and interact with the course material. After that, I would use the textbook as a supplement

to the core lectures. Every college student fears textbook reading for how long and boring they

can sometimes be, which is valid; but learning the content by starting with reading the textbook

first can make the amount of information you need to learn seem like a lot. So, making sure you

know how to approach learning the material is important. In addition, spreading out your

workload evenly is also something that is crucial in order to succeed. As someone who attended

class exclusively on Webex, it was easy to feel disconnected with the class, and sometimes I felt

lost when it came to figuring out what to do when. But, the course Canvas page is extremely

organized, with weekly modules clearly laying out all of the materials available to us for review.

The day after class, I would review the core lecture and take notes to digest the material a bit

better, then review the module to see what other required materials there were to apply the

content we were learning. Finally, before the exam, I would fill out the study guide, referring to

my notes and the readings, as a review. By spreading out my work like this, I was able to commit

the test material to my long term memory; that way, when it came time to take my exam, it was a

less stressful experience overall.

Another thing to keep in mind from the very beginning of the course are the opportunities

for earning extra XP. Although a few points here or there may not seem like much at the

beginning of the semester, it is a good idea to accumulate points in the beginning of the semester

while classes are still relatively lowkey to give yourself a buffer if you don’t do as well on some

of the assignments or exams when things get hectic. One way to do this by doing the weekly

discussions, which can be completed with either written or recorded submissions. Personally, I

regret not doing the recorded submissions; the video discussion format grew on me as the

semester went by, and in retrospect, recording a 1 minute video really does not take much time at

all. So, I hope you will consider taking on these optional assignments, using whatever format you

decide, as a way to not only get yourself some extra points, but engage with the class in a

different way.

I’m sure you’re also wondering what parts of the course I liked and disliked. The part of

the course that I found to be the most exciting/engaging were the iClicker questions during the

synchronous lecture sessions. As I said before, it is rather hard for me to focus for long periods

of time, so the iClicker questions kept me on track during the class sessions. Although answering

the questions was stressful at the beginning of the semester, they soon became kind of fun; it was

nice seeing everyone interact in the chat on Webex. The iClicker questions also count as

participation XP, so simply answering the allotted number of questions needed for that class

session will get you your participation XP for the day (yay!).

The most challenging part of this course would probably be getting into the mode of

thinking that is unique to answering the questions in this course. A lot of the time, other students

(including me) would get frustrated because they interpreted the question from the wrong point

of view, or they just didn’t consider every word in the question. In this class, every word really

matters when it comes to figuring out how to approach a question. This may take some getting

used to in the beginning of the semester, but the iClicker questions you answer during class

really help because afterwards, Professor Nick explains the thought process behind the question

so you can really get an idea of how to approach analyzing scenarios and what information you

should consider.

Of course, a lot of you probably signed up for this class because you saw that there was

an asynchronous section, and it fulfilled a core requirement. This was also my thought process

when I decided to register for COMM101. At first I was confused as to why the class times were

the same for both the asynchronous and in person sections; this made more sense when I realized

that the class was being run using the hyflex format: you have the option of going in person or

joining online (how flexible!). I thought this was interesting because I signed up for the online

section because I had back to back classes that day, and being online would give me time to be in

a more relaxed environment. But, since my other classes were in the same building as

COMM101, I still had the option of going into the lecture hall for more important class sessions.

Whether you choose to be in person or online, Professor Nick does an excellent job of making

sure the needs of all students are met while in session, something that is rare when it comes to

classes that have an online and in person audience.

Hopefully, the advice in this letter has given you somewhat of an idea of what to expect

in COMM101 and how to take the necessary steps to make sure you can be the best student you

can be. Good luck; may the Force be with you!

- a former student of the Force

Dear future students of Introduction to communication and information, I am currently finishing this course in my fall semester, and I am here to go over some things about the course. Firstly, the most important things you will need to know about the course/assignments/readings are as follows. The course is offered both in person and online through Webex, not zoom and each class is 3 hours long. The in-person session is held in a big lecture hall room with many rows of seating. There is a huge whiteboard in the front of the classroom, as well as a few large pull- down screens to view your classmates online and any of the videos shown within class. On the online version of the course, there is a view of the classroom and the screens in the front of the classroom. You will need to purchase an iclicker account for attendance and participation for both online and in person sessions. Throughout the sessions, there will be questions to answer on your iclicker account once you have joined. If you are online, you will be able to communicate through the chat box with your fellow classmates, professor Nick, and the assistant students. You can talk amongst fellow classmates about the answers to the iclicker questions. Professor Nick makes the learning material fun while keeping it informative. If there are any issues with the Webex sessions, or the iclicker sessions, the team will help in solving these issues. Questions are encouraged if you have any, whether you are online or in person. It is also important to know about the assignments and readings that are assigned. Since this is a communications class, there will be communication between classmates. There are multiple group projects where you can pick your group members or have them randomly assigned to you. It is important to communicate with your group members when doing these projects since all your grades are involved. You will get the choice to be reassigned to groups after the first group assignment. You will also have individual assignments, many of them being optional for extra credit. I advise you to take every extra credit opportunity as it will only help your grade. The assignments are relatively easy and will help you in understanding the material better. The best way of studying for the exams or “challenges” in this course is to fully understand the material you are learning. For me it has been beneficial to apply the material to my own life, so it might be helpful for you to do the same. You might think that you do not need to study for the exams, but I highly advise you too. There are study guides posted before the exams are available to take. You will have a good amount of time to take the exams since they will be available a couple of days before they are due. Professor Nick and his assistant teachers are awesome at responding to emails and questions on time if you have any.

In order to do well in this course, you should do the following. Before exams, go over the material and look at the study guides for guidance. Make sure you understand the material and can apply it to real situations. For group work, make sure to do your part and communicate with your group members along the way. Professor Nick offers a lot of extra credit opportunities, and they are quick and easy to complete. If you want to receive the best grade possible, I advise you to complete all the extra credit assignments when they are due. Logging into your iclicker account every session and answering the questions to your best ability will help you in achieving a high grade.

The most exciting and rewarding parts of this course are as follows. Being able to go in person or online, this was my favorite part about the course. It was also exciting to learn about communication since we communicate every day. It was rewarding to have such a fun and

understanding professor, he made each class fun and let us know a bit about himself. The group work was rewarding because you can work with your classmates and get to know them better. It is also rewarding to accomplish your group work and look at your group members' contributions to the assignments. This course has overall been fun and rewarding and I recommend taking it with Professor Nick, he has been great.

The other comment I have for future students is to manage your time wisely. It can get hard juggling multiple classes at once on top of things outside of school. Learning to not procrastinate will be beneficial to your life.

To the future students of COM 101,

Welcome and get ready to enter an exciting and unique class that offers valuable information and content based on what and how much effort YOU put into it. Taking Comm With Dr.Nick has been a pleasure; it has been an enjoyable and interactive class to take, with the plus of having such a bubbly and lively professor. The content is mainly interesting, and if you put in the effort, I’d say you can get a pretty good grade. This course focuses on the basics of communication, from verbal to nonverbal to organizational and everything in between, so a lot of interesting content is learned throughout the semester.

The most important thing that you need to know about the course and assignments is that you should do all the work and extra credit ON TIME. Dr.Nick is literally giving out free points, so please take advantage of his generosity and do the assignments. It’s not like you have to write a 7-page paper, the extra credit assignments usually correspond with the unit we are learning, and the reflection prompts are usually opinion based and don't take too much work to complete. These extra credits help buffer your missed points on challenges or I-clicker assignments. At the end of the semester, these can basically boost you a whole grade, and they aren't relatively hard to get done, so do them, and you will succeed. Also, when you do assignments, try doing them on time, as you lose unnecessary points that you could've gotten if you just did them on time. Even if you do the assignments late, finish them because lost points are better than no points.

In order to do well in the course, you should study and review all the material that Dr. Nick so kindly gives. There are recordings of every lecture that he is given and a very organized week-by-week module that can be used to excel and get a better understanding/grade in the class and its material. Especially before the challenges, I recommend going through basically every recording that you will be tested on and taking notes on the lecture again so you have a full grasp of the material, no matter the unit. In addition, although not essential to do well in this course, I’d recommend being in person for the lectures and classes as it helps keep you focused on the material and offers more interactivity with the professor and classmates around you. I attended the course in person, and I found it very helpful to help me be on track and allowed me to use the force with the people around me when deliberating what the correct clicker question answer was. It’s a better format to engage with the material and those around you, which ultimately helps you get a better grade in the class.

The most exciting part of this class was the different ways we’d learn about communication: The various movie clips, SNL clips, and random advertisements that went along with our lessons. It was nice to have a break from the standard lecture for 3 hours and take notes, and then after that, an exam would be in 2 weeks. This course offered a different and more engaging way to learn, as these clips were enjoyable to watch. The most rewarding part of this class was in interactivity with classmates in person during the i-clicker sessions. It was nice to collaborate with others in the lecture hall when you sometimes had no idea what the answer was, so you’d talk to the people around you to formulate a guess together. It was those moments that I really enjoyed in the class as I stayed engaged and captivated by the lessons and had fun while learning.

The most challenging part of the class was probably the challenges and the paper. I decided to go with the paper format instead of the group presentation as I didn't have a group to do it with, so I was kind of forced to write a paper which I didn't mind. However, being a freshman, having the most knowledge on how to write a college-level essay, and needing more confidence in my answers about any of the prompts led to a more subpar paper than I expected. In any case, though, we are still given the opportunity to redo the paper for extra credit, so there is an option even if you didn't do that well the first time, so that's a plus. The least exciting part of this course is definitely the group assignments. To be honest, I didn't see a point to them sometimes, and it just caused me stress and anxiety sometimes when a group member wouldn't do it or would wait until 11:30 to start it. Thankfully my group got credit for all of the assignments and didn't have too many conflicts. This didn't really help because they didn't help me understand the material compared to other things, such as the pre-recorded lectures of the slideshows. Also, I feel that we should be more connected to our group, which wasn't really mandated, so any attempt to try and connect was met with silence. It depends on what group you get that determines your opinion of group work, and even if my group work experience could have been better, I still would say it was a bad experience.

To any future student, the advice is basic, but basically, just do your work on time and finish all the extra credit assignments given to you. It will help you get the best grade you want. Also, if you’re in the 3-hour class format like I was this semester, I recommend bringing a copious amount of snacks so that you don't starve yourself through lunchtime. During the initial classes, I made the mistake of not bringing anything to eat, so I’d be starving, which made it hard to focus on the material presented.

Good luck and have fun in the class!

-Com 101 Student

Dear future students,

Welcome to Intro to Comm 101! In this course, you will learn all about the basics of communication, a fundamental part of the society we are living in today. Communications is the way we interact with any other person. We communicate when we text our friends, when we shrug at a question, when we smile at a stranger, when we yawn in class, when we signal for a turn. Communications is a vast field of study, but it is also how we function as a society. Since it is so important, you have made the right choice to take this course.

But before I tell you how great this course is, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. First of all, this isn’t a walk-in-the-park, do-nothing, easy-A class. If you want to do well, you will have to put in a decent amount of work. You will have to be responsible for deadlines, take advantage of extra credit opportunities, and study for exams. There is a lot of freedom in this class, a lot of choice. There will be a lot of optional assignments that you will be encouraged to do, but not required to. I’m here to tell you, please do the optional assignments. They are easy extra credit points that you will regret not doing at the end of the semester. For your information, to get an A, you’ll need to have 930 XP by the end of the semester. In total, the required assignments are worth 1,000 XP. That means you can only lose up to 70 XP on the required assignments to still get an A. However, the total possible amount of extra credit is around 190 XP (at least in our semester). That’s enough to jump from a C to an A!

Another thing you should know is that you must attend every lecture. Even though skipping class may be tempting, I’m sorry to tell you: you’ll be missing out on points (and Dr. Nick’s great lectures of course). In this class, we use something called iClicker to answer questions during class. Most of the iClicker points are awarded based on participation, but a few are based on correctness. iClicker may seem annoying, but it’s actually a good system since it fosters interaction in the class that we otherwise wouldn’t have, helps Dr. Nick gauge how must we understand the content without stressing us out with a formal quiz or exam, and helps us pay attention. The most annoying thing about it is that it costs $16 for 6 months.

The most challenging aspect of this course is the exams. There is no doubt that if you want to do well on the exams, you will have to study. Fittingly, in this course, the exams are called Challenges. In total, there are three Challenges; the first two are worth 100 XP each and the final one worth 200 XP, all multiple choice, all open notes and resources. As a warning, some questions are a bit tricky, so make sure you fully understand the question and all the choices before selecting your answer. Since the Challenges are open notes, I highly suggest that you review and take notes on all the prerecorded lectures and slides before the test on a Google Doc or text editor of your choice. That way, during the test, you can Ctrl-F any relevant keywords and hopefully find the information you need. On a related note, you should definitely review the prerecorded lectures since they are one of the best resources available for this class. Dr. Nick explains everything you need to know about the topic in detail, and the videos are uploaded to Panopto where you can search through the transcript of the recording. The ability to search through the transcript will come in handy when you are studying for the Challenges.

But of course, the most rewarding aspect of this course is the content itself. As I already mentioned, communication is part of our everyday lives. It’s so natural and common that we often don’t consciously think about it or analyze it. But after taking this class, I’ve started observing everyday occurrences from a communications perspective, and so I notice things that I’ve never really noticed before. For example, a key concept we learned is non-verbal communication. We learned all the different ways people can communicate nonverbally, and that non-verbal communication is more prevalent than verbal communication. After learning about

this, I became more aware of my facial expressions and body language. I also take note of instances of non-verbal communication whenever I see it, like how two people subtly signal to each other where they are going to avoid walking into one another, or when two people avoid eye contact to avoid talking to each other. I think it’s pretty cool to see what you learned in the classroom actually happen in real life.

So yeah, that’s about it. I hope you do well in this class. Make sure to work hard and keep up with the work, but also make sure to sit back and enjoy what you are learning.

Good luck!

Former Student

Dear students of the next class,

I am a previous Intro to Comms 101 student, and I am here to tell you my thoughts on the course.

First off, in order to do well in this course, you have to work hard. You should definitely

complete all your assignments, as they are relatively easy and just require you to know

information from class and the readings. You will be able to work on most of your assignments

with your assigned group, which allows you to collaborate on the assignment and share ideas.

This makes completing the assignment easier, as well as improving the quality of the assignment.

Also, the professor for Intro to Comms 101 is the best professor you can have, and was the most

exciting aspect of the course, at least for me. Professor Nick always makes his lectures

interesting and fun. We watched a lot of scenes from movies and TV shows throughout the

classes, and all the fun videos always had an example of communication behind it. One class that

stuck out to me was when professor Nick made a class poll to choose a movie to watch. My class

ended up choosing “Sully”, and we watched the movie during class time. After we finished the

movie, professor Nick used scenes in the movie to point out certain variables of communication.

Professor Nick will use fun and engaging methods like such, during his lectures. His teaching

tactics are extremely engaging and I can guarantee that you will not be bored and will end up

learning a lot about communications if you take the class. I also suggest that you attend all of the

classes, as there is attendance and a process called clicker questions. Clicker questions are

questions that will be randomly displayed throughout the class, and you will need to answer

these questions for points. I strongly advise you to go to class and answer these questions every

class, as they make up a decent portion of your grade, and are easy points that you will miss out

on if you choose not to complete. There are also numerous extra credit opportunities that are

really easy and I strongly recommend you to do them. I advise you to study well for the exams in

this course. The exams were where I struggled most in this course, and I feel that this was

because I did not study enough when it came to the exams. I advise you to look over your notes

from the lectures, and the readings and the different resources in the modules. I also should

mention the fact that I was taking the course online, and my opinion and experiences may be

slightly different from people who took the class in person. I was always on Webex for class,

which is a platform like Zoom, and I had to look at the lectures and hear them through the call.

This was not always smooth, as there were audio issues at times, and also lag and all those other

technical difficulties. However, despite taking the classes online, professor Nick still made it a

fun and engaging learning environment, and I was still able to stay focused. I feel like I had no

trouble learning the material despite being online, and was still able to participate and had no

trouble completing the assignments. If you have any technical difficulties during the class, just

message the TA’s in the chat box, and they will assist you. Everyone is very understanding and

wants to help so you should never hesitate to ask questions. Overall I really enjoyed this course

and learned a lot about communication, even though it was an intro course. I would one hundred

percent recommend this class to anyone, and hope that you all enjoy this class like I did.

Dear Future Students of Intro to Communications,

I am writing to you from the future to reflect on my past experience in this course. I hope that my words will help you make the most of your time in this class and set you up for success.

The most important thing that you need to know about this course is that it is all about effective communication. This means learning how to effectively convey your ideas and messages to others, as well as how to listen and understand the messages of others. This is a crucial skill in both your personal and professional lives, and this course will provide you with the tools and techniques to develop and improve your communication skills.

In order to do well in this course, you should be prepared to actively participate in class discussions and group activities. This means coming to class prepared and ready to engage with the material, as well as with your fellow students. You should also be willing to put in the time and effort outside of class to complete the readings and assignments to the best of your ability. This will require dedication and effort, but the skills and knowledge you gain from this class will be well worth it.

The most exciting aspect of this course, in my opinion, was the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with my fellow students. This was done through the Small Group Activities throughout the semester. It was also done through the final challenge which was completed as a class at the end of the semester. The discussions and activities in this class allowed us to share our perspectives and experiences, and this helped to deepen our understanding of the material. Additionally, the class assignments were often practical and applicable to real-world situations, which made the learning feel more meaningful and relevant. Another exciting part of this course is the vast amount of extra credit opportunities given all semester. These assignments can be very beneficial at the end of the semester even though you might believe you do not need it.

The most challenging aspect of this course was the time and effort required to keep up with the readings and assignments. This class can be demanding at times, and it is important to stay organized and on top of your work to do well. It can be tempting to procrastinate or let your work slip but trust me when I say that staying on top of things will pay off in the end.

Finally, I would like to offer one last piece of advice: take advantage of the resources and support that are available to you in this class. Your professors and teaching assistants are there to help you, so don't be afraid to reach out to them if you need help or have questions. Additionally, don't be afraid to seek out additional support from your classmates as this is a communications class and using those skills will help the most. There are many people and resources available to help you succeed, so don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

I hope that you find this course as rewarding and valuable as I did.

Sincerely,

A past student of Intro to Communications

Welcome to COM101. You may be asking what is important to know in this class. I’ll just go

over some concepts you will come to learn very quickly. Something you should always avoid doing is

groupthink. You are your own individual and you have your own thoughts and values, when you blindly

go with the group for the sake of going with the group you lose what makes you, you. It’s something

some have fallen victim to in my class, perhaps even at the end. You may also be thinking that there must

be a lot of talking in this class. One of the most important concepts you will have to analyze in the

countless videos you will watch on challenges or during classtime is what isn’t said. Nonverbal

communication, how we communicate without words. Whether its haptics such as handshakes, highfives

or a pat on the back. Or haptics such as shrugging, smiling or laughing. However, we can argue about

“groupthink” or “nonverbal communication” among other concepts you will learn this class all day. So,

lets get to the most important thing in the entire class. Understanding how the concepts work themselves,

not just understanding the dictionary definition. You need to understand how these pieces all weld

together. This is not the class you get A+s on tests because you know every dictionary definition in class.

This class is more about understanding the actual concepts themselves and apply them to situations. A

usual “A student” can fail a challenge simply because they applied a concept wrong. In a way this class

feels like a great equalizer, as it is not like any class you have ever known. This is not your average 101

class, treat it like a 400-level class.

