The purpose of this final project is to give you the opportunity to practice your conflict skills in a real-world setting. You will also practice being a consultant by either being a mediator or negotiator in this conflict. This means you can either act as an observer and/or as a participant based on your comfort level.
The first step is to select a conflict that you would like to analyze.
You may choose a real-life online conflict situation from either social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), watching the news, online articles, web videos, forums (Reddit), etc.
You will want to make sure that the scope of your project is not too broad. Meaning, I would pick one good conflict to observe and analyze. For example, if you have chosen a Facebook post and comment section, you might want to choose a thread between two or three people going back-and forth rather than the entire comment section to make the project manageable.
Second, you will need to collect information about whats happening in the conflict and determine at least one communication concern you can address (you can choose more).
Take notes on a few of the following aspects of conflict: whats being said (what arguments are made), what conflict management styles are used, how often people are speaking (whos dominating v. whos staying silent), any notable displays of emotions you witness, and overall tone or mood what is said in the conversation to name a few.
If you observe a conflict, how are people in the conflict situation using communication in effective and ineffective ways? Consider everything we have discussed in class and what topics were most interesting to you.
If you participate in a conflict, what communication strategies did you use and were they effective or ineffective? What types of responses did you receive, if any? Consider everything we have discussed in class and what topics were most interesting to you.
Third, you will need to identify ways to improve the conflict situation based on the communication concern(s) you want to address
If you observe a conflict, what recommendation(s) would you make to the people in this conflict to improve their communication? What solutions would you suggest could potentially fix the problem?
If you participate in a conflict, what recommendation(s) would you make to the people in this conflict to improve their communication (including yourself)? What were some strengths/high points? What might you change or do differently if you had the chance to do this over again?
Finally, you are ready to begin presenting. Choose one of the following formats:
OPTION A involves the writing of an essay that that discusses your conflict situation. This written response should last no longer than 5 pages in length