The most exciting part of this class is you will watch a lot of Star Wars clips! I’m joking, but one

of the best things in this class is you will watch a movie that you get to choose! Now granted, it’s for a

paper you will write later but never say no to a free movie, especially one you choose. I suggest you

embrace the videoclips you watch in this class as there’s way worse ways you can learn this subject, it’s

one of the better parts of this class. You might even learn the force!

The least exciting thing about this class is the XP. If you aren’t careful, you can quickly realize

there’s not enough points to be distributed. Or a lot of your points will ride on the final or second

challenges, you can be caught up in the trap that your grade cannot “go down” since it’s an addition of

points system and not a grade percentage that goes down. Personally, this can increase stress if you come

into this class unaware of this mechanic. Then again, whoever enjoyed pondering the grades they got on

tests and projects anyway.

Hello, future communication students! I hope you are ready for your semester. These letters are very important and they will tell you all you need to succeed in the course with the grade you desire. First I am going to give some background information because at the beginning of taking this class I did not understand how important communication is.

Communication is important in your everyday life in order to succeed in what you are doing. If a message is clearly delivered conflict will not occur since the receiver will understand what you are saying without questions. Basic communication helps build relationships and bonds to help connect with others which are good for our mental health. Having strong communication helps with both our professional and personal life which makes it a principal part of the society we live in. Two main communication aspects we use daily are verbal and nonverbal communication. Both communication matters are equally powerful in getting a message across but verbal communication is more effective through word choice and emotions. Proxemics, haptics, and kinesics all play a big role in communication nonverbally which we use without realizing it in our everyday lives. These visual cues can get a message across quickly without using words. Nonverbal communication through gestures does not make a higher chance of miscommunication than verbal communication. Both forms are very important in a society when dealing with different situations. As technology grows verbal communication can take place through using our smartphones rather than a face-to-face engagement. Your tone and volume say a lot when verbally communicating and at times you may use gestures that signal both forms of communication. Although words are very powerful, both forms of communication are as important in conveying a message to the receiver which helps with forming bonds and relationships.

After completing the intro to communications course with professor Nick Linardopoulos I have learned many things I did not previously know or understand. The workload is not much if you are on top of the assignments and readings that are given. One of the most important things you need to know about the course is to actually use communication in class with your peers. Doing this will help with reaching the goals you desire and not falling into the dark side.

It is very important to pay attention in class because clicker quizzes play a big role in making up your grade. This is one of the most beneficial ways to learn and earn XP to better your grade. You can’t always rely on your classmates for answers and you should take your own judgment and then see what other people think about the question. This happened many times and some students felt to address it when facing the final challenge since they thought this might occur resulting in a bad grade. This would not be the case if everyone knew the material and were ready to take the final challenge without any help from their peers.

In order to do well in the course you have to pay attention in class because if you do not it will affect you when taking the challenges. The effort you put into this course will show and pay off in the end. Before each challenge, you should review the study guide and know everything on it without hesitation and you will be content with the score you obtain. Each week the reading is a must to complete since it adds to what is said in the lecture. You should try to complete all the optional assignments to earn bonus XP so you are not trying to collect more at the end of the semester when there isn't much left. The challenges are worth a lot and if you mess up those bonus XP you have earned can make up for the grade you have gotten. It's very important to submit your assignments on time since you can not make up for them because the deadline is firm.

The most rewarding aspect of this course is learning how important communication is and applying it to your everyday life. This makes your bonds and relationships stronger since you understand the person which helps you connect more in many different aspects. The bonus XP is also a rewarding aspect of this course since it can give you that extra push you need to obtain the grade you desire. They may not seem like a lot but they definitely add up in the end and I cannot recommend it more to complete the small challenges. Doing small tasks such as the flip videos or the challenge contests really helps in the end with getting some more XP to get the grade you desire. With doing these optional assignments it can be grade changing from a B+ to an A if you put in the effort.

The most challenging aspect of the course is the interim, initial, and final challenges since they are fairly challenging and test your knowledge of the material you are learning. These challenges are not too easy but not too difficult where you would not know the answer if you had studied. The study guide is the most helpful thing to look at in order to do well in these challenges. They are definitely challenging and will test what you have learned so far throughout the course. Another challenging aspect of the course was not second-guessing your own judgment and taking the chat's answers of what they think. At first, I would always assume I didn't know the right answer and would look at other people's opinions but I learned that you should only look if you are unsure.

Both remote and in-person classes are offered so if you learn better and focus more in person I would definitely suggest joining the class. They are both fairly similar but everyone has their preferences and in my opinion, I enjoyed watching the class from home since I am more of an online learner after the big COVID catastrophe. Usually, when an online option is offered the class just views what is actually happening in class but that was not the case. Professor Nick actually engaged a lot with the online Webex and made sure everyone was on the same page. In the end, intro to communications was a great experience and if you are on top of the readings and material the class should be a breeze.

Dear future students of COM 101 with Professor Nick,

The most important thing you need to know about the course is that it covers a wide range of topics in the communication discipline, including verbal and nonverbal communication, interpersonal communication, group communication, and mass communication. You should also be prepared to read and analyze various texts and to participate in class discussions.

In order to do well in the course, it is crucial that you keep up with the video and assignments, as well as actively participate in class discussions and group projects. Professor Nick is very knowledgeable and approachable, so don't be afraid to ask for help or clarification if you need it.

One of the most exciting aspects of the course was the opportunity to learn about different theories and perspectives on communication, and how they apply to real-world situations. The group projects were also a great way to work with your peers and apply what you learned in class.

The most challenging aspect of the course was probably the amount of reading and writing required. The challenge(exam) of this class is not that easy. However, if you stay organized and manage your time effectively, you should be able to handle the workload.

As for the unique format of the course this semester, it was certainly a challenge to adapt to remote learning. However, Professor Nick did a great job of keeping us engaged and providing support when needed. Just be prepared to put in a little extra effort to stay connected with your classmates and your professor, especially if you're not used to online learning.

Dear Future Students of Introduction to Communication

Welcome, students of Intro to Communication! I was a former student of Professor Nick, and

this letter will give you everything you need to succeed as a Senior Jedi Master. Firstly, this class is

surprisingly fun, so wait to swap out of the course! Some basic information to get out of the way: this is

a hybrid class, meaning you can attend in person or online through WebEx. You do require an iClicker

app and its subscription, which is $15. You will have some group assignments. It isn't bad at all; more on

that later. And Professor Nick is the "GOAT."

This class is very interactive, and the interactive‐ness is necessary for succeeding. Therefore, if

you participate in class, you will be already on your way to becoming an A student. Professor Nick

ensures that every student knows what is going on in the class and is on the same page. He posts

announcements often and is clear about what needs to be done and where you stand in class. These

announcements are very important; thankfully, Professor Nick sends them out often. Professor Nick has

been the most communicative professor I've ever had here at Rutgers. Read his announcement emails

and follow the instructions, and you will do great. Much of the discussed information will be on the

exams, and I do not remember seeing anything that Professor Nick did not go over either.

Be sure to attend classes. Most of the topics/videos covered in lectures will be on the exams,

precisely like how Professor Nick covers them in class. If you want a decent exam grade, the easiest way

is to attend class. Also, you will be using the iClicker app to participate in lectures, and it is interesting to

discuss with hundreds of students in the chat which answer is the correct one. This is an easy way to

earn participation and attendance grades, so do not miss class. Skipping class is where I struggled most

because I would not wake up on time to attend the beginning parts of the class. So, please do not be like

me and take advantage of the easy points. It does add up very quickly.

Speaking of points, Professor Nick offers many extra credit assignments. He is exceptionally

generous on extra points as so many tasks are optional, but he provides minor extra credit points

towards your grade for doing them. I wish I had done these leading up to the end of the semester, so if

you have any free time, make sure to do those. It does not take a long time and only requires a bit of

reflection on the topic covered in class. We were required to give our thoughts on a topic we covered in

class throughout the week and make a short 2–3‐minute video.

Another critical aspect of the course is the group assignments. You will be put into a group at

the beginning of the semester. And throughout the semester, are group assignments worth a decent

amount of your grade. But do not worry, it is not too hard. The hardest part about group assignments is

the communication aspect of it. Each member should be responsible for certain parts of the assignment

and discussing that may be challenging for some of you. I never enjoyed working in groups, but this

class's group assignments were alright, and you may even meet new friends.

One specific topic I thought was particularly interesting was when we learned about the non‐

verbal communication that happens all around us. We learned in class how non‐verbal communication

can sometimes be even more important and meaningful compared to other forms of communication.

Now every time I hang out with friends, I tend to look out for these non‐verbal cues that we had learned

about.

After finishing the course and writing this final letter, I feel bittersweet about its ending. This

was indeed the most enjoyable class I had so far in college. The most challenging part of the course was

communicating with my group. And going over when and what to do for our assignments sometimes felt

like a hassle. However, like any other college course, time management is crucial in getting an excellent

grade, but the professor's canvas page makes that easier. Because Professor Nick and his canvas page

were organized, assignments never felt overbearing, and I do not remember being stressed about the

class once. Attending class was surprisingly the most rewarding part of this class. As this course is so

participation oriented, answering the iClicker questions successfully was genuinely satisfying. And if you

enjoy analyzing movies, you will also enjoy your time in class. We watched the movie "Sully," and I

thought it was an excellent movie to watch as a class to discuss each communication aspect of certain

scenes. Professor Nick uses a lot of movie clips to examine multiple aspects of communication, and all

these movies are relatively recent. No need to be worried about watching old movies from the boomer

ages.

All in all, this class has been a blast. It is not a "free‐A" class, but all the work is manageable, and

working through the assignments seems fun. Like any class, manage your time well, then you will do

well. I truly enjoyed my time with Professor Nick in Intro to Communication 101, and I hope you do as

well.

Sincerely,

A graduate from Comm 101

Dear future students who will take Comm 101,

Hello! If you are a freshman exploring classes or you already know you want to explore the communication field, welcome! Being honest, I was unsure of what to expect taking this class since I am currently undecided for my major and thought “why not?” when signing up for this class. However, after taking this class, my eyes opened up to a new take on the world where I was able to realize the significance of communication in not only the career world but our everyday interactions as well.

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the course/assignments/readings are:

- The set up of his class. Throughout our time as a student, we often see a lot of teachers trying new teaching styles and tricks to help us aside from the typical assignment grade on an A + to even F scale. However, Professor Nick’s class setup is extremely unique where he goes on an XP scale from 0 to 975+ with each chunk of numbers regarding a letter grade. The weight of XP is extremely important and the grade on Canvas does not matter. Thus, you need to be able to know how much XP points are each assignment. If it is a lot of XP, then you should definitely do it but if you are on a time crunch with a busy schedule and have an assignment due with 3 XP, you know you can miss it. Furthermore, he also gives a lot of optional assignments and clearly defines those assignments on Canvas by putting “(Optional)” next to the assignment name.

- Another important thing to know about the course is that iClicker points also count for a big chunk of your grade. Due to COVID, Professor Nick generously provided a hybrid class, where you have the option to go in class or go on Webex online. However, attending online does not mean you can slack off and sleep in class. The iClicker questions come on randomly where you will have to answer in a certain time frame.

- Lastly, you will be having a group to work on collaborative assignments. It is crucial to be aware of who you might be in a group with. You have the option of choosing your team name but also have the option to either choose who will be in the group or it can be randomized as well. I was able to take this class in a group with people I were familiar with so it went smoothly with good communication between us four! However, I have heard from some other people where there was conflict and miscommunication. In these groups, you will also have a group leader who will mainly submit the assignments for all,

take care of organizing the group, and making sure everyone is being efficient. It is crucial to choose some who will be wise and responsible and someone deserving of those extra XP points for taking that role.

In order to do well in the course you should…

- Try to be on top of the workload. While it is not overwhelming, there are quite a bit of assignments since you would have the choice to do a majority of them as optional. Try to do the majority of the assignments! Professor Nick gives many opportunities to earn XP points that can only help your grade.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course…

- Is the unique parts of the course! There are a lot of collaborative assignments. I was especially surprised when the final exam was collaborative! As previously mentioned, Professor Nick’s setup of the class is not only distinct in the grading scale but the style of his assignments as well. His assignments and even exam questions are not strictly off a book or lecture, but instead are about application.

- A rewarding aspect of this course is the XP points. Not going to lie, it did take a bit to get used to this unfamiliar scale. However throughout the semester, I realized that missed assignments or wrong questions will not bring your grade down, it can only go up. Based on this point scale, every assignment graded or getting an exam question right will add to your total point scale.

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is…

- the social aspect. The main chunk of his optional assignments are the video discussions or reflection prompts. This can be tricky for people, like me, who are not as extroverted or even comfortable to be constantly sharing a video response or a written response discussion in a public manner. Personally, I still use Facebook at times and having our responses to the public can be daunting. In class, your video will be played if you are chosen as the few of the top and if your written response is chosen, you will have to elaborate in class about your response. That is why I actually do not mind discussion posts with the typical “write your response, respond to a classmate” type of assignment. I had a hard time adjusting and stepping out of my comfort zone personally in a large sized class.

- Another aspect is the style of the exams. It is very different where it would at times be questions like “watch this video” and then responding to a question about it. I often felt like the hours studying the lectures and notes did not help since it does not really train me to answer these questions. Personally, I was not able to adjust to these type of questions and had a challenging time getting used to this style.

Any other comments you feel future students should be aware of (and of course, I hope you will take into account/reflect on the remote teaching/delivery mode).

- Above all, this course truly challenged the typical teaching style where it is very much like memorizing the textbook and memorizing. That being said, I regret not taking more extra credit through the optional assignments! Since I am not able to see my grade on Canvas through this unique setup, I am not able to gauge my standing in this course until the end. In the beginning, there were a lot of technical difficulties through the Webex online but Professor Nick handled this conflict in the next week and we continued like

nothing ever happened! Professor Nick did an amazing job trying to accommodate everyone especially through the adjustment of the pandemic!

- Here are some things to definitely know and won’t be the last time hearing (might be on your final!):

- Professor Nick’s favorite drink is the white chocolate mocha frappe from Starbucks, he was born in Athens, Greece and he loves Office Space, despite all of the Star Wars references.

May the Force Be With You!

Dear future students of Intro to Comm 101,

You might have taken this course because it fulfills a core curriculum or because maybe your friend told

you it was easy, but don’t be fooled. This course is a great course with Professor Nick, but it is not the

type of class where you can slack off and still succeed. I have had my fair share of problems in this class,

but I was still able to succeed due to Professor Nick’s kindness and the hard‐working instructive team.

Out of all the courses I’ve taken throughout my three years at Rutgers (I’m a senior/transfer student),

this was one of the most engaging classes where I felt like I learned something valuable, and that the

professor was someone who actually wanted to help students. In this letter, I’ll touch upon crucial

information that may help you advance in this course because you might need it. You might think “Oh

these letters are nothing” but I read most of them and it helped me succeed.

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the course/assignments/readings are:

 The assignments are created to help you understand the course concepts and why this is a core curriculum. In order to understand what you are supposed to be learning, you should definitely attend class whether that is in person or online. Yeah, three hours can be a little dreadful, but the Professor makes it entertaining by including relevant examples so that it’s easier for us to understand how it is used in the real world.

 Second, the instructive team and the professor are there to help you. I personally couldn’t attend TA office hours or tutor sessions because of personal circumstances, but if you have the time, I highly recommend that you attend.

 Third, there are some assignments that are optional, and you should 100% participate in those assignments. You might think you’re good without the additional XP, but more XP can’t hurt your grade.

 Fourth, watch the lecture videos that are provided on Canvas. Professor Nick goes more in-depth on the module that you are learning that week, and it can help you add information to your study guide for the upcoming challenges. Not everything is going to be given to you in the in-class slides, so it’s beneficial to you to take the extra time to watch those videos.

 Lastly, make sure that you read the readings that are required. On top of the lecture video, assignments, and lectures, the readings will help you understand the purpose of the assignment. It will also help you if your group members (you will have group assignments) don’t understand or don’t help you with the assignment itself.

In order to do well in this course, you should:

 I really would not miss class. If you’re online or in-person, you will miss out on the iClicker questions which are a big part of your grade, and they’re like practice questions for the challenges. Another thing, if he gives you the opportunity to do practice questions before the challenges, do them. Whether you get a 1, 2, or 3, those are still additional XP that you can earn.

 As I have previously mentioned, please do the optional work that he assigns. The grading system is based on how many points you earn, so you start from 0. Then, the assignments, challenges, and activities that you do will add up.

 Do not leave studying to the last minute. The exams (challenges) aren’t something where you memorize notes and he’ll ask you what the definitions are. You have to really understand the material and be able to apply them to the question. Also, if you’re stuck on a question, reread it. It might trick you at first, but once you reread it, you might see what you missed the first time.

 Know once again, the people here want to help you. If you’re given the opportunity to redo an assignment, do it. Professor Nick gave us the chance to resubmit a paper that we had to write, and as long as you followed the instructions and you were able to make a noticeable improvement, you’ll earn a higher grade.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of this course:

 Prior to taking this course, I didn’t know that there were so many parts to communication. For example, I didn’t know about intercultural communication, or that public relations were a part of communication. Just learning new information that you probably won’t take the time on your own to learn, is rewarding.

 I enjoyed how the professor took the time to incorporate fun examples that I laughed at during class which isn’t typical for a college class. It shows that Professor Nick truly cares that the students want to keep learning and he wants to make the most out of the time that you’re there. It made me excited to see what is in store for the next class. I even learned about Star Wars, and I can see why that is one of his favorite movies.

 One module that was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time was the interview module. Since I am a senior, and because you all will be interviewed at some point for a job or internship, I thought it was one of the most useful modules to learn about because it was relatable, so pay attention!

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is:

 For me, it was the group assignments that pushed my buttons and made me question why I was even taking this class. From the start, I was never a fan of group work because I always ended up being a leader, and I didn’t like taking initiative because I thought it made me seem bossy (which I’m not, I’m actually really shy). If you don’t like your group, or if you’re having problems, don’t be shy to reach out to the team to inform them. If you do decide to reach out, it’s okay if you feel like a “snitch”, just know that you’re not and your grades are on the line.

 Additionally, you get the chance to change your group, but just once. So, if you don’t like your new group, you’re stuck so just keep working hard, y’all got this!

Any other comments you feel future students should be aware of:

 You will need to know this information because it will help you in the future: o Professor’s favorite movie is NOT Star Wars, it is OFFICE SPACE (although this

course is Star Wars themed, do not be fooled!!) o His favorite drink is the WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA from Starbucks (this

was shocking) o He was born in Athens, Greece

 One last time, please do the assignments that are optional!!! It will help you so much.

Now, I hope you all have fun and enjoy this class, and I hope that this letter helps you, even if it’s a little

bit!

Best wishes,

Former Student of Comm 101

Dear future students,

In order to do well in this course, it is important to stay up-to-date with the readings and assignments. The material can be dense at times, but it is crucial to make an effort to understand and engage with it in order to do well on exams and papers. It is also helpful to participate in class discussions and ask questions if something is unclear.

One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of this course is the opportunity to learn about and analyze various forms of communication in detail. Whether it's analyzing a conversation between two people or understanding the ways in which media influences our perceptions, this course provides a lot of insight into how communication shapes our lives.

One of the most challenging and least exciting aspects of the course may be the amount of reading required. However, even though it can be demanding at times, the skills that you will gain in critical analysis and effective communication are well worth the effort. This also goes hand in hand with staying engaged in the class. If you want to get the most out of what Professor Nick is saying, you better stay up to date on the course material. The class is 3 hours long so I hope you got your beauty sleep.

Overall, I hope that this letter has provided you with some useful insights about the course. While it may have its challenges, it is a fascinating and rewarding subject that I'm sure you will enjoy.

Best of luck in the course!

Dear Future Students of Comm 101,

During the time in this course, you will acquire knowledge of many different key concepts in Communication and Information processes. Theory and practice in communication studies, allow us as individuals to receive, process, and transmit information through many different mediums. Particularly, during this course, the most attention will mainly be focused on interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural contexts. This indicates a frequent occurrence of the exchange of information resulting from prior events and previous acts of the individuals involved.

Additionally, you will analyze the importance of group, speech, and mass communication abilities in a global context while concentrating on the most significant communication theories. The primary theoretical and practical applications of the communication discipline are also essential to this course. This displays the importance of how communication theory emphasizes its symbolic and social process aspects throughout the two perspectives.

Assignments are among the most significant aspect of this course. This is not only due to the fact that they are worth XP, but rather because you are able to express your emotions through these assignments. Professor Linardopoulos allows students to collaborate with one another by assigning video discussions which will also give many opportunities to collaborate with your peers. In these video discussions, you are able to “like” and comment on other classmates' posts. Professor Linardopoulos also helps motivate students to do this by giving them opportunities for extra XP. This also gives more of an opportunity to visually see your classmate's thoughts and ideas rather than just your own. There will be many chances given to become good acquaintances with your peers, which is always important in a community. Also, since the majority of the class is done online, it can be more challenging to socialize with your peers nowadays.

At the beginning of the semester, you will be assigned to small groups in which you work with your peers for “small group activities”. This will also be an opportunity to listen to your classmate's thoughts, which will provide you with a more well-rounded understanding of the course concepts. This will also be beneficial with other future assignments and essays.

Readings are essential in preparing for the lectures that are taught each week in class. It will help strengthen your knowledge and perspective in communication. It will also provide you with better command over the branches of communication and human behavior.

In order to do well in this course, you should always read the announcements posted each week. Professor Linardopoulos posts weekly announcements to help guide his students on the right path to success. Each announcement will be in detail going over what you have discussed in class. Another recommendation to succeed in this course would be to continuously try and connect with your peers as much as possible. Although this is a hybrid course, you should try your best to go in person as frequently as possible because it will give you more of an opportunity to collaborate with other classmates.

Interacting with classmates is helpful in keeping you up to date with assignments and will be beneficial to the small group assignments done throughout the course of the semester. The video discussions are also a great way to do well in this course as well. Being able to listen to others' perspectives on communication theories can not only be beneficial but entertaining. Watching classmates' responses to video discussions can also help analyze the material a lot more efficiently and effectively. It also helps to have a deeper comprehension of the subject matter being taught. You should take advantage of the numerous possibilities this course provides for peer collaboration in order to gain access to a variety of viewpoints and develop your understanding.

The most exciting aspect of this course is learning how communication aspects come across so many different ways in all aspects of the world. Communication is not just through talking or text, there are so many different kinds and forms of communication that I was unaware of before taking this course. It is also fascinating to see advertising and PR and how these companies/ businesses share a correlation with verbal and non-verbal communication. It is particularly intriguing to learn that our actions may speak more meaning than the actual words being said.

The most rewarding aspect of this course was the assignments having an “optional” choice. This allows you to choose which assignments in which you want to complete for the following week. Personally, I have never experienced a course like this, though I feel this teaching style. This allows you to eliminate the assignments that may be strenuous for you, as well as choose the ones that entice you. This will also enable you to choose assignments you believe you will perform the best on.

The most challenging and least exciting part of this course for me was the Final challenge. Personally, I do not perform well under timed situations. I feel I perform the best solo with each question being timed at my own pace. This is my personal preference although, I feel that since the Final Challenge was timed for each individual question, it made it more of a challenge for me to complete it to the best of my ability.

Many individuals may not be fond of remote learning. Although, this course demonstrates perfectly how the best way is to incorporate online learning with traditional face-to-face learning. The hybrid option of this course will allow you to experience different learning techniques. Furthermore, this is especially convenient if you are unable to make the class in person. You will still be able to connect with your classmates and follow along as if you are right beside your peers. Overall, this course allows you to gain a deep understanding of Communication and Information processes, whilst keeping an organized and entertaining class.

My overall experience in Introducaiton to Commuicaiton and Information was a positive

experience. I think my grade will reflect that statement. I performed decently well in this course.

Though, along the way, I faced challenges that I needed to overcome.

Dear future 101 students,

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the

course/assignments/readings are: the more time you put into the material the better you will do. It

sounds very obvious, but I felt that especially in this course, the amount of time I spent with the

materials including being present in class, reading the textbook, as well as watching the video

lectures, the direct positive outcome I had on the iclicker questions, the exams, and the

discussions with my small group. In order to do well in the course you should be intentional on

which assignments you partake in. There are so many opportunities for success. Dr. Nick puts a

significant amount of optional assignments on the canvas page. I was one of the students who

realized too late the importance of these assignments. They are quite literally free points that you

can get by putting in a bit more time and effort into this class. They are not any more difficult

than anything required, in fact, I think they are almost easier. I only started doing these optional

things before the final challenge (the last exam). I started to do them because I grew increasingly

concerned at the state of my grade. I was at about 500-600 points going into the last exam and I

was extremely nervous that there were not enough points left in this course that I could move out

of that range and into one that was at lease C granting. I was starting to grow super nervous

because in order to apply to the School of Communiciation and Information I needed a C in this

course to move forward with my future major classes. On top of that, the classes I had registered

for for the next semester were reliant on the fact that I get a C in this class. It is safe to say I was

freaking out a little bit. I remained determined and started to get more focused on this class. The

class offered a chance to have fun with classmates. The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of

the course was the interaction with other classmates. Even online students. I was one of the

students who spent majority of the class sessions on WebEx. I did not feel like I was missing out

on anything by participating in class in my apartment off campus. I felt like Professor Nick really

wanted all the students online to utilize the chat and feel as though they were in person as best as

they could. I liked how he read some of the chat during class and would answer and interact with

the comments during it. I felt like he noticed many of my comments in the chat which made me

feel acknowledged in such a large class setting. I am sure that on his end this was a lot to juggle.

Not only are there hundreds of students in a large classroom setting, but there are also hundreds

of students online. And then to top that all off all of the technological logistics that come with the

course. The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is the overall point system.

Think about starting your grade at a 0 and working it up to the amount of points that can reach

you a satisfactory grade at the professors’ point system. It was hard for me to tell how many

points were left in order for me to reach the grade I wanted. I also found that the questions on the

exams were very tricky. I know they were based on everything taught, but they were not the

most straightforward as I was anticipating. Many of the questions were based off of films. I

personally, would have preferred more textbook material questions or questions based off the

lectures. Overall, I had a good experience in this course, but I definitely had to wake up once I

saw the amount of points I had ¾ of the way through before the final challenge and get my

calculator out to see if I was going to pass this course.

Dear Rutgers Students,

This is Meichi (Cloris) Lin, currently a sophomore at Rutgers university. For 101, I think it’s important to go to the class either I person or online. Finishing up the readings definitely helps with the initial challenge. In order to do well in the course, you should find some good group partners because there will be a lot of group activities. For me, the most exciting thing for this class is that we have lots of chance to do the videos. I personally do like making a video for myself and I do enjoy that more than boring assignments like essays or papers.

I hope you guys can find interest in this class and actually enjoy it and make an effort.

Thank you.

Have a nice day.

Dear Future 101 Student:

It is great to see that you have registered for INTRO COMM & INFO 04:189:101 as one

of your courses this semester. I think most of you, other than those interested in this course,

registered for this course because you heard that it was easy and also occupied three different

core requirements. But the truth is, getting an A in this class is not easy. Actually, if you want to

get a good grade in this course, you should participate in all the classes, study all the reading

material and complete all the assignments. But on the other hand, one of the most exciting and

rewarding aspects of the course is that it encourages collaboration among students, which

students often need to discuss with each other to understand better the idea of the topic or the

detailed concept of the terms. At the same time, the most challenging aspect of the course is its

challenge sections. The com101 challenges focus more on the integration of concepts and

practical applications than the exams in other courses. Therefore, it is necessary to use the Johari

window to confirm and deepen your understanding of the concepts. In addition, since this class is

a hybrid class, independent learning becomes more important to get a good grade, so future

students should pay more attention to learning about communication on their own.

Dear students who will be taking Comm 101,

I'm glad you're taking this challenging but fun course. If you are going to choose it as a required

course in your major, it won't make you feel very tormented; if you are going to choose it just as a

hobby course, it can provide you with a lot of knowledge and broaden your horizon in other areas.

The first and most important thing you need to know about the course is that we will meet every

Monday from 12:10pm to 3:10pm either online or offline, and you can choose to go to either of these

two. You will also need to download an app called icliker, and you will need to answer questions that the

teacher puts on the screen at any time during the class. The questions are timed and most of them are

not difficult if you listen carefully. When you are unsure of an answer you can open the webex chat box

and see what people think, there are usually a lot of enthusiastic students who post their ideas there.

Then, the most important thing you need to know about homework is that if you want to get a high

grade, make sure you spend time on it. There is no way to get a good grade in this class by being

perfunctory. In addition, read the emails and assignment requirements carefully, if you read something

wrong or miss something this may directly lead to you not getting the grade you want. It is best not to

turn in assignments late, as this may result in you not getting a grade! There are a series of assignments

posted on Icliker every once in a while, so please look at the PowerPoint for that unit before doing them.

The most important thing you need to know about reading is to try to complete the weekly content

inside the mod, which is divided into readings and videos. The videos are very important in my opinion,

and many of the questions on the test are based on the videos to analyze.

In order to do well in this class, you should keep the class mandatory every week, whether you take

it online or offline. This class uses the questions on icliker as your attendance score, and you need to

answer 75% of the questions in each class to be considered in attendance. One good thing is that you

don't need to get the answers exactly right. The assignments are divided into mandatory and optional

ones, my advice is to try to write all the optional ones as well, because the exams in this class are hard!

Yes, the most challenging part of the course is the exam. There are three exams in this class, the

first two of which you need to complete independently, but you can look at the textbook or your notes.

The format of the last exam was voted on by us, and most people chose the collaborative format which

means the whole class took the exam together, and we used icliker to complete the final exam. The first

two independent exams were really hard and there were times when a question I thought many of the

answers were correct and this would happen a lot. You need to have a firm grasp of the details of each

point and learn to use them. The last time we scored a little higher than before because we could

discuss.

To say the most exciting part of the course, I think it's definitely the group work. You can choose

your own people and you don't have to meet the conditions of how many people you have to have in

the group. The group work assignments are not too difficult and it allows you to relax and focus on

communicating with your group members. You don't have to sleep through the day with everyone in the

group anxious about a difficult project, as in some classes, and you don't have to be the only one doing

all the work. All you need to do is enjoy working in a group, and if you can gain some interpersonal skills

from it, that's the best thing you can do. In my group, our group leader is very responsible and always

tells us what time we need to hand in our part of the writing beforehand. The division of labor was

harmonious and logical, and we were all given the same amount of content. He was also very

encouraging. Whenever I sent him my writing pieces, I would ask him if this was okay. He would always

say that my writing was great and so on, which made me feel confident. I was a huge hater of group

activities because I was a little socially intimidated, but with a great group leader and flexible grouping, I

think I'm starting to love it.

Online teaching is a great mode of instruction for me, but it may not be for you. If you're like me

and can make sure you don't play with your phone and pay attention to the lecture even if you're taking

an online class, I would recommend you to choose the online format. It saves you travel to and from

school, as well as time. What is needed for online teaching is strict self‐discipline, so if you can't control

your distractions, then I would recommend you to take an offline class. There are face‐to‐face

discussions in this class, so if you are an international student you can go and practice your speaking

skills while listening well, and you may make new friends. That's all I have to say to you, so enjoy the

class! Thanks for your time.

Dear future COM 101 student,

The most important thing that you need to know about this course is that you can do badly on the exam

but still earn a relatively good grade at the end of the course due to the point system. And do not worry

about how many points you have until the end of the semester because that is when the bulk of the

points are being graded.

In order to do well in this course, you could try to do as many of the extra credit assignments as

you can, specifically the discussion round video responses since, they give you 3 points automatically

just for doing them. 3 points may not sound like a lot, but it does add up and contribute to your final

grade for the course. Also doing the practice questions, usually given before “Challenges”/ Exams, gives

you free points as well. Submit your assignments on time to avoid “late penalties.” This is easy and

stress free since the professor gives you ample time to complete assignments, even in group settings.

Not to mention they also extend deadlines all the time. For group assignments/ projects, make sure you

guys have a clear line of communication to ensure things get done.

The most rewarding aspect of this course must be the social interactions you get to have with

your peers. Whether it is doing group projects, collaborating on challenges and assignments,

participating in discussion posts, or giving feedback on projects, this course gives students a lot of

opportunities to communicate with each other. Also being able to connect and or find connections

between what you learn and real‐life situations.

Other important things to note are attending your lectures online or in person, while it is crucial

to attend because of the iclicker question points, it is also a suitable place and time to ask questions and

clarify concepts you cannot get when watching the regular weekly lecture videos. If there is one lecture

to come in person, it is the final lecture of the semester. Last important thing to note is to read

directions carefully. The instructional team are not out here to trick you, but they. Do want things to be

done in a certain way or else you might face penalties or even a zero for an assignment which is not

good.

For the students that are interested in taking COMM 101, I cannot stress enough the importance of staying up to date with your assignments and doing any extra credit work. Professor Linardopoulos is very generous with the number of extra credit assignments that he gives to the students, and you should take advantage of it in any way possible. The extra credit or optional assignments may not seem like a lot of points, but they certainly add up to a hefty sum at the end of the course. These points can determine where you end up in regard to your letter grade at the end of the semester. Not only are the optional assignments crucial to your success, but you should also be on top of your work for the assignments that are mandatory, especially the small group assignments. The small group assignments are a fairly easy grade booster that should not be ignored. In regard to the readings for this class, I will say that they are very helpful when it comes time for exams. However, in my personal opinion, the readings are more supplemental in this class. As long as you show up to class and pay attention throughout the whole time, participating in all the iClicker activities, you will be successful in the class. Professor Linardopoulos does a very good job with the lectures and videos so that you will be successful even without the textbook. The textbook serves more as a supplemental reading in case there are topics that you are confused about. Though, I do think that students should use all the materials that they can in order to be more successful. Collaboration is definitely something that you

should take into consideration if you want to be successful in the class. Work with other students and communicate any issues or questions that you may have. Work together with other students and support each other with assignments and preparing for exams. Although the class is a hybrid and you can join virtually, I do encourage students to show up in person for the lectures. It makes the lecture a little more engaging and encourages you to focus on the lecture rather than doing something else. I would say the most rewarding aspect of this course is the flexibility of the class. Students are given the option to attend the class in person, or virtually. Although it was a little difficult setting up the equipment for a more fluid experience virtually, the end result was very rewarding because it gave students the ability to still attend class if they are unable to under any circumstance. Also, professor Linardopoulos has the lecture prerecorded for the class to view before each class meeting. The asynchronous lecture is very helpful because it gives students the opportunity to set their own schedules and work at their own pace. Students are able to view the lecture in their own time before the next in-person lecture. Another exciting aspect of the course is Professor Linardopoulos enthusiasm and attitude during his class. I will admit, there are instances where the material and information are not as interesting or captivating. It makes it very difficult to pay attention and learn the material because of how uninteresting it is. However, professor Linardopoulos does an exceptional job to keep the attention of the students with the enthusiasm and attitude that he carries throughout the lectures. He adds his own analogy and interests into the lecture to make it more appealing, memorable and captivating for the students. This was something that seemed very minor, but it was definitely a motivator for coming to class. One of the least exciting aspects of this class would have to the be topics discussed. Some of the topics discussed in communication, such as interpersonal and intercultural communication, were definitely interesting to learn about. The different personalities and types of communicators for interpersonal communication was an interesting topic to discuss, but there were some topics that weren’t as interesting. Nonverbal and verbal were interesting for some of the things we discussed, but not all that captivating. Professor Linardopoulos’ attitude during the lectures definitely did keep it interesting enough to pay attention to. Another challenging aspect of the class would have the individual or group project at the end of the course. It can be easy if you plan and work accordingly with the due date, but can also be detrimental to your grade. The individual paper or group presentation is by far the hardest part of the course, and it is also worth more than the exams. If you find that the paper of the presentation is an easy assignment, it is a clear indicator that you will end up successful in the class. Regarding the exams for the class, my advice is that you should always be aware of the time that you have left. The professor gives more than enough time for you to complete the questions. Definitely give yourself ample time to complete the question, but make sure that you are working quickly. Makes sure to use all the resources necessary to prepare and take the exam.

Dear Future Students of COM101,

Welcome! I have provided a detailed outline of everything you need to know about Professor Nick’s insightful and exciting course, and I hope that you can learn tremendously from his teaching style throughout this semester!

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the course/assignments/readings are...

● COM101 covers the basics of communication as a process, including verbal and nonverbal communication, listening skills, group communication, and intercultural communication. The course delves into the fundamentals of communication which include the elements of the communication process and the different types of communication. The various types of communication covered are verbal communication, such as language, words, and tone, and nonverbal communication which consists of body language, facial expressions, distance, and gestures. In this course, you will also be learning more about listening skills, including active listening and empathetic listening. COM101 has different interactive group assignments which allow students to learn more about group communication concepts such as teamwork, evaluating group dynamics, and conflict resolution and mitigation. Furthermore, COM101 also delves into intercultural communication, including cultural differences in communication styles and strategies for effective communication across different perspectives and cultures. To add on, this course gives insight into various jobs in the communications field such as Public Relations, and delves into fundamentals of public speaking, which is how to prepare and deliver a speech to ensure that you engage your audience.

● To get a good grade in COM101, you need to complete assignments (both mandatory and optional), participate in discussion posts which include video ones and Facebook posts, and study diligently for Professor Nick’s challenges. It is also crucial to actively participate in class using iClickers as they make up a significant part of your grade, and talk to Professor Nick, the TAs, and other students if you ever need help with the material, or are having any difficulty understanding communication concepts in the course.

● Once a week, there is a 3-hour lecture for this course in which Professor Nick uses iClickers to take attendance and gauge responses from the students in the class. iClicker is used since the class is so large that it is difficult to track attendance and answer accuracy of every individual.

In order to do well in the course you should…

● This course has a combination of mandatory and optional assignments which benefit students by increasing their overall grade. Some specific steps you can take to improve your chances of getting a good grade in this course are as listed. First, it is necessary to attend all lectures and come prepared to participate in class discussions. This means doing the supplemental readings and research before coming to class, and coming prepared with questions and insights regarding the material. Class participation is governed by the usage and accuracy of iClicker responses, so it is necessary to attend every single class and pay close attention to iClicker questions. Many iClicker questions are featured in one way or another on the challenges Professor Nick assigns, and they also demonstrate a core understanding of communication concepts. Not to mention, they make up a significant part of your grade!

● Furthermore, make sure you stay on top of assignments–whether that be the optional ones or not–and submit them on time and follow all instructions. This includes completing any readings, writing assignments, or projects that are assigned. Make sure to fully read the instructions and follow them exactly, or you may get points off or even no points on an assignment you submit.

● Next, make sure to review the supplemental material, lecture recordings, and powerpoints regularly. It is important to review the material on a regular basis, rather than trying to cram the night before any of his challenges, whether that be the initial, interim, or final challenge. This will help you retain the information and do well on exams, as Professor Nick’s exams are rather difficult and require lots of background knowledge on communication concepts.

● Finally, make sure to seek help if you are having trouble understanding particular concepts in COM101. If you are struggling with the course content, don't be afraid to ask for help from TA’s or even other class members! I really like the students in this course, as they are always happy to help in studying and learning concepts. Oftentimes, Professor Nick even prefers that students reach out to other peers in the class since you would be practicing communication skills while also learning more about communication concepts. You can also always ask Professor Nick for clarification in class during his lessons, he is very accommodating to that! Overall, by following these steps, you can increase your chances of doing well and getting a good grade in COM101.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course…

● The interactivity of the course overall is the most exciting part of this course! Professor Nick has the ability to make monotonous lectures super interesting and fun by playing music, showing videos, and telling jokes. It’s overall a really fun and insightful class to be in. For our final challenge, Professor Nick actually put on a Star Wars helmet and played music in the background to calm our nerves about the exam. The interactivity within the classroom is extremely admirable, and something that all professors should consider implementing into their aspects.

● Overall, the most rewarding aspect of the course is watching my progress over time. I am now able to handle real-life situations with more confidence by understanding cues in communication, verbal and nonverbal communication concepts, public speaking, and intercultural communication. Thus, this is a great course to take whether you are a Communications major or not.

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is…

● The process of getting more points and bumping up your grade is the most difficult aspect of the course. Due to iClickers having a heavy weight on my grade, I had a lower grade despite having completed all of the assignments, iClicker sessions, performing well

on the initial and interim challenges, and even working on optional assignments. To receive additional points, you must complete all of the optional assignments. While they are worth a few points each, it will still add up and contribute to your overall grade. I feel that the most challenging part of this course was essentially building my point average back up from iClicker sessions. No matter how many optional assignments I completed, I felt like my iClicker score dragged down a large portion of my grade.

Any other comments you feel future students should be aware of (and of course, I hope you will take into account/reflect on the remote teaching/delivery mode).

● Professor Nick loves the movie Office Space! He often references Star Wars in his lectures, however, he does that to demonstrate communication concepts since he feels that it is a really good series to identify concepts from class in. Also, make sure you complete iClickers during every section!!! They will absolutely make or break your grade, so definitely keep that in mind. Always make sure to complete optional assignments too, as they will help you get a better understanding of course content, while also increasing your score. With that being said, Professor Nick creates small iClicker quizzes to do as exam preparation. They are optional, but make sure you complete those as well and take notes on each concept mentioned since they will likely be incorporated into the initial, interim, and final challenges.

I wish you all the best of luck!

Introduction to Communication and Information Processes is a great course especially for freshmen who want to learn a very specific skill, communication, so that they can apply it to the daily lives. The most important thing that you need to know that this isn’t straightforward or easy class. Of course, the difficulty of a class depends on the specific person, but just because it is an introduction level class, I wouldn’t take it lightly. You will have to study constantly especially for the exams, which are know as challenges in this class. You will have to learn how to efficiently takes notes and understand the material at a deeper level. A very common mistake students make is that they learn the surface level things, such as the definitions of certain words or phrases. In order to do well in this course, you will have to learn how to be more practical and learn the different concepts using real world examples. By thinking outside the box, you will be more prepared for not only the challenges, but also have the strong ability to use your skills outside the classroom.

The most rewarding and exciting thing about this class is that there are tons of extra credit opportunities. So, you will always have the chance to make up your grade if you do bad in a certain assignment or activity. Remember to make use of these opportunities beforehand during the beginning of the semester. A common mistake that students make is that they don’t use these opportunities until the end of the semester, and they miss out on getting a better grade just by a

couple points. You will not find these many extra credit opportunities for a college course so remember to make the best of it.

The most challenging part of this course are probably the challenges (exams), so it is important to study and follows the tips that I stated previously. Also, the initial challenge is usually the hardest, so don’t get demotivated if you don’t do great. It gets better as you get used to the format of the challenges and the course. Another great thing about this course, at least for our semester, was that it was given in a hybrid model, which means that you could choose if you want to come in person or do the class from online. This is a great thing because you have to ability to decide every week on how you want to learn that day and aren’t required to stay online or go in person.

Get ready for one of the most amazing upcoming semesters because you are about to take a

course with the coolest professors. I will be honest, I am a stem major and communication is

something that I did not like at all. Although you might think maybe this guy might be weak in

that subject or did not know the importance of the subject. If you think so you are absolutely

right. However, after taking this course I felt completely different about the subject. Disclaimer

I am not changing my major. This course is very interesting in terms of how it is designed. Nick

is the first professor I meet who wants all his students to do well in this course and wants

everyone to end up having an A. There are plenty of opportunities to earn extra credits and by

plenty I mean plenty. Imagine you blew up one of the exams and got, let's say 40 out of 100.

The extra credits in this course will help you cover up for the missed 60 points. In the end I

calculate there are about 197 points worth extra credits. Another thing, as exciting as it may

sound, you have to be on top of every assignment you can not procrastinate. If you do then you

lose a lot of points and that is the most challenging thing I would say. The course is available

hybrid but if you think that you turn your camera off and go to sleep just as i thought before

taking this course, then you have another thing coming there are 15 i‐clicker questions in every

class maybe more sometimes all of them are very simple but you have to attempt those

questions or else you face a heavy damage in your grades. I forgot to tell you the best part:

there are few assignments that you complete with your assigned groups. These group

assignments are are fun and i learned a lot of non verbal elements of communication while

doing these assignments.

Dear future students,

Firstly, I would like to say that you will enjoy the course since it teaches a significant number

of concepts about the nature and style of communication as a whole and furthermore that

Professor Nick’s teaching style and his methods of teaching through a joking nature and clear

presentation style makes the material easy to understand compared to other courses. The

assignments are relatively simple as long as you follow the instructions clearly as written by the

TAs and Professor and ensure that you meet all requirements that the assignment outlines;

therefore, read the assignment instructions carefully, and you shall do well. The readings are

beneficial to your learning experience to improve on the information you learn within the

PowerPoints that Professor Nick provides and solidify each concept we learn in class with a real-

life example. In order to ensure a successful grade in the class, it is of utmost importance that

you revise the reading after class and take good notes in order to ensure that you understand how

the reading correlates with the topic we learned in that unit. As I mentioned earlier, in order to do

well in this course, you should revise the readings as they get assigned or as we learn about new

topics since it is a horrible idea to procrastinate and leave the readings for the last moment before

each challenge or exam. The exams in this class will be heavily based on the readings that we did

in the weeks prior and how the concepts we learned correlate to said readings; therefore, you

must do the readings promptly and ensure you understand the concepts of each week of course

material thoroughly to do well on each challenge or exam. Also, there will be iClicker questions

in this class, and your attendance is a critical factor in the amount of XP you will receive in this

class and in summary, the higher your XP, the higher your grade. Therefore, you must ensure

that you attend each class session despite whatever is going on that day to ensure that you

receive your XP points and will, thus, boost your grade in the class. The most exciting part of

this course is being able to engage with people in the classroom and on WebEx at the same time

while also answering polls together and typing in the chat because it creates a bond among the

people in the class. Furthermore, if the group option is still available at the Final Challenge, it

was also a very exciting part of the class since everyone was trying their best to ensure that they

got the highest grade possible on the Final Challenge collectively as a group which was an

exhilarating moment. A rewarding aspect of this course is the interview section, where we

learned about how interview questions are asked, how we should answer the interviewer back,

and the specific responses they are most likely looking for. I felt that this was a great thing to

know since most college students are now looking for internships, and interviews are a vital part

of the internship process, which can make or break your career at a specific company. The most

challenging part of the course was keeping track of the assignments since there will be many in

terms of your group activities, individual assignments, and optional assignments as well as

studying for the challenges throughout the semester. Therefore, it is imperative that you create a

schedule for yourself for not only this class but all your classes together, which specifically tells

you what assignment it is, what type it is, and the due date. The least exciting part of the course

is the build-up to each of the challenges since it is pretty challenging since you do not know what

you will be expecting even though there is a study guide which is why, as stated earlier, you

should review the concepts and readings we learned in the weeks prior. Some other comments

that I can make that students should be aware of is that iClicker sometimes will not register that

you had questions answered. Thus, you ensure that you tell someone in the chat if you are on

WebEx and let someone know if you are in person since it is not your fault that iClicker did not

let you answer the question or did not process your answer. Furthermore, it is entirely your

decision on whether you would like to attend remotely or online, and since I prefer online, I

chose to join through WebEx for the whole semester. Also, Professor Nick and the TAs are all

very kind people, and as long as you show respect for them, they will do the same for you.

Therefore, do not be scared to ask questions about anything unless it is already in the syllabus.

Professor Nick will also share details about himself that will directly influence the class, such as

being a Star-Wars fan which was also one of my favorite aspects of the course. I mentioned

earlier that there were study guides. It is also imperative that you look at the study guide in terms

of actually answering the questions rather than just going through the old material and taking

your notes. The study guide breaks down everything into an easy-to-understand manner by

asking specific questions tailored to each unit rather than just going through them by yourself

and taking down too many notes, which will prove a little useless as you are taking a timed

exam. Although the exams are open note and online using iClicker, it is important to note that

you are still being timed while answering the questions. Therefore, looking at the study guide

will help you condense your notes into a shorter format. This will make it easier to reference

during the exam and simultaneously solidify the concepts for you. The last few comments is

about making friends within the course and how it has helped me. During the small group

activities, you will be paired up with people that you do not know, and it is a great opportunity to

make some good friends, such as a friend of mine named Ka, whom I met by being small group

buddies, and now he joined a future a club that I will run. Talking in these small groups is a great

opportunity to discuss the course material and make friends that can later help you if you are

struggling in class or by working on the study guide together instead of doing it all by yourself.

Overall, the course is a great way to get out of your comfort shell by communicating with people

in the class and in your small group through collaboration.

Dear Communications 101 students,

If you are in the Communications 101 Professor Linardopoulos teaches, you are already

making the right decisions to succeed at Rutgers. This class is interesting and covers many topics

needed in any field. This essay will give advice and cover some good decisions you should make

to succeed in this course.

Most Important Things to Know

One thing I regret is not going as above and beyond with the group activities. Our group

did the bare minimum in every activity. We should have put more effort into the format and

creativity. If we had done more with the structure of the activities, we would have probably

gotten more credit. Find a dependable group with similar goals in the course to ensure these

things are done on time and with ease.

Put all the effort you can into every assignment, exam, etc. The instructional team and

Professor Linardopoulos will be able to tell you that you did your best. They will give you the

grade you deserve. They are fair with all the grading they do. So what effort you put into the

specific assignment is what you will get back.

Things to Do Well

Go to all classes, and try not to miss any. Whether you go online or in person, it helps

you do ten times better in your assignments and exams. I would note that I started receiving a

better grade once I started going to in-person classes. Answering the iClicker questions is also

easier to answer when in class because the app is not as laggy. Also, it is a better way to make

connections with people in the class.

Do as many extra credit assignments as you can. This will help you because it will be a

cushion to ensure you get an A in this class. Do not start doing the extra credit in the middle of

the semester. Please learn from my mistakes. Doing it consistently throughout the semester will

make you worry less about if you will get the best grade you can get.

Do not go with the group when doing iClicker questions. Go with your gut because it is

most of the time right. If you go with the group when answering iClicker questions, make sure to

be 100 percent sure that is right and that you actually agree. Many people would fall into the

problems that groupthink would provide when blindly following what the other people in class

say. Lean on your classmates, but do not take everything they say as correct all the time. That is

where you get in trouble.

Make sure to do everything on time and give yourself a good amount of time to study.

Create a detailed list of due dates and be very organized. In terms of studying, reinforcing the

material you learned multiple times ensures that you have the ideas by memory. If you listen to

the lectures, take notes, and read the textbook, it will help ensure that you get a good grade on

the exam.

Most Challenging and Exciting Parts of Com 101

The most challenging part was managing the workload. You have to be diligent and pay

attention to due dates because on certain weeks there could be many of them. I made a detailed

schedule of the due dates to combat this challenge every week. At times this could be

challenging, but in the end, it is rewarding to ensure you do all the assignments and extra credit

you need to be done.

The most exciting part of the class was when we started learning about mass

communication, public relations, public speaking, and interviewing. I liked these units because

they introduced some of the topics I love. These topics I am thinking of getting into when I start

taking classes for my communications major. What we learned was interesting and I wish we

spent more time on it.

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One of the two things I was excited about was the number of extra credit opportunities in

this class. No other class has ever given me the types of opportunities that Professor

Linardopoulos did. Additionally, you probably will not find a class that does this either. The last

thing I was really excited about, and one of the reasons I took the class, was the hyflex format of

the class. We were able to decide which place would be best to be in class or in our homes.

Wish you all the best,

To the future students of COMM 101,

Firstly, I want to start off by saying that you have made a great decision to take this course. It will teach you one of the most important parts of life. The things you will learn will not only be seen in your classroom, but after you finish the course. You are in good hands and Professor Linardopolus will help you become not only a better student but a better person due to how kind and enthusiastic he is. Although I only came here for a core requirement, I will say that this was more than just that. I felt connected with everyone and COMMUNICATIONS 101 really makes you feel that way as well. In the following paragraphs will be listed things that are important to be successful in the course.

I will emphasize the important things you need to know about the course. First off, make sure you attend class because it is graded and participation is a requirement. Whether it be online or in-person, you must be active for the entirety of the 3 hours. On top of just having the participation, Professor Nick hands out extra help to those who go above and beyond in the iClicker questions. All your XP will add up to a designed score at the end of the semester so by going your just doing yourself a favor in not only getting the knowledge but also getting free XP from just attending and answering the questions. DO IT!

Regarding the XP, it is important to mention that there is a lot of extra credit within the course itself. As someone who felt it wasn’t necessary, I definitely overlooked this part and should’ve done more optional extra credit assignments to achieve a better score, yet my stubbornness got to me as I felt there was no need considering my grade was good at the time. The amount of XP you can receive depends on what you do. There is XP for completing surveys, doing posts on topics, doing practice problems which would help you for your upcoming exam, etc. It may seem like a nuisance for some, but trust me when I say this, by doing these extra-credit assignments, your not only going to be more engaged and have better knowledge, but your going to save yourself more time because these optional assignments prepare you for other assignments (one example

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being the practice iClicker questions which your given XP for if correct, but it’s also good practice). The class in itself is not an easy A as everyone might’ve said since a lot of hard work is required. You can’t just go in, skip class, wing the exams and think you’re going to get an A. With that work ethic and mindset, students in COMM 101 will most likely receive a C at best. You must make it an effort to check the calender, do the assignments, study like usual and take the time to read the emails Professor Nick sends you.

In regards to how you can do well in the course, you must make sure you have studied in advance for your exams as well as balancing your schedule. I mention this specifically because this course can be taken online, so many might think they can put this to the side and come back to it, but that is not the case. There are deadlines for this class like any other course, and by not respecting it just because it might be online for you will be catastrophic for your grade. In terms of studying for your upcoming exams, do the iClicker practice problems as some are very similar to the actual exam questions. They help you prepare as they are formatted almost identical. Use all your resources during your study session and do not be that person that has all the slides and notes open because the exam is timed and you can only search for so much before you must select an answer.

In terms of the most exciting and rewarding aspect of the course, I would definitely go ahead and say the group projects were my favorite. I felt it was fun to collaborate with others and get a sense of their work ethic as well. It allowed me to not only meet other people, but also learn from them.

The most challenging part of the course would definitely be the exams. Despite it being open book, the questions are challenging and one must study well in order to do good. You must not only understand the question but the concepts that are applied to it, and thus it isn’t as easy as making an educated guess because they are not formatted to be that way, so be careful.

But beyond that, just make sure you have fun and enjoy this class. I know the things I mentioned might come off as scary, but in the end with enough effort and dedication, this class can be an easy A.

Dear future Comm101 students,

Welcome to the best course you will take this semester and possibly your educational

career as a student. When I say the best, I mean in terms of uniqueness, flexibility, a reliable

instructional team, and a charming professor. Communication 101 has it all, believe it or not. I

know it is hard to believe but realizing that this course is ending made me realize how much I

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enjoyed this class. Whether you’ve signed up for this course because you need a SAS core credit

or looking to become a communications major or enjoy the subject, I believe this class is truly

one of the most beneficial courses you could take.

Essential things you need to know about this course are…

● How beneficial the communication concepts are.

○ Once you apply these concepts to real life makes things very easy.

○ For example, a concept we learned is different types of group

communicators. Learning about group communication has changed my

perspective on how I interact with classmates and sometimes my friends.

○ Another concept that we learned is non‐verbal communication. I love

behavioral science, and communication is significant in the topic.

Therefore, non‐verbal communication is a topic that can be applied to

daily life.

● Be thankful and understanding to your professors.

○ This goes without saying that you should understand all of your

professors, but Prof Nick genuinely takes time out of his day to, for lack

of better words, spoonfeed us. He sends out daily emails that you should

read with plenty of crucial information, like what topics will be covered in

the next class, what we should complete, and what deadlines we should

be aware of.

○ Not only does he spoon‐feed us for directions, but he gives us so many

opportunities to submit late assignments with grace periods

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○ For our exam, he asked us to answer a few questions about how he

formats his exams. He changed how he formatted his questions to make

it easier for us. Specifically, questions like “select all that apply” to “select

three that apply” Be so thankful for professor Nick, that only wants you

to pass.

● Take advantage of and be thankful for the hybrid schedule.

○ This class is conducted in a hybrid manner. You have the choice of

attending class online on Webex or in person.

○ Attendance is mandatory and is logged on from the iClicker app

○ Be patient with any technical difficulties that may occur online. Professor

Nick is trying his best, and only wishes to teach you guys. Be respectful.

● Lectures are recorded.

○ Not only is the class flexible but the lectures are recorded for

convenience. Not every professor does this, but Professor L does and

hopes you use them to your advantage because he only wants you to

pass.

● Buying the textbook…

○ Professor Nick says it can only help you.

○ There is a good amount of note‐taking from the slides

○ Read the articles he sets up

○ There are three group assignments

■ Communication is key

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■ Be CREATIVE

■ Submit on time

■ Be sure to have each answer thoroughly explained

○ Do not get disheartened by the iClicker points

■ Every time you log into iClicker for attendance, it has your points

on the front page. It is kind of embarrassing to see your score

because iClicker questions are not easy to answer do not be

surprised if you get some questions wrong

● Be aware of trick questions

■ For exams, you might have to watch short clips and learn some of

your pop cultures from movies like My Big Fat Greek Wedding and

Star Wars, so know how to manage your time for the tests

Listen up, so this course is fun and easy, but only if you are on top of your work. This is

not something you can leave for the last second. Honestly, the coursework is not a lot. Do not

get intimidated by the syllabus or the instructions. This class is the easiest, laid‐back class ever. I

need to emphasize that I am so grateful for this class because not only do I learn information

that I enjoy, but the atmosphere is very welcoming and kind.

To do well, you need to…

● Buy iClicker

○ Do it, it's mandatory.

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○ Don’t try to find a way around it; just buy it for 15 dollars

○ Here is a tip: when you do iClicker questions for class, screenshot the answers

and study them for the exam

● Create a Facebook/Twitter account to join the communications group with the cool kids

and have the chance to get your comment liked by Professor Nick himself

○ A reflection prompt can be completed in literally two minutes max, so there isn’t

any reason why you would not do it

○ It’s optional to make a video or type up your reflection prompt response

● Have outstanding notes. Copy the slides and COPY FROM THE STUDY GUIDE

The most exciting/rewarding part of communications 101 with Professor Nick is gaining XP.

Almost everything is optional, but there are SO MANY extra credit opportunities. The workload

is not a lot, and it is easy to follow. It is normal to get anxious before exams, but the exams for

this class are relatively short, and you will recognize some questions from the iClicker.

Some exams will have the option of being on iClicker with classmates, helping each other with

the answers, or by yourselves. Although it might seem shocking to take an exam as a whole

class, I at first was not in favor of taking it as a class, as I preferred taking it under my terms.

However, the iClicker exams were very beneficial in

communication skills because students could effectively share answers. If you take the exam at

home alone or communicate with your classmates, the exam is still the same. You need to

study regardless, and the plus side is that every exam is open notes. They are not impossible.

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My first exam was insanely bad‐ communication theory is a difficult chapter‐ but my second

one was much better. The last exam I took with my classmates was Interesting. If you’re trying

your best, the Force will be with you.

Comments I feel future students should be aware of

○ Professor Nick’s favorite drink is a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks

○ His favorite movie is Office Space, but he loves the Star Wars series.

○ Professor Nick was born in Athens, Greece

○ If you are taking this course in the fall, professor Nick gives out Halloween candy

○ Attending in‐person sessions is much more lively than online

○ Enjoy this class and as Professor Nick likes to say, “May the Force be with You”

Dear Comm 101 Student,

First, let me start by welcoming you to this course. I sincerely wish you the best of luck this

semester in this class and all of your other courses. Though this is most likely a required course

to fulfill your core, it shouldn’t be treated as such. If you treat this class as you would treat those

geared towards your major, you will do well and enjoy it. Dr. Nick is a very good professor and

does his best to keep the course interesting for such a large class. The class takes place both in

person in a lecture hall and online via Webex. He gives you the decision as to whether or not you

would like to be in the classroom or not. Either way, the class is very interactive, and he makes

sure to give the online students just as much attention as the ones in the classroom.

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The most important things you need to know about the course in general, along with the

assignments, and readings, are that you really need to focus on things not just in the slides, but

also the supplemental material. The supplemental material is usually found in canvas within each

week’s module. When looking at the supplemental material link you will notice some are optional

and others are required. They have either an “o” for optional or “r” for required next to the

assignment. If anything, you should definitely look at the required material. It is required for a

reason and will more than likely show up on the challenge for that section of the course.

Supplemental material isn’t the only part of the course that has things that are optional and

required. There are a good mix of assignments that are optional as well. Though assignments

may be optional, it is always helpful to do and review them. In the end, they are put there for

your benefit. Additionally, you also need to learn how to work in groups. Group work is a major

component in the class. There will be multiple “small group” assignments throughout the

semester, along with the chance to do a paper or presentation with a group for your big

semester paper. Honestly, group work can be make-or break for your grade. In the beginning of

the semester, Dr. Nick lets you pick your groups before assigning them random, so if you have

friends in the class that you work well with then choose them as your group. If the latter occurs,

then may the force be with you. Luckily if the force was not on your side in the random group

assignments, there is as chance to get your group changed. One of the modules for the course is

how to work in a group and group communication which is very helpful and applicable to real life

and the course.

In order to do well in the course, take every chance you get to do assignments, even if they are

optional. The grading system is not typical to other classes. Rather than having a maximum

number of points you can earn on all of your assignments and rigid letter grades, how well you

do is based on how many XP points you accumulate over the semester. At first, the grading

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system was a bit confusing for me, but it is actually very simple; the more assignments that you

do and the higher quality you do them in, then the more XP points you will get. The more XP you

get, the higher your grade will be.

Besides the obvious reward of being in college and acquiring new knowledge, this class is

particularly rewarding as it is set up democratically. What I mean by that, is that Dr. Nick allows

us to make decisions pertaining to class. For example, we get to choose our small groups, the

avenue for our term project, and we get to vote on other class matters too. One of the most

significant things we decided on as a class was how to take the final challenge. I find this set up

for class quite rewarding because it shows that what we think as a class is important to the

instructional team. At the end of the day, it is a privilege getting to make these types of choices

in a classroom setting!

Though, there are some tough things about this class. For me, the most challenging aspect of this

class were certain types of questions during the challenges. The way the questions are set up are

not copy and pasted definitions from the textbook; they are based on applied knowledge. This

and the large amount of content needed to know for each challenge is quite the challenge. I

think the hardest class concept was the interpersonal communication module. There was a lot of

content and theories within it. Even though interpersonal communication was a bit challenging, it

was one of the most interesting units and it connects emotions to the process of communication.

Communication and emotion are two things that are undoubtedly human. My best advice is to

study your hardest and have confidence in your knowledge.

Overall, this is not a bad course to take. Dr. Nick and the instructional team do a great job at

keeping the course interesting and genuinely have our best interest in mind. If you do everything

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(required and optional) and study hard, you should be fine and have an enjoyable experience in

this class. Best of luck this semester.

Sincerely,

Alex Ramirez

Dear future students of Intro to Communications 101,

I am writing this reflection in hopes that it comes across the possession of a future student of

Dr. Nick. This is an honest firsthand reflection of my experience in taking the course of Introduction to

Communications 101. This is from my personal experience in the fall 2022 semester of the course.

To begin, there are a few things that you will need to know about the course. There are

readings, assignments, and general agendas related to the course. I took the course as I had heard great

reviews about Dr. Nick and the course from previous students who have taken this course as well. The

words of others directly correlated with what I received from the course. That goes to say that you will

still be required to put in effort on you end to excel in the class. There is not much to worry as there is

plenty of extra credit opportunities and Dr. Nick makes the class very enjoyable. The topics in the class

are important as you quickly realize how relevant they are in the real world. Every single moment we are

communicating with one another whether we realize it or not. Communication does not only involve

speaking as there are many other ways to communicate to each other. You will be going into depth

about it so I will not spoil everything about the course.

There are many ways to do well in the course of communications 101. An insight I can give a

student taking the course would be to pay attention. To get a better letter grade make sure to do the

extended opportunities that Dr. Nick provides each student with. There are always reflections on exams

and extra practice problems to help each student. You can consider these as extra credit opportunities

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which they are however the practice problems give you familiarity for what you can possibly expect in

the exam. Do not solely rely on these opportunities as you will still need to do your part to do the best

you can in the course. That means attending all the classes and paying attention to all the material

presented in class. Do not be worried as the material presented in the class is very worthwhile. There

are many videos we watch in class that relate to communications that I found very entertaining. We

watched videos from The Office, Office Space, etc. All of these were helpful but above all it made the

course interesting with the different ways in which communications are used. You should be going over

the class lectures as well as any additional information that is provided to benefit your grade. Before

every exam make a study guide and try to follow the one that is provided as that is what I used to obtain

a good letter grade for the course. Do not be shy just reach out to your teacher assistants or Dr. Nick if

you have any questions regarding the course or any of the material that is causing you some trouble.

Being on top of your things is the best way in which you can learn from this course and obtain a high

letter grade. There should be no reason that you fail this course as there are many variables put into

place to help you succeed as a student and as a person.

There are many exciting and rewarding aspects about the course. The most exciting aspect for

me was that I could see how communication is used every day. Whether you pay mind to it or not you

are constantly communicating. It could be the way in which you speak, your body language, or even

talking to someone on the phone. There are many ways communications apply to your everyday life.

Prior to taking the course I did not pay much attention to how us as humans can communicate. I knew it

was verbally but there are many more things that go into it. To me it is very exciting to learn things

about humans as I believe we are very complex. I think any other student reading this could also feel this

way as emotions and communications are what make us human. What was rewarding to me in this class

mainly would be the impact it had on me. Apart from this course helping me dive into the usage of

communications every day, I feel it helped me out with my interpersonal skills as well. I have not really

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realized how much really goes into your presentation. The way in which you present yourself matters a

great deal and being fluent in communicating is a great skill to have. What to wear and how to

communicate with others should be important to all. It was rewarding at the fact that now I have a new

sense of how I present myself to people that I get to meet for the first time from here on out.

There were however some not so exciting and not so rewarding moments in this course. What

was not exciting to me was taking the challenges as I share that with every class. For those of you

reading the challenges are what the exams are called. Naming it a challenge is a bit less intimidating

than saying exams. The exams were not impossible the thing is that I get a bit anxious over having to

take exams for classes. That is the same view that I share with every class I have taken so far at Rutgers.

It was not very rewarding in some assignments in which we had to work with group members. I love

working with people however there was some general discourse throughout the assignments. It became

slightly infuriating trying to get some in your group to work on their parts with the rest of the group. The

assignments were still done however it could be seen that some put in more of an effort than others to

achieve the highest possible grade. It is not rewarding when you put in a good amount of effort into the

course and your grade does not reflect your effort. I have run into these problems in other classes and

know I will run into these problems in my professional career in the future. Overall, there are not many

non‐rewarding or not exciting aspects in this course. Everything in this class to me was rewarding and

exciting as the content was something that intrigued me prior to having taken this course.

There are a few comments I would like to leave a student that is reading this with. This course is

a must take at Rutgers not only because of the class but also because of the professor. Dr. Nick is

perhaps one of the most enthusiastic teachers I have taken in my time at Rutgers and being a senior, I

have had quite a few professors. He is very easygoing, and his content is very relatable you will not

regret taking this course. I only took this class remotely however I felt unaffected by not taking it

present in class. The course seemed the same in person and online as we used a program known as

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Iclicker for our assignments. Dr. Nick made sure to treat his online and present class the same and the

course material was the same for everyone. Whether you choose to take the class online or to be

present your experience will be no different. Well perhaps the last day of class there is a surprise that

everyone should show up for . I would not mind retaking this course or taking an even more advanced

level of this course If Dr. Nick was the one teaching it.

Does Introduction to Communication and Information Processes a unique and unrepeatable class? The truth is, I have never had a class so attractive in many aspects in all my life, just until the last day, it was full of surprises, laughter, and tranquility. Nevertheless, do not get me wrong, to do well in this class, you must be responsible, active, and have the best disposition to absorb all the information that Professor Nick shares with his students.

Responsibility is one of the essential keys. Throughout the course, there are many curricular activities but also extra credit activities. Here is where you should take advantage of all the opportunities the professor gives you since you may need them when you take the exams. Also, in each class, the professor uses an application called Iclicker, where he evaluates if you understand what he is explaining and what he explained in the previous class. Therefore, to be prepared, all the recorded professor's lectures are on canvas. You should review them before each class and take notes so you will do well with your Iclicker grades. On the other hand, the assignments are very accurate. Because you will apply what you have learned throughout the assignments, they are also very didactic, and you will enjoy them. It is not a boring class, that is for sure.

In order to get an excellent grade at the end of the semester, you must be very active in class. I mean not missing the lectures, doing all the curricular and extra credit activities, and participating in Iclicker. Every time you have class, try to watch the video on canvas and take notes. That will help you a lot when the day of the exam arrives. Since the professor gives a study guide with questions about the concepts you must be clear about to present a successful exam. So, the notes will help you to complete the guide and have more time to study instead of leaving everything for the last. Also, be very creative in delivering your papers because that will help you earn extra points.

Your disposition in class will help you enjoy the class. By this, I mean that it is not the typical class where the professor is the only one who always talks. Here the student participation is important, sometimes it can make you a little nervous, but you will surely lose them along the way because literally, all the students in the class become a team in which we all help each other to get good grades. During my class, I appreciated being able to interact with students again after a long period of isolation due to covid 19. I mean more than just the interaction in person. Thanks to this class, even people who attend

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online can achieve high interaction and integration with students and the professor in the class.

The most challenging part of the course was finding out how to study for the exams. Since my mistake was not taking notes after each lecture at the beginning, so when the exam day came, I spent more time taking notes from the videos on canvas than studying. For that reason, as you have class, you should take notes to have more time to study when the exam day arrives.

Finally, even if it is a course offered in person and hybrid modalities, I encourage you to take the class in person because student-student interaction and student-professor interaction grow. However, the virtual class is very well prepared. Professor Nick is very inclusive during the class, not only listening to the student's comments in the classroom but also answering questions from remote people. You almost do not feel the difference.

Dear Future Intro to Comm and Info 101 students,

The most important thing that you need to know about the course, assignments, and readings is that XP is behind almost everything. Every single assignment that you do in this class will hold some value of XP that will lead you closer and closer to everyone’s goal in the class: Achieving Senior Level Jedi Master. Though Grades are non-negotiable as noted in the class syllabus (please make sure to read the syllabus), there are numerous amounts of opportunities to earn XP besides the required assignments. Another important thing to keep note of is that taking advantage of the additional XP early in the course will make things less stressful towards the end of the semester and you may find yourself having to do less work as the semester comes to an end.

In order to do well in the course, you should strive to complete every single required assignment on time and complete them with what you deem high-quality. In an ideal scenario, a student with enough time should strive to complete every single optional assignment as well, as it will only increase your XP. I cannot stress enough the importance of these optional assignments that give XP because they are literally grade-saving and grade-changing. During IClicker Sessions, you should make sure to pay attention, especially, if you are online as it can be incredibly easy to get distracted and miss important information that will help you answer IClicker questions later on in the lecture. I would also highly recommend reviewing the lecture slides which are always posted on Canvas after a lecture because it helps tremendously with absorbing what you have just learned and will only make studying later on for the challenges easier.

In my opinion, the most exciting/rewarding aspect of the class was getting IClicker questions correct. There is just something about getting IClicker questions right during a lecture that makes one feel good about themselves. I genuinely really enjoyed the IClicker format of the course which not only allowed for one to be more attentive during lectures but also helps in retaining the information that is being taught. It is very rewarding knowing that at the end of a certain lecture when you get all the questions right for that specific lecture you understood and grasped

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the information that was taught. I think that a high score on each IClicker set for each lecture gives a sort of benchmark that shows you how well you might have understood the lecture which helps when needing to know how much you should study.

The Most challenging/least exciting aspect of this course was probably the group assignments which involved working on a specific assignment with a randomly assigned group. Although I would not say it was the least exciting aspect of this course, as I do not believe that anything in this course was truly unexciting, the group assignments were definitely the most challenging for me. I was assigned the position of the leader, not by choice but by circumstance as I like to joke, but it proved to be more challenging than I had initially thought. For me, it was challenging to find a time that suited all my group members as they each have their own lives and different responsibilities, as well as challenging to distribute even and fair work to each group member. For people that do become the leader of their group, I highly recommend that you find the contacts of your group members as soon as possible and use a text messaging app such as GroupMe to communicate with each other, as it makes it incredibly easier to get assignments done and make a coherent and efficient schedule for everyone to meet up and actually get work done. Another reason why I found Group assignments challenging is that I am the type of person to want to try to get certain assignments out of the way early but because the assignments depend so much on your group members that was certainly not always possible.

As for any comments that I feel that future students should be aware of is that the hyflex format of Intro to Comm and Info 101, makes the class one of the most flexible classes that you will ever take here at Rutgers. I personally think that the hyflex format of the class, which gives the student the option and choice to attend a physical lecture in the classroom or attend the online session of the lecture, makes it difficult for a student to miss class. Of course, there are always genuine reasons why one can not or is unable to attend class, but for the most part, attending class is made only easier by the hyflex format. I would also like to add that in my opinion, attending class online made it extremely easy to ask questions to the various TA’s in chat, and made me stay more organized in terms of taking notes and answering the iClicker questions straight from my desktop. If you prefer to attend a physical lecture please make sure to download the iClicker App on your phone as it will make answering the questions easier. Overall, stay attentive to your XP points and try your best in class.

Best Wishes and Good Luck,

Former Comm 101 Student

To do well in Communications, there are a few simple steps you need to take that don’t require much

effort on part of the student. Some of these recommendations are not just specific to Communications

and can be applied to any other courses you (the students) are taking. In Communications, the most

important thing is to actively participate in the iClicker questions. They are a huge percentage of your

total grade, they offer a lot of insight and learning potential for the exams (challenges), and are pretty

easy to participate and do well in. Furthermore, I highly recommend that students find a group that they

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know will get work done for the group projects. Since Professor Nick recognizes that most group

situations have an unbalanced amount of work done by students in the group, it is important to

recognize that no leniency is really given when students are in inefficient groups. Due to this, I highly

recommend that students find a group where they can split the work up well and have a leader that is

generally on top of deadlines so they can get assignments submitted on time. Since there is a good

amount of group work done in the class, it is also important to have a good line of communication

between the rest of your groupmates. For me, my group and I had a text message group chat that

helped us coordinate times to discuss assignments, split up work, and communicate when assignments

were going to be submitted by the group leader. This generally helped us all perform better on

assignments and get them done on time without any issues. The last thing I can recommend that all

students should do is take some general notes on the terms that Professor Nick discusses on the slides.

They are useful to have when it’s time to study for the exams since you have something you can look

back on to understand key terms. As always, it is key to just keep track of when things are due and get at

least some sort of it done. Staying on top of assignments will go a long way in getting a good grade and

something that I should’ve paid a little bit more attention to, not just in Communications but in all of my

other classes in general. Things like the optional extra credit assignments are great to take advantage of

because they are free points that can add on to your final grade later and will help you avoid doing

things like writing this 3 page reflection essay at the end of the semester when you’re scrambling for

extra points.

The most exciting parts of this course are the group work for sure. I was lucky enough to know two

people in my group before the class started, and thanks to them I was able to meet a few other people

in the class that I got the opportunity to learn and work with. The group work was easy because we had

a good line of communication and all of us were easily accessible. All of us had a semblance of

responsibility and doing the assignments was easy because we all did our part which made a small

contribution for each person. Having a responsible group leader that was on top of submissions was also

very helpful and made the group activity portion of the class very enjoyable.

The most challenging part of the course were the three hour lectures. Luckily, I was able to attend them

virtually on Webex, but it was still a mental hurdle to force myself to sit down and concentrate on

lectures for the full three hours. Although I can appreciate the fact that the class only meets once a

week due to this, it is still something I strongly struggled with. For me personally, lectures have always

been something difficult to endure because of the lack of engagement that I have in the situation. I am

usually bad at just watching videos or observing something because I can easily get distracted and drift

off somewhere in my head. The only thing that sort of helped keep me more engaged were the iClicker

questions because I had to actively think about the problems and how to answer them properly. This is

honestly more of a personal problem than something I can say needs to be improved in the class itself.

There are no real alternatives to lectures not being as engaging as I would want them to be because

everybody learns differently and some people prefer lectures and listening to people speak and explain

concepts for extended periods of time.

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Some additional comments I would like to add for all the students taking this course. The class is

definitely not super difficult and it is fairly easy to get a good grade. Like I mentioned earlier, but want to

take the chance to reiterate on, paying attention to assignment dues dates and taking advantage of the

optional assignments are the best things any student can do.

Hey future Comms 101er!

My name is Anushka and I took Communications as one of the requirements to get into the

School of Communication and Information. I’m currently pursuing a Computer Science, BA

along with ITI major in web design and development. I’m sharing this information because I

want you to know that my only need and wish to take this course was simply for a requirement.

Therefore, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into nor did I really care as it was

simply a requirement. However, I’m very much so pleased to announce that if you’re in my

shoes now, that thought process will definitely change by the end of the semester. Since the first

day, in-person where Professor Nick officially taught, I knew this class was something else. In a

very good way. He had this passion about the class that was very easily observable and I admire

that about teachers. The most important things that you need to know about the assignments are

to do them. I know, duh–but honestly, most of his required class work is small group activities

and everything else was mainly optional. Even then, they barely took that much time or effort to

do, for example the reflectional round prompts, they were based on one question and you had the

option to do it written through a post online or send a video replying to the question. You would

have a whole week to do this and then you would earn extra credit points. So, if you end up

doing badly on the exams, all you gotta do is just put some more effort in these optional

assignments and then you’re good. In order to do well in the course you should seriously pay

attention in class and put effort in the assignments. The exams are a bit difficult but if you do

those two things then you’ll be solid. I know the three hour long class can seem way too long to

keep your attention but Professor Nick tries his best to be entertaining through adding videos in

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his lecture and overall being enthusiastic and funny. I struggled a lot with paying attention in

class sometimes but thanks to the format of the class, I had the option to rewatch his specific

lecture or the actual class recording–which I definitely took advantage of to study for exams. The

most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course is being able to interact with classmates

through iClicker votes or even small group activities. The most challenging/least exciting aspect

of the course is getting used to the long class period and the exams. The long class period was

especially tough for me since I tend to zone out a lot or get distracted easily, however, as

mentioned previously, Professor Nick had the option available where we could either watch the

specific lecture or the actual class recording. The exams weren’t as bad considering they often

take a while to get used to no matter what class. For this, all you need to be aware of is his

wording and to prep a lot beforehand. Watch his lecture recording, pay attention in class, and

read the questions carefully and you’ll be fine. With this, I wish y’all good luck and may the

force be with you.

Dear Class,

Honestly, this is one of the best classes you can take in the School of Communication and

Information. I know some of you might be freshmen, while some might be in other years, but

here are some tips that I would like to share with you all. First, everything that Professor Nick

assigns you is very important, whether it is optional or required. There is a reason why there is

so much optional work that Professor Nick hands out and the reason behind that is he wants

every one of you to do really well in his class. Along with that, all of the materials in this class,

whether it’s assignments or reading, are extremely important. I know sometimes we just get

very lazy and we tend to just skip one material by convincing ourselves that we will finish the

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rest tomorrow or another day, but trust me that’s just a lie. That tomorrow never comes. So

just try finishing whatever he assigns the same day or some time right after. These

readings/materials will definitely help during the exam. I personally found all of the materials

the Professor had assigned to us to be very helpful during the exams which are known as the

“challenges” in this class. The assignments aren’t just helpful in class but they are very helpful

outside of class too. All the materials we learned in class are used in our daily lives as well.

One important thing to keep in mind is that these course materials come from the powerpoint

Professor Nick goes over in class. After reading the materials or doing the coursework, you will

get a better understanding of each chapter. This is the key to succeed in this class. It is very

important to review every chapter and powerpoint slides Professor Nick has gone over in and

outside of class too, just so you can get a better understanding of each material. To make sure

you are understanding the material, I highly recommend completing the optional work because

they give extra points that will help boost your grades at the end. Along with finishing the

required/optional work, attendance is definitely mandatory. Even though there is no actual

attendance being taken, the way it works is that we get iClicker questions during the mid class

sessions, where we answer questions that come right from the material we learned in class. So

make sure you attend this class as much as possible and definitely participate in the iClickers as

much as you can. Try not to just guess; actually give it your best effort and try using the skills

and knowledge you’ve gained from the class materials and the Professor’s slides. These points

from the iClicker definitely add up and will play a big role in your final grade. In order to do well

in this class, another thing you must pay attention to has to be the group assignments. Make

sure you guys pick the best group with individuals that will actually put in work and motivate

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you to do so as well. There will be many assignments that will require group work and these

assignments will be graded. The points earned will be based on your effort and how well you

did answering the questions. It is almost unlikely that one can skip the materials and do really

well in the group work assignments, so save yourself that trouble and just work as a team and

answer the questions very well and include as much information as you can that relates to the

materials.

I know this letter might scare some of you but trust me, it is not as hard as it sounds. Just don’t

take this course as a joke and you'll be good to go. This course is definitely very exciting and I

always looked forward to going to class every week. Even though I had an online session, it was

so convenient because regardless of where I was, I could always attend class and participate in

the activities. If possible, I would recommend taking the remote delivery option especially if you

live far. That being said, one thing for sure is that this class is definitely rewarding and exciting.

Professor Nick always told us students one thing and that was: everyone earns their grades. In

my opinion, the most exciting part of this class has to be watching the clips Professor Nick

would put up that will go hand in hand with the materials. The clips are usually really

interesting (such as “Office Space”) and sometimes we can relate to those clips because, as

students, we go through a lot of the similar things that are shown in Office Space. We also

watch movies in this class. The best part about watching the movies is that we get to decide

what movie we should watch. That is actually very nice of Professor Nick to allow us to pick our

own movie and we just watch it together as a class. Honestly, it works as a good stress reliever

too because you come in class and you get to watch a very interesting movie that teaches you

exactly what you are learning in class. For example, we all watched “Captain Sully'' together,

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which was an amazing movie in my opinion. Another exciting thing has to be doing the optional

extra XP assignments, where we actually log on to Facebook/Twitter and answer weekly

questions. We get to see exactly what our classmates are answering and some of those

responses are very funny. In addition, we get to vote for the best response and we pick who the

winner is. Another activity we can do to get more XP is by making a video of yourself to answer

the same questions. This is great for those that feel more comfortable talking rather than going

on social media platforms to write down your responses. These activities are definitely very

exciting and if you take part in these activities, then trust me you will have a lot of fun. They are

also very rewarding because the XP earned from winning these activities are incredible.

No matter what we do or what class we go in, there will always be easy and exciting activities

along with the least exciting and challenging activities. In my opinion, the least exciting and

most challenging activities have to be doing the challenges (exams). In this semester, we had

three challenges that consisted of true/false and multiple choice answers. Trust me, those

challenges were not a joke and we definitely had to study really hard for those challenges. Even

though the challenges were open book/notes, if you do not understand the material then the

powerpoints won't really make that big of a difference. I, myself, took the first challenge

without studying too much of the material because I thought I had enough time to just look

back at the powerpoints and ace the challenge just like that. In reality, I actually scored a 79 on

the exam, only because I wasn’t really sure what some of the materials were saying. The

questions that I got right were only because I paid attention in class and read those materials.

So, one piece of advice will be that you should actually understand the material, rather than

relying on the powerpoints and then the challenges won't be that much of a problem and this

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course will actually be very easy for you. These are some of the tips that I wish I knew before

and would like for all of you to definitely take this into consideration and make sure you guys

have fun. Last but not least, Professor Nick never gives us any opportunity to miss any of his

assignments because he will email ahead of time to remind us exactly what is due and when we

should start submitting our assignments. So thank you Professor Nick.

The course on Introduction to Communication and Information at Rutgers University

aims to provide students with a foundational understanding of the various forms of

communication and the role of information in modern society. This course covers a wide range

of topics, including the history and evolution of communication technologies, the impact of the

internet on communication, and the ethical considerations surrounding the use and dissemination

of information.

One of the most important things to know about this course is that it is designed to be

highly interactive and hands-on. In addition to traditional lectures and readings, students will be

expected to participate in group discussions, projects, and other activities that will help them to

better understand the material and apply it in real-world contexts.

Another important aspect of this course is the importance of completing assignments and

readings on time. The assignments and readings in this course are designed to build upon one

another, so it is essential that students stay on top of their work in order to fully understand the

material. In addition, timely completion of assignments is important for developing good study

habits and preparing for future coursework.

One strategy for staying on top of assignments and readings is to create a schedule and

stick to it. This may involve setting aside specific times each week for completing coursework,

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as well as breaking larger assignments into smaller, more manageable tasks. It is also helpful to

ask for help when needed, whether it be from the instructor, a tutor, or a study group.

Another important aspect of this course is the emphasis on ethical considerations in

communication and information. In today's digital age, it is easy for information to spread

rapidly and widely, and it is important to understand the potential consequences of sharing

information. This includes understanding the importance of citing sources correctly and

considering the impact of one's words and actions on others.

Additionally, students will also explore the ethical considerations surrounding privacy,

surveillance, and the role of technology in society. This may involve examining issues such as

online harassment, misinformation, and the use of personal data.

Overall, the course on Introduction to Communication and Information at Rutgers

University is designed to provide students with a foundational understanding of the various

forms of communication and the role of information in modern society. By participating in

interactive activities, staying on top of assignments and readings, and considering ethical

considerations, students will be well-prepared to succeed in this course and in their future

studies.

To do well in an intro to communication and information course at Rutgers, there are a few key

things you should consider doing:

1. Attend all lectures and take thorough notes: Attending lectures and actively taking notes

is one of the most important things you can do to succeed in any course. By attending

lectures, you'll have the opportunity to hear lectures in person and ask questions, which

can help you better understand the material. Taking thorough notes during lectures also

allows you to review and reinforce your understanding of the material later on.

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2. Participate in class discussions: Communication courses often involve class discussions

and group activities, so it's important to actively participate in these discussions. By

contributing to class discussions, you'll have the opportunity to share your thoughts and

ideas with your peers, which can help you better understand the material and build your

communication skills.

3. Stay organized and manage your time effectively: Managing your time effectively is

crucial for success in any course. Make sure to set aside dedicated time for studying and

completing assignments, and use tools like calendars and to-do lists to stay organized and

on top of your responsibilities.

4. Seek out additional resources: In addition to the materials provided in class, there are

often additional resources available that can help you better understand the material.

These might include textbooks, online tutorials, or study guides. Make use of these

resources to supplement your understanding of the material and get ahead.

5. Ask for help if you need it: If you're struggling with the material, don't be afraid to ask

for help. Your professors and TA's are there to support you and are usually happy to

provide additional support if you need it. You can also seek out help from your peers or

tutors if you feel like you need additional support.

By following these tips, you'll be well on your way to success in your intro to communication

and information course at Rutgers.

One of the most exciting aspects of the intro to communication course at Rutgers taught

by Nikolaus Linardopoulos is the opportunity to learn about the various ways in which people

communicate with one another. This course covers a wide range of communication topics,

including verbal and nonverbal communication, interpersonal communication, and

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communication in groups and organizations. Through lectures, discussions, and activities,

students will have the opportunity to explore the many different facets of communication and

how they impact our daily lives.

Another exciting aspect of this course is the opportunity to develop and improve your

own communication skills. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, there is always

room to improve your communication skills, and this course provides a structured environment

in which to do so. You'll have the chance to practice your communication skills through class

discussions, group activities, and perhaps even a presentation or two. By the end of the course,

you'll have a deeper understanding of how to effectively communicate with others, which can be

a valuable asset in both your personal and professional life.

While the intro to communication course at Rutgers has many exciting aspects, it also has

its challenges. One of the most challenging aspects of this course is that it covers a lot of material

in a relatively short period of time. With lectures, discussions, and assignments all competing for

your attention, it can be tough to keep up with everything that's being covered. To succeed in this

course, you'll need to be organized, manage your time effectively, and stay on top of your

assignments.

Another challenge of this course is that it requires a lot of active participation.

Communication courses often involve class discussions and group activities, and to succeed,

you'll need to be an active participant in these discussions and activities. This can be

intimidating, especially if you're shy or not used to speaking up in class. However, by actively

participating in class, you'll have the opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas with your

peers, which can help you better understand the material and build your communication skills.

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Overall, the intro to communication course at Rutgers taught by Nikolaus Linardopoulos

is an exciting and challenging course that offers a wealth of opportunities to learn about

communication and improve your own communication skills. If you're up for the challenge, this

course can be a rewarding and enriching experience.

Are you ready to use the power of the force and become a Master Jedi? You’re not sure?

That’s okay! I was in the same position. Although, I can reassure you that you made the best

decision by taking Intro to Communications with Dr. Linardopoulos. He was one of the

professors that really stood out to me among all my professors, especially having him in my first

semester here at Rutgers. I know it sounds like too much having a three-hour class, but Dr.

Nick’s amazing and joyful energy makes the three hours worth it. He always makes lectures

enjoyable and provides interesting clips to watch that relates to the topic. There are also teacher

assistants who are available throughout the week, whether it is during class or outside of class.

Some word of advice before diving into the class is that it is essential to the course to

have an open mind as it covers many topics that can be subject to opinion. If you are not the best

note taker, I suggest finding ways to improve your skills because this class is based on the notes

you take. However, the in-person lectures are recorded and there are old recordings of Dr. Nick

that you can also find in the modules. Make great use of them!!! If you stay on top of your notes,

you will do well in your tests and you will be on the right track to becoming a Master Jedi.

Throughout the course, I experienced some rewarding moments as well as challenging

ones. One of my most rewarding moments would be working on a small group assignment and

being able to work with everyone. Although, it was challenging at first because I was afraid that

we would not get it done. The first time I contacted my groupmates, nobody responded to me

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and it was for the very first assignment where everyone had to put in information about

themselves. Gladly enough, we all were able to put our input and work on it together. This really

shows how the power of communication comes a long way, and that it takes one person to act as

a guide for everyone. Another challenging aspect about the course was managing the workload

and catching up on notes while doing work for my other classes. It was difficult enough not

being the best at time management, so I often worked from deadline to deadline. Please do not

do that! I believe that you can do better, and I hope you believe in yourself, too.

Overall, I enjoyed the time that I had being in this class and if I were given the chance to

do it all over again, I would. Dr. Nick and his TA’s are all there to help and support you in any

way they can. There are also so many extra credit opportunities that you can partake in, so please

take advantage of that. Other than that, enjoy the class and stay on top of your work. Most

importantly, never forget to take care of yourself and take needed breaks, you are more than

deserving of that. I hope you have an amazing semester and may the force be with you!

Introduction to Communication and Information Processes with Professor Nick was an

interesting experience to say the least. This was my first time taking a course within the School

of Communication and Information and I firmly believe that Professor Nick’s method of

conducting this course was a great factor in my consideration of applying to SCI at the end of the

Fall 2022 semester. The most important thing that an incoming student should know about this

course is that even if they don’t necessarily know anything about communication as a field of

study, there is no reason to be intimidated by that. Professor Nick and the TAs are great

resources and they will help any student along the way. In order to do well in this course, I

would say the extra credit assignments are the most important assignments a student should

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complete. Along with that, being able to apply textbook concepts to real life situations also

comes in handy during the exams. The most rewarding aspect of this class is that even though the

exams can really bring one’s grade down by a lot, there is always, always room for improvement

mainly because Professor Nick is extremely generous with extra credit and even grace points for

the exams. Additionally, I found the video discussions to be very fun to complete as well. As

always, the challenges/exams are the most challenging aspect of this class. For me, they were

unexpectedly difficult and I didn’t perform as well as I thought I did on any of them. They made

me realize that studying from the textbook was almost never enough, which is another thing

students should keep in mind. Apart from the course content itself, I personally really enjoyed

having the option to either go to class in-person or join from Webex. Even though I attended

almost every class in-person, it was nice having the option to join from the comfort of my own

home when I didn’t feel the best. More importantly, the fact that every lecture was recorded

made it much easier for me to catch up and make up for my lost participation points.

Additionally, the fact that every lecture was recorded and Panopto’s search feature allowed every

student to rewatch certain parts of every lecture for clarification, which was also very useful. The

hybrid format of this course was personally very beneficial for me and I think it was the same for

almost everybody in this course. Overall, the main thing students should be aware of is the

difficulty of the exams. Yes, they are difficult, but one can always, always make up the lost

points through every extra credit opportunity - trust me, they can make or break your grade.

Future students of COM 101, are you ready to bring balance to the Force? I hope this letter serves you well because the information I will give about Dr. Nick’s class can help you succeed in his hyflex format. Before I begin, I would like to say that this course is beneficial for prospective classes and careers. Communication is all around us. From our paralanguage to our body language, we are always communicating. Learning about interpersonal, group, and intercultural communication as a few topics helped me understand that everything is in a full circle to the fundamentals of communication that you will learn first in this class. Honestly, I very much enjoyed this class and the knowledge I have acquired helped me in my other courses

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for presenting and building relationships with other students. In this letter, I will advise how to approach the class and bring balance to the Force! You will all be Jedi Knights!

The number one thing to know about this course is if you do not attend class, you will not pass. Fortunately, this course has a hyflex option: in-person or online on Webex. So, if you cannot attend class in person, there is an online option to log in wherever you are. Dr. Nick has iClicker assignments during class sessions to earn XP toward your grade. It is one of the easiest ways to earn XP because participating in the iClicker questions will get you points. If you answer correctly in the questions, you will receive more points on top of the amount given for participation. It is a win-win. Also, attending the class will allow you time to ask questions, interact with classmates, and it is fun.

Another important thing about the class is there are reflection prompts to participate in to gain XP points, but also it helps with active recall for understanding the communication concepts of the week. For example, a prompt would say, “Describe RU culture from an intercultural communication perspective.” You can answer in a video on Flipgrid or write a written response on the Facebook group page. It is a wonderful way to see how your classmates respond and test yourself on the content of real-life applications.

Build on your study habits! I cannot stress this enough. The challenge (test) format is not what you think it is. Do not be afraid to ask questions during class or email the teacher assistants during your downtime. Review the recorded lectures under the modules and take extensive notes since all the challenges will be open-book/open-notes. The last thing Dr.Nick wants to do is surprise students with questions. Most of the study guide’s topics will be on challenges, so prepare for questions that apply to real-life situations. The iClicker questions reflect the challenge questions to give you a sense of what to expect. When Dr.Nick says to start studying now for a challenge, start right away!

To do well in this course, complete as many optional assignments as possible! Because the grading system is based on the number of XP points, completing the optional assignments will give you XP points. For example, the reflection prompts are optional. If you do the Flipgrid option and answer the prompt, you will receive three points. Another example is Dr.Nick allows students to write questions for the challenges in a “Challenge Contest” assignment. Based on if your question is selected, you will receive XP points. Throughout the course, there are plenty of opportunities to gain XP points besides the primary assignments illustrated on the syllabus. The points accumulate very quickly. The more optional assignments you do, the better!

The most rewarding aspect of this course is collaborating with the students. In the beginning of the course, we are put into small groups for small group activities. The small groups give the students the opportunity to learn from each other and practice group and organizational communication. For example, the group leader can decide to lead in a traditional model (strict, well-defined task, downward communication) or a human resources model (grapevine, downward and horizontal communication). When completing the assignments, we can be as creative as we want if we answer the questions. We get to create team names and have fun with the activities. Besides the small groups, the class sessions are very collaborative. As Dr. Nick is instructing in-person, we can see the chat from the online folks. It is hilarious when they comment on the content and make jokes about the iClicker questions as we do them.

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The most challenging aspect of the course is making sure you are up to date with assignments. There are a lot of optional assignments and sometimes you may miss the deadline for one or many at a time. That is why Dr.Nick’s weekly updates help prepare students on the agenda of the class session and upcoming assignments. Do not ignore those updates. Time management is key in this course and of course communicating with the instructor and instructional team about your concerns.

Take a deep breath and approach this class as best as you can. It may seem a lot thrown at you all at once but staying on top of your work will benefit you in the end. This course has a great format to learn about the communication discipline. We learn the discipline while also applying it in our assignments, small group activities, and reflection prompts at the same time.

To new COM 101 students,

Intro Comm and Info is an extremely useful course to take as a student. Whether you are fulfilling a requirement, curious, or anything else, this course will teach you concepts and advice that can be applied in your personal and professional life. Professor Nick is one of the most enthusiastic and patient professors I have had the pleasure of knowing and I am sure he will walk you through the semester as he has for us this semester.

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the course/ assignments/ readings:

There are a lot of assignments and information given each week and it can seem overwhelming at first. However, it all can be done in a reasonable amount of time through clear organization, scheduling, and refraining from procrastination. College is a time where most students experience their first real chance of independence, but that also means learning to stay organized and stay on top of your work. This is really important in COM 101, as there are a lot of different assignments. My best advice for you is to keep a calendar that is easily accessible and mark down all the assignments due either from the syllabus or the weekly updates on Canvas. Professor Nick is also extremely helpful in sending constant reminders and emails letting you know if there are any upcoming deadlines. It is important to read those and make sure you did not miss out on anything. Also, if you can, join a group chat or find a way to open a channel of communication between your classmates. One other thing to note is that a lot of the assignments posted each week are optional extra credit work. However, I highly encourage you to complete them as well. I will talk about this more at length later on.

Another big part of COM 101 assignments are small group work. At the beginning of the semester, Professor Nick allows students to choose their partners, so make sure you pick people that you can envision yourself working well with. Whether online or in person, communicating with your group is important throughout the course (it is a communications course). If you are exclusively asynchronous, it also allows you to connect with other students in the class. Finally, the biggest advice for you when your group is deciding on a group leader is to choose someone who is responsible, driven, and patient.

In order to do well in the course:

You should seize all opportunities to increase your XP in the course, especially through extra credit opportunities. Professor Nick gives every opportunity for students to obtain points in order to boost your grade. Thus, there are a lot of extra credit assignments released every week labeled under optional. It can be easy to ignore these assignments because these are an option, but the best advice for this course is to

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complete them. Extra credit assignments usually entail quick assignments that do not take too long and further enhances your understanding of concepts in this course. In the long run, it will help your understanding and ultimately increase your chances of earning a higher grade in challenges. Although these small assignments do not seem like they offer much in terms of weight, if you complete all or most of the extra credit, it will drastically improve your overall grade by the end of the semester in the grand scheme of things.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course:

As I have briefly mentioned in the introduction of this letter, the most exciting and rewarding aspect of this course is its profitableness in your lives. Communication is something every person and animal does, whether verbal or nonverbal. As you learn more about the structures and concepts of communication, you will find yourself spotting it all around you. Also, this course teaches beyond solely learning the science of communication; students learn how to utilize communication to elevate the way they talk to others and portray themselves. This information can help strengthen your relationships, whether with your friends and family, or coworkers and bosses. You can also take this knowledge and improve your body language and give a better impression of yourself to others. Most importantly, as students, you will learn to better communicate with recruiters and employers as well as properly interact in interviews.

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course:

The challenges (exams) and all other assignments are open notes. However, solely having good notes will not be enough for you to do well on these challenges. As I am sure you know by now, Communication is not just an academic study, but also real world concepts. The most challenging aspect of this course is probably ensuring you thoroughly understand each concept. Challenges often have scenario based questions, meaning you won’t find the direct question and answer in your notes. You will have to apply your knowledge in different situations and examples. This can be challenging, however, it is possible to ace all of your work. My best advice on how to combat these challenges is to actively participate in the IClicker questions each class and ensure that you understand each concept very well.

In conclusion, it is a very smart choice to take this course and I am sure you will do fantastically. It may seem overwhelming at first, but Professor Nick is very reasonable and understanding. He will help guide you through each aspect of this class. You will have many opportunities to improve your grade, and I suggest that you put in the effort to do well.

Dear Future Comm 101 Student,

My name is Olivia and I was in your very position last semester. This is my letter to you telling you how to pass this class. Now, you might be thinking, Comm 101 is going to be an easy A. I used to be that naive too. I am going to keep this very real with you because it is better for you to hear the hard truth now than when it’s nearing the end of the semester and you don’t know why you are almost failing this class (not saying that’s going to be you, of course, I am speaking from experience). So let’s get into it. Consider this my Ned’s Declassified Comm 101 Survival Guide.

The first piece of advice I have for you is to do every assignment, read/watch the supplemental materials, and watch the video lectures prior to each class. Nothing posted in the

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Canvas should be ignored. Anything can be put on the exams and/or help you in the exams/iClicker questions. I mean this so seriously, go through every single link and make the time to do this work. This work builds your Comm 101 knowledge and each link is useful. This subject matter builds upon itself and every single lesson is intertwined and connected. Save yourself the catch-up before an exam and do the modules weekly. This is not the kind of class that you want to leave studying/homework for last minute. I think I would have been doing much better if I had been more organized and didn’t procrastinate the work in the modules. Also, kind of going along with this, but there will be long emails often. My suggestion is to read them. Professor Nick is detailed and he explains so much in those emails that will prepare you for class and prepare you for the next week. It will take 2 minutes to read through these emails and they contain all the information you need for class, don’t miss them.

My second piece of advice for you is to make friends in the class. Put together a team of hardworking individuals who will help you succeed and be willing to go the extra mile in assignments. This class is not a walk in the park like people expect it to be. It will be easier if you have a team instead of being put with a random group of people for the group projects. This class will also be more fun if you have friends to go through it with. My experience with my group was not the best. They were good people, but not as hardworking as me, and I did not vibe with them so I honestly hated collaborating on anything with my group. I wish I had made some friends in the class that I could have chosen to work with.

Those are the two big ones honestly. If you follow that advice you should do very well in the class. Now let’s talk about what I loved about this class and what was more challenging. Starting off positively with what I loved. Prof Nick is the best part of taking this class. He’s the sweetest and most wholesome person. He makes class as fun as he can and he is lovely to talk to. I also found the lesson on Love: Emotion Vs. Choice to be incredibly interesting and debating it was so fun. If you do the weekly reflection prompts (which you should do), it is so rewarding was win them. If you do an exceptional job, you might even receive the golden buzzer which is so fun. The most challenging part of this course, at least for me, was the exams. You really have to know your stuff. Professor Nick loves conceptual questions and they can be incredibly tricky. The first exam was a huge wake-up call for a lot of people so make sure you are not just studying terms, but also practicing how to apply them.

I think this is all the advice and expertise I have for you. I wish you the best of luck. This class can be extremely rewarding and a wonderful experience if you make the right moves. May the force be with you now, I don’t need it anymore. Good luck!

Dear Future Communication Students,

I’m writing to you guys to spread my wisdom and knowledge on the course, Introduction to Communication 101 with Professor Nick. I’m here to tell you some of the most important tips and tricks in order to succeed in this course. The most important thing to know about this course and its materials and assignments is that everything is extremely doable. Having that at the back of your mind at all times is something that may help get you through some bumps. It’s important

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to understand that everything about this course is super flexible and is accommodating. In order to do well in this class, you have to be on top of all your assignments and take advantage of all the optional assignments that are given. These assignments will be of great help to your grade if you end up not doing too well on the exams that are given throughout the semester. There are many exciting things about this course, and that is all because of Professor Nick. He makes sure to tie in his lesson plan with cool and funny clips from some of his favorite movies which really helped me out a lot with understand the concepts. With every good there is also bad. The most challenging part for me in this course were the exams or better known as the challenges. There are three challenges in total and unfortunately those were my weaknesses. Since I did not do too well on those, I would say I was never really excited for them. But do not let this discourage you. Despite not doing too well on the challenges I am still doing well in the class because of all the extra credit opportunities Professor Nick gives to us. I really feel like all the optional assignments is what really saved my grade, making me not stress too much about how I did on the exams. A really great thing about this class is that you can take it in person or online, the choice is yours. I feel like being able to have that kind of flexibility is so important and considerate for anyone who may be going through something and can’t make it in person. If your hesitant in taking the class online thinking you will not benefit as much as you would in person, I’m here to tell you that is not the case. Professor Nick and the teaching assistants do a great job of delivering the material both ways and still being there to help when needed. Overall, this is a great class filled with fun and interesting ways to learn and keep you motivated!

Wishing you guys great success,

Fadilah Syed

Dear Future Students for Introduction to Communication 101

If by chance you are interested in taking Introduction to Communication, what you should know about this course is taking advantage of all the opportunities handed to you when it comes to completing your assignments. Thanks to the use of modern technology, many of our assignments can be done online. In addition, there are a lot of study materials available on Canvas that are provided to you by those who are teaching the course. It definitely helps in case you by chance miss a class or need some extra material to study or prepare for a paper or presentation. In addition, just be sure to check in on what assignments you need to do and make a plan of when you should do them. Try to be as flexible with your schedule as possible, which is something that can come in handy for your time in university, especially if you are a freshman like me when I was taking this course

When I was taking this course, I really found it very rewarding when we had to do our paper, however this was more of my opinion. For the paper, we were given a list of topics/prompts to write about and we got to choose which topic to talk about. In my case, I chose to write about whether or not we choose to love someone. The greatest challenge for me was trying to explain it from a communication standpoint as well as finding evidence for it, however I managed to pull through. The idea of using Sternburg’s love triangle theory really did help me out a lot in describing the different kinds of love there are. I had to explain how we can choose to incorporate the components in the love theory such as passion, commitment, and intimacy. However, it is because of how we feel that we choose to do these things to or for people we love.

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In class, we were required to watch a TED talk about how falling in love would be the easy part, however it’s the idea of staying in love that is hard. This is because all kinds of relationships take effort from both parties so that they may maintain and keep their relationship. Because as they say, “communication is key”. To me, it was rather easy explaining how I believe love isn’t necessarily a choice all on its own but what we do with it. For the most part, all of the evidence from what I’vee seen does prove the opposite of what I believe, and to me that was something that did not sit right to me, therefore it was pretty hard for me to explain and support my answer. I was really grateful I managed to find a good amount of evidence that supports my beliefs of what I believe love is

What was most challenging for me this course was mostly the video discussion questions. In addition to sometimes forgetting to do them as well as finding time in my schedule to do them. It was rather awkward for me to talk in front of a camera rather than writing down what I think. There was a writing option, however it did involve the use of social media, which I do not have nor use. I was able to manage and pull through by preparing a script for myself. All in all, all of the questions were pretty interesting to think about so i had a lot of fun formulating my answers, but that was really it.

Dear Students,

Hello everyone, my name is Tracy Tang. I chose to take this course in the second semester

of my freshman year. Before taking this course I thought it would be very difficult, but after a

semester of study I realized it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. I chose to take the

class online. During the class, I discussed and responded to questions posed by Nikolaos

Linardopoulos via iClicker. I think serious participation in every class is the most important

thing to note about this class. I have to say here that Professor Nikolaos Linardopoulos' class was

really interesting! Although an online class is three hours long, you won't get bored or boring the

whole time. If there is something you didn't fully understand in the class, you can review it after

the class by reviewing the video.

Looking back on the whole semester, what I remember very well is that we learned many

points through different movies. For example, this semester we studied the movie "Sully".

Watching movies is a very interesting way to understand what we are learning, and it makes it

easier to remember what we are learning. The professor, Nikolaos Linardopoulos, is also very

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liberal with the way students choose to study and take exams. We were able to choose how we

wanted to take the exams by voting. I also have a suggestion for the whole course. At the

beginning of the semester, I chose to have a weekly discussion via Face Book. Only the students

who were selected for the weekly discussion received credit. I think this rule could be changed to

where each student who has a discussion gets a little credit, and only those who are selected get

higher credit.

Many of the assignments in this course are optional. For future students who choose to take

this course, I would like to suggest that you complete as many of the elective assignments as

possible. Since the entire course is extra credit, we should strive to earn as many points as

possible. And I would also recommend that you study hard before the exams. I didn't do very

well on the first exam this semester. The reason is that I didn't review too much before the exam,

but just briefly looked at the points I studied. I regret it very much, and I hope you will not let

down your guard and face each exam seriously.

The above is my advice to future students who will study this course and my own

reflections. I hope that everyone who chooses to study this course will get a good grade, and I

hope that everyone will learn a lot from this course that will be useful for the future.

Dear future COM students,

If you are in this class, you have made the right choice! Prof Linardopoulos is honestly one of the most amazing professors I have had this semester. He understands your situation as long as you can be transparent with him. Make sure you email him if you are going through anything or feeling nervous, as he ensures you are okay and puts you on the right path to success. He has a lot of extra credit; trust me, when I say a lot, I mean it! Make sure you take as much advantage of that as possible, as I regret not doing this before. This class mainly focuses on group work with opportunities for individual work too. But don't do that to yourself; work with a group whenever possible!

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Although, in all honesty, I was not entirely interested in this course, I took it because I needed to complete SAS scores as several other students do. At the end of the semester, I learned so much about communication from the presentation, nonverbal cues, and interviews, and got to question what love is. This course is graded on a points system rather than percentages, which is really lovely. The higher points (XP) you earn, your grade will be higher.

This course is offered as a hybrid; if you are in the online section, you can also attend the class in person anytime (which I advise you to do at times as there is free food sometimes, especially on the last day of class). This course is manageable in terms of work as you only have 4 mandatory group assignments, which take 15-20 mins each, and 1 group or individual paper/presentation. Also, attendance is compulsory as you do clicker questions in them, which earn you points!!

TIP: your group for mandatory group assignments can differ from the paper/presentation if you choose to do it as a group.

The most exciting part of this course is getting to know other people; it's literally a communication course– COMMUNICATE! With that being said, please do yourself a favor and pair up with people you want to work with and people that do work as you are going to be with them the whole semester. If you don't want to work with someone, let the TAs or professors know, and they can change your group. That said, ensure you do your assignments on time, as this will ensure you earn the maximum number of points possible.

To do well in this course, make sure you communicate with your team, as you want to ensure you can get your work done and that it is quality work. You would also have to put in some effort in this course regarding the exams or challenges.

The most exciting part of this course is the friends and relationships formed across the class. Jokes are passed around throughout the class, and it's genuinely one of the most fun classes. Also, we vote to watch a movie as a class as well. I was online, but our chat was very lit, and so was our GroupMe. The most rewarding aspect of this course would have to be the friendly environment we created, we learned and had laughs, and the majority of the students put in the work and effort to pass and make this learning experience much better.

The course's most challenging/least exciting aspect is the exams we have to take. They are easy if you pay attention during class and take introductory notes. We took one

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exam as a group and one individually. I preferred taking it as a group as everyone studied for the same thing plus you can hear everyone's opinion if you are in doubt. My individual and group exam scores were similar, but group one was slightly higher.

You need to know that you can be something other than a star wars fan to enjoy this course. I might get hate for this, but I don't follow star wars at all, and when I first saw the syllabus and the canvas page, I was totally clueless as I didn't know what I walked into. But you don't need to worry; you will be okay not knowing star wars.

Information you need to know *wink might be on the exams wink*

- Prof Linardopoulos is from Athens, Greece - His favorite drink is a White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks - His favorite movie is Office Space but he also likes Star Wars

I hope you make some great memories and enjoy your time in the class!

Good luck,

Hello future students,

Welcome to Introduction to Communication and Information Processes with Professor Nick! This is an interesting and challenging course that will provide you with a solid foundation of knowledge. The first important thing you should know about the course is that it contains a lot of reading material, so staying up to date-and reading the information offered is crucial.

Furthermore, the assignments are critical and should be taken seriously. The exams given to us by the professor are exactly from the material taught in the course; there are no surprises or gimmicks; as long as you pay attention in class and take all of the assignments seriously, you will perform well. Also, any available bonus credit should be done because it will help you earn the highest grade possible. To do well in the course, you must be willing to put in a lot of effort. It's also vital to ask questions if you don't understand anything, and to seek assistance if necessary. The TAs and instructors are helpful and will go out of their way to ensure that you have a good experience in class.

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Lastly, the most satisfying aspect of this course is the sense of success you get when you finish an assignment or comprehend a subject. The information, videos, and movies that we see during the course are intriguing and engaging, making learning enjoyable. The most difficult/least fascinating component of the course is the tests. Besides the tests, everything in this course is entertaining and fun, as is the case with most classes. Overall, this is one of the greatest classes you will ever attend, and remember to have fun.

Dear Future Communication Students of Professor Linardopoulos,

I am writing this to all the future students of this Intro to Communications class. The most important thing about this course is to do all the extra credit. Professor Nick gives extra credit practically twice a week and there is no excuse for you not to do it. They consist of flip grid videos and writing feedback on Facebook. Professor Nick makes it extremely easy for you to do them, and even though they may look like they do not give many points, trust me they add up. Another important thing is to ask for help if you are confused about something or do not understand the instructions. There are many TAs in the class that will respond to emails and even during class time they will help you. In order to do well in this course, you should study for the challenges. The initial, interim, and final challenge are all difficult and you should have time allotted to study for them.

The most rewarding part of this course is getting the clicker questions correct in class, especially when everyone in the class put the wrong answer and you did not fall for group think and put what you thought was the best answer. Another rewarding part is when Professor Nick displays your video or Facebook response on the screen for everyone to see. The most challenging part of this course is easily the exams, also known as challenges. Professor Nick thinks of questions out of the box that throw you off and real-life scenarios which make you really think. You must have a good understanding of the course material if you want to do well on those exams. If you do not do well on those exams do not worry because there are a lot of extra credit opportunities to make up for it. Last piece of advice I have for you is pick your groups properly. Make sure your group members are people you can trust and people you know will do their part in the activities. I would recommend being in person for this class because sometimes the computers and microphones glitch making it difficult for those online to hear and be a part of the class.

Good luck,

Haroon Usmani

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Being in 101 has taught me valuable information. I have taken other writing courses but I

have learned much more in this class than in my other similar courses. Some aspects of this

course that I particularly found to be the most helpful are the lessons and the iclicker

assignments. The lessons that we have learned over the course of this semester have been very

helpful when it comes to completing the writing assignments. In order to succeed in this course,

you need to make sure that you are prepared and complete the assignments in a timely manner.

Not only that but try to take time to look over the slides and examples Proffessor Nick

Linardopoulos provides in his modules tab. Adding on to go to class it’s super entertaining and

fun. Not only that but I also engaged with many new students who have helped me a lot! They

were all super nice and it was amazing to be able with my classmates.

Most importantly, what you need to know about the course is that you have to make time

to do further research, you cannot just rely on utilizing the lessons that the professor gives. Doing

further research allows you to expand your knowledge on the lessons and it makes it easier for

you to complete the assignments. When it comes to the assignments, you have to make sure that

you give yourself enough time to gather resources for writing assignments and do not be hesitant

to ask the professor questions if you are unsure about a topic or if one of the sources you came

across is valid enough to use for a paper. One thing I found very challenging was my essays and

interims challenges due to it being a little challenging for me. I would always over critique my

answers therefore taking more time in which I eventually run out of time. However, I understood

the assignment very well.

What to look forward to in this class are the all of the group assignments. This was the

most exciting part about the class for me because they were super engaging and I always talked

with them outside of class since we were assigned by them since the beginning of the class

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semester. This helped expand my knowledge about communication topics and it helped to further

my understanding of the lessons that were taught throughout the course of this semester. There

are always both positive and negative aspects about courses and although this class had positive

aspects there were also more challenging topics that I had to face in this course.

The assignment to make sure that you plan for and to make sure that you alot the right

amount of time for is the essays and interim challange it always ). (One thing I found very

challenging was my essays and interims challenges due to it being a little challenging for me. I

would always over critique my answers therefore taking more time in which I eventually run out

of time. However, I understood the assignment very well. These assignments were definitely the

least exciting about this course. Overall, this class is an amazing class that I suggest everyone

should take because of how important communication is in life and in everyday life. I believe

that Intro to com is a class that is needed to improve in the world.

Dear Future Comm 101 Students,

I took Professor Nick’s Intro to Comm. and Info. course during my first semester here at

Rutgers University. A little background about me is that I transferred to this university during the

Fall 2022 semester, and I had previously attended Rowan University. This is the first semester of

my junior year, and I am majoring in Environmental and Business Economics. The transfer

process most definitely threw me for a loop, and I did not know what I was getting myself into,

which gets me to why with my major I ended up in an Intro to Comm. course during my junior

year. Although, my grade and level of dedication to the course may not reflect it I genuinely

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enjoyed taking this class and believe that anybody needing to fill this requirement needs a course

with Professor Nick.

There are many ways to do well in this course and I feel as though one must try to fail,

kind of like I almost did. Personally, I let this class slip away from me because after hearing

about all the opportunities to do well within this course I fell back when I needed to try harder in

other courses. This first semester at Rutgers was not the smoothest adjustment for me and my

grades began to decline toward the beginning of the middle of the semester. As my grades were

falling in other courses and I needed to put more focus there I began to get too comfortable with

the opportunities in this course and I let many slip away. I would say the biggest way to remain

afloat and even to thrive in this course would be by participating. Whether you respond to the

weekly prompts and video discussions or do the many optional assignments this course offers

there is much opportunity for one to become a Master Jedi in this course through participation.

Beyond the XP one can receive simply by participating, participation has other benefits within

this course as well. The more you participate and are interacting with the course material the

better of an understanding you will have as well. This will come in handy when you ultimately

will need to utilize your understanding of the material to write effective essays and complete the

challenges that hold a lot of value in your overall grade for the course.

The second most important thing necessary for success in this course would be to utilize

the connections you can make with your peers. As this is a communication class, Professor Nick

emphasizes the importance of incorporating communication skills within the classroom by

having a lot of collaborative work. Use this to your advantage because there are going to be

group activities with potentially assigned groups, making friends within these groups is cause for

effective projects that you will need to collaborate on it also allows you to make connections

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with people who can help you in future course content. Personally, my group and I never became

that close however we worked well together on the assignments we needed to complete, and we

had a pretty set system. Collaboration is an essential component to succeeding in this course

because the course is built to teach effective communication skills. Professor Nick is a huge Star

Wars fan and he refers to the power of using the communication skills between each other in

class as using the force and he will consistently let you know how important it is to use the force,

but do not forget to think for yourself and not fall into group think which is the concept that we

do not use our own critical reasoning when in a group setting.

There are many rewarding and challenging aspects to this course however I believe that if

you participate and collaborate effectively you can be successful. Some of the most rewarding

aspects of this course are that not all the course content is boring and hard to understand or pay

attention to. The professor and the teacher’s assistants do an amazing job incorporating content

from various relevant sources that many of us can relate to or can be entertained by. We have

watched various movies or scenes from movies, episodes and clips from The Office, etc.

Professor Nick does a great job of making the course material interactable for students within our

age range. I also believe that with the hyflex option of this course there is even more of an

opportunity for one to enjoy this course. You do not have to be in the physical classroom to view

the content of this course and you can get all the same information by joining the Webex

meetings. This option generally should not put you behind because the professor and assistants

of the course are extremely good at providing updates and detailed announcements on

assignments and due dates. I do not feel as though this course presents a challenge; however, I

feel like it is easy to get lost in all the points as I did. My biggest challenge with this course was

that I never worried about it, and I was always doing well in the beginning, never did I imagine

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that at certain points of this course would I be failing and ultimately barely pass the class. But at

the end of the day, that is what occurred because as I began to struggle in my other courses, I let

this one slip away from me. Even though I let this happen Professor Nick provides many

opportunities to get your grade up and potentially even passed that borderline failing point like in

my case.

Overall, Intro to Comm. and Info. was an excellent course that offers a lot of insightful

information into the ways people communicate with one another in all aspects of life. Professor

Nick and his team do an excellent job teaching these concepts and incorporating them into the

course. With various group activities and opportunities to collaborate whether you chose to be in

person or to join the online classroom student’s skills are constantly being put to the test and

evolved within Professor Nick’s classroom. So, my word of advice is to not do like me and to

take advantage of the opportunities given within this course.

Yours Truly,

Paul Veisman

Dear Future Intro to Communications 101 Students，

First of all, it is worthwhile to choose this course, you can learn some useful theoretical knowledge and analyze and apply it in a practical way, I personally think this course is very practical. Communication exists in all aspects of our life. Society and culture can be reduced to human interaction and communication, and the most trustworthy connection between people is communication, and communication is the starting point of many problems. In the course, we try to define communication in the first lesson. There are many different definitions of communication. Communication is the act of achieving true understanding or consensus between actors through effective language and the use of reasonable coordination.

The most important thing(s) that you need to know about the course/assignments/readings are:

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 The course materials for this course include many additional course materials in addition to the assigned textbook. These course materials are very important and they are the focus of the study and discussion each week. Every part of the course is valuable, so make every effort not to miss any of the readings, and you may be able to gain some insight from the material that will help you get a good grade in the end.

In order to do well in the course you should...

 Confirm your assignments in advance. Allow plenty of time for your assignments, don't put them off until the last day, you can come in moments before the deadline but you need to prepare in advance if you want your assignments to meet the requirements for a high grade. We need to complete the term paper, and if you want to do well in this area, you need to continue reviewing the paper after you finish it and revise it repeatedly until it is finally submitted.

 Check your teacher’s announcements and feedback in a timely manner. Announcements from the professor usually tell you important information that you need to follow up on promptly. In this course, the teacher's role is like a guide, and if you don't want to get lost, then you need to keep up with the guide. The teacher will give detailed feedback on some of the assignments, and carefully mulling over this feedback can make you do better the next time. This feedback is a valuable experience.

 Complete more optional assignments. Optional XP assignments are not required, but they are a great way to get a higher grade and learn more about the subject if you want to do so.

 Don't be afraid to take on challenges. We all have areas that we are extremely afraid of. Some students will be too shy to ask questions or complete some recorded assignments; or they may be extraordinarily afraid of writing papers, believing that they lack critical thinking. The truth is that these are all very good exercises in our abilities, and we can make progress faster when we face challenges head-on.

 Insist on critical thinking. Group work is one of the distinguishing features of group learning in our class, and conducting cooperative learning enables new knowledge to be encoded and applied more effectively. Adhering to critical thinking in group work can maximize the effectiveness of teamwork.

The most exciting/most rewarding aspect of the course..

 I enjoyed the class. I have had a broad interest in communication from the beginning. We all know that we can communicate the same thing in different ways and get different results. Therefore, I was very interested and excited at the beginning of the course. Personally, one of my

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favorite branches is non-verbal communication.

 Body language is honest, and most people will follow their hearts and express themselves through body language if they don't intentionally train and change it. Understanding body language is also a way to learn more about ourselves and others. It also provides us with some help in socializing. I will become more aware of what kind of messages my non-verbal communication sends to others and whether these messages will cause misunderstandings. By learning this part of non-verbal communication, I will pay more attention to this aspect in my daily life, to avoid misunderstanding, to avoid violating their personal space, etc.

The most challenging/least exciting aspect of the course is..

 Group activities. There are areas in this class that require cooperative communication, which is a perfect way to practice what we learn in class, but at the same time, there are problems that arise when communication is not appropriate. I am a relatively independent person and I like to do things alone, but in reality, we need to work with other people in many cases to accomplish some goals, and it may be better to have a lot of people's ideas collide together to produce better results. Collaborating and communicating with others is where I feel some pressure, but it is also where I desperately want to improve. This is one of the reasons why I chose this course.

 Exams(Challenges). Exams have always been a stressful presence for me. You need to review several times in advance, including some concepts as well as practical situations that tie into the theory. You need to spend some time on the exams.

Any other comments you feel future students should be aware of (and of course, hope you will take into account/reflect on the remote teaching/delivery mode).

 Again, this course is going to take a lot of your time, and it will be worth it, you will gain a lot. I suggest that you approach this course with the right attitude, whether it's an offline face-to-face class or online participation, it's all possible and the final result depends on your dedication and attitude.

 When you encounter a problem that you can't solve, you can contact your TA and he will help you with everything.

 Don't be afraid to ask your own questions, it's only when you have problems that you can make progress. Regarding the course grade, if you want to get an A badly, then you need to put in more effort, complete some optional assignments to improve your grade, and don't ask the professor to give you more grades at the end of the course.

Good luck!

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Hello to the future students taking COM 101! You might be wondering why you have to take this course, or even whether you should if it is optional. However, I am here to tell you that taking this course was a great experience for me. Learning more about the many factors that go into communication and using those same skills to interact with classmates was a very enjoyable experience that you don’t get to have in other courses. Not only is the experience with classmates great; Professor Nick is one of the most caring and passionate individuals who are ready to help you whenever you need it. If you are on the fence about taking this course, I highly recommend that you continue and experience this class yourselves.

To succeed in this class, there are a few things that you must take into consideration. Firstly, the most important and efficient way to earn points towards your grade is showing up to class, whether in person or synchronously online. However I definitely recommend showing up in person to talk with your peers. As for the assignments, the workload is very healthy and you will never feel overloaded with coursework. Professor Nick is also on top of assignment due dates and will always send out reminders in case you forget! Lastly, for the readings, it is important to read them, as they give more information about the topics and can help you while studying for your exams.

The most exciting experiences in this class were the jokes being told in class. Professor Nick’s humor is great and his interest in Star Wars is something that a lot of people can relate to. Being able to watch a movie together in class was something that I’ve never experienced before in college. Being in class is never a stressful experience and is always something you can look forward to when attending a session of COM 101, and that is one of the best experiences you can have in any class.

The most challenging and least exciting part of the course was the challenges. Yes, this course has exams, but they are not extremely difficult. As I’ve mentioned before, staying on top of your classes and assignments will help you to excel on these exams. Knowing more about the depth of communication concepts instead of the surface level knowledge will help you differentiate between questions that are trying to confuse you.

Although there are exams in the course, there are tons of extra credit opportunities throughout the entire semester that can help you. However, don’t let these opportunities give you a reason to slack off! Professor Nick also has an interesting concept of taking a challenge: Taking the challenge together as a class. Not only is this a fun way of taking an exam; but it also encourages conversation between classmates and is more interactive than just thinking to yourself and clicking answers. This type of experience is something I encourage everyone to take advantage of if possible, as it’s not only fun, but also takes away from the usual stress of exams.

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In this course, you have the option to choose whether you would like to attend the class in person or remotely via webex. While you can attend the class virtually if you have conflicts regarding scheduling, I would highly encourage attending the class in person. Not only are there more opportunities to speak with classmates, but you can also discuss iClicker questions more freely and through verbal speech rather than texting and messages. Regardless, even if you cannot attend in-person, make sure to attend virtually, as participation matters a lot in this class, and there are also many opportunities to earn extra XP during these sessions.

As a final piece of advice for COM 101 students, take your time and don’t try to rush things. Learning about communication concepts takes time to understand and apply, and don’t be upset if you are disappointed with your first challenge. While the first challenge is one that many students tend to make mistakes on, it is usually the first exam for many, leading to uncertainty. Rather than dwell on the grade you are dissatisfied with, take the initiative to work even harder and study more when the interim challenge comes around.

I also encourage you to memorize fun facts about Nick! Here are some that were helpful to me:

- Professor Nick was Born in Athens, Greece, - He has been Scarlet Knight for 12 years - His favorite movie is star wars, but likes office space as well

If you also like star wars, that will be even more of a bonus to this class!

With all this information, I wish all future COM 101 students good luck and may the force be with you!

Anthony Xu

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One of the most important things you need to know about this course is that participation

matters a lot. Whether you are participating in class discussions, working on group projects, or

completing assignments, your active engagement with the course material is crucial to your

success. In order to do well in the course, it is essential that you come to class prepared and

ready to participate. Another important aspect of this course is the opportunity to discuss and

evaluate the main branches of communication. Throughout the course, you will have the chance

to explore and analyze various forms of communication, including verbal, nonverbal,

interpersonal, mass, and mediated communication. By engaging in these discussions and

evaluations, you will gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which people communicate and

how these forms of communication can be applied in different contexts. Finally, it's important to

remember that this course is not only about learning, but also about having fun. While the course

may require some hard work and dedication, it is also an opportunity to engage with interesting

and thought-provoking material and to learn from your classmates and instructor. By

approaching the course with a positive attitude and an open mind, you can make the most of this

learning experience and have fun along the way.

In order to do well in this course, it is important to stay organized and manage your time

effectively. This might involve creating a schedule or planner to help you keep track of deadlines

and due dates, and setting aside dedicated time for studying and completing assignments. It is

also important to make sure that you complete assignments on time and to the best of your

ability. This includes not only meeting the basic requirements of the assignment, but also going

above and beyond when possible and seeking out additional resources or help when needed.

Another key to success in this course is to take advantage of any extra credit opportunities that

may be available. These might include participating in class discussions or group activities,

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completing additional readings or assignments, or attending review sessions or office hours. By

maximizing your participation and engagement in these activities, you can not only enhance your

understanding of the material, but also boost your overall grade in the course. Finally, it is

important to remember to not miss any clicker points. In this course, clicker points may be used

as a form of attendance or participation, and missing too many of these points could negatively

impact your grade. By ensuring that you bring your clicker to every class and participate actively

in class discussions, you can avoid missing these important points.

One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of this course is the opportunity to delve

into complex communication theories and concepts and apply them to real-life situations.

Whether you are analyzing the role of nonverbal cues in interpersonal communication or

exploring the ways in which mass media can shape cultural attitudes and behaviors, the chance to

think critically about the ways in which people communicate can be incredibly rewarding. In

addition to gaining a deeper understanding of the material, you will also have the opportunity to

engage with your classmates and learn from their perspectives and experiences. Through class

discussions, group projects, and other interactive activities, you will have the chance to

collaborate and share your own insights and ideas with your peers.Another rewarding aspect of

this course is the opportunity to reflect on your own communication styles and behaviors. By

analyzing your own interactions and communication patterns, you can gain a greater

understanding of your own strengths and areas for improvement. This self-reflection can be a

valuable learning experience that you can carry with you long after the course is over. Finally,

one of the most rewarding aspects of this course may be the opportunity to look at

communication in a different way. Whether you are learning about the impact of culture on

communication patterns or exploring the ways in which technology is changing the way we

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communicate, this course will provide you with a new perspective on the ways in which people

connect and communicate with one another. This can be an exciting and enriching experience

that will stay with you long after the course is over.

One of the most challenging aspects of this course may be the tests, which can be a bit

difficult if you don't study well. In order to do well on these exams, it is important to stay on top

of the material and review regularly. This might involve taking detailed notes during class,

completing all readings and assignments on time, and seeking out additional resources or help

when needed. By investing the time and effort needed to study and prepare, you can increase

your chances of success on these tests. Another challenging aspect of this course may be the

online delivery mode, which can sometimes make you feel a little disconnected from the class.

While technology has made it possible for us to continue learning and engaging with the material

remotely, it can also be difficult to fully participate or feel connected when you are not

physically present in the classroom. To overcome this challenge, it may be helpful to make an

effort to engage with your classmates and instructor through online discussions and activities,

and to seek out additional support or resources when needed. A third challenge of this course

may be finding certain assignments and keeping track of deadlines. With so many different

assignments, readings, and activities to keep track of, it can be easy to lose track of due dates or

forget to complete a particular task. To overcome this challenge, it is important to stay organized

and manage your time effectively. This might involve creating a schedule or planner to help you

keep track of deadlines and due dates, and setting aside dedicated time for studying and

completing assignments. By staying organized and proactive, you can ensure that you are on top

of all of your responsibilities and meet all deadlines.

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One of the things that I have appreciated most about this course is the caring and

passionate attitude of Professor Linardopoulos. He has consistently gone above and beyond to

provide support and resources to help us succeed, whether it's offering additional review sessions

or providing extra credit opportunities. His dedication to his students is truly admirable and has

made a big difference in my own learning experience.In addition to his commitment to student

success, Professor Linardopoulos is also an incredibly engaging and enthusiastic instructor. His

passion for communication is palpable and he truly cares about helping us to better understand

and appreciate the material. He has used a variety of teaching methods and activities to keep us

engaged and interested, and his enthusiasm has been contagious. Overall, Professor

Linardopoulos has been an exceptional instructor who has truly made this course enjoyable and

meaningful for me. I am so grateful for his support and guidance, and I know that his passion and

dedication will stay with me long after the course is over.

Hi my classmates,

When you see this letter, I have successfully completed this course. To be honest, it's really

interesting. The most important part of this course is to participate in the optional tasks. Optional

tasks can help you improve your performance and also help you learn more knowledge. You

should carefully take notes on the slides in class. Always remember to communicate with your

TA after class. They are really cute and will patiently solve your problems! For the reading part,

please check the course review every week. Don't miss any chance to learn. Believe me, this is

not difficult. The course is really easy. You will succeed in learning a lot from this course.

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If you want to achieve good results, you must work hard, and then you must complete all the

optional tasks. Because this is the easiest way for you to get good grades. You just need to

complete it, and there will be a credit to fill your test gap. If you want to get good grades, you

must listen carefully and take notes in class. After class, you should ask the teacher or TA for

knowledge points that you did not understand in class. If you encounter questions that you

cannot answer or have made mistakes, you can ask the students for ideas. When reviewing for

the exam, review well before the exam, make adequate preparations, read the knowledge learned

once, do the questions once, and solve the unsolved problems as soon as possible. Keep a good

attitude before the exam and give full play to it normally. If it is too tight, try to take a deep

breath, close your eyes and relax yourself. Trust me, it's not difficult. The most exciting and

challenging part of this course belongs to one activity: the final challenge! This is really

interesting. You will face the most unique examination method. You will take the test with you

and your partner in a room or online. This will face a phenomenon, group thinking. This really

affects everyone's performance. Group thinking refers to a way of thinking in a highly cohesive

group, in which people excessively pursue group consistency when making decisions and

thinking about problems, resulting in the group's inability to make objective and practical

evaluation of the solutions to problems. It often leads to disastrous events (such as low scores in

large-scale examinations). When the team is discussing a problem, no one takes the initiative to

express their opinions, or even stays in a collective silence for a long time. At the end of the

meeting, people will agree with the ideas put forward by the main members who have authority,

speak confidently and like to express their opinions, and finally reach "agreement and

consensus". Therefore, we must reduce this situation in the exam and believe in ourselves. Please

remember that we can only reduce, not eliminate. Since it is mainstream, it naturally has its

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advantages. It is not good to give up all. In fact, if you want to change your thinking, it needs a

process. Just like reading, you start from the things around you and accumulate little by little.

Only when you have enough samples can you have the so-called innovation, that is, you need to

know more ideas to have your own ideas.

When you can successfully complete all of the above, congratulations, you have become a Jedi

Master. The road to success is not crowded, because few people persist. Luke Skywalker, a child

growing up on a farm, defeated Darth Vader. That was definitely the best moment of Star Wars

in my mind. The greatest enemy is yourself, never give up. I will wait for you at the end of the

victory.

Sincerely,

Yueyang Yu