Related Curriculum Research Articles

Writing in the public relations curriculum: practitioner perceptions versus pedagogy

Educators and practitioners seem to agree that writing is a public relations curriculum fundamental. An examination of the writing requirements of 152 ASJMC accredited public relations programs indicates that only a little more than half (57%) require a news writing course. Fewer require a public relations writing course (51%). Nearly 200 public relations practitioners were surveyed as to their perceptions of college public relations educators’ writing emphases. This exploratory study’s findings suggest that practitioners believe both news writing and public relations writing classes should be mandatory for public relations students; they offer slightly stronger support for news writing. Recommendations include requiring writing-intensive coursework, overall, and encouraging students to seek journalism experience through campus news outlets.

Bleeding Hearts Turn Yellow: A Case Study to Determine the Cause of Chlorosis in a Crop of Cut Dicentra spectabilis

Case studies promote the development of problem-solving skills, but few have been created for horticulture and related curricula. This web-based decision case presents the challenge of determining the cause of symptoms of foliar chlorosis in a crop of cut Dicentra spectabilis while forcing it for Valentine's Day sales. It provides a tool to promote the development of diagnostic skills for production dilemmas, including nutritional disorders, disease and insect problems, and evaluation of the appropriateness of cultural practices. Cut Dicentra is a minor crop and standard production practices are not well established. Therefore, solving this case requires that students research production protocol as well as nutritional and pest problems to develop a solution. In this case study, which is supported by an image-rich web-based version at www.hightunnels.org/cutflowercasestudy.htm, a grower at Flint's Flower Farm must determine the cause of foliar chlorosis that is slowly appearing on about half of the plants of her cut Dicentra crop. The condition could be related to a number of possible problems including a nutritional disorder, insect attack, disease infection, or production practices. Some resources are provided to aid students in gathering background information. Data accumulated by the grower is presented to allow students to logically eliminate unlikely solutions and predict (a) probable cause(s). The solution, which is rather unique to this crop, is provided. This case study is intended for use in upper-level undergraduate courses of floriculture production, nutrient management, plant pathology, and entomology.

Searching for the “Ideal” Graduate Public Relations Curriculum

Is there an “ideal” curriculum for a public relations master's program housed in a traditional college of journalism and communications? A review of previous studies on graduate education in communication and public relations, interviews with public relations graduate students and industry professionals, and focus groups conducted with students and leading public relations educators suggest a need to balance curricular coverage of mass communication with public relations.

Eritrean voices: indigenous views on the development of the curriculum ten years after independence

Since 1991, the Eritrean government has put into place an education system which had already been developed in the liberated areas during the years of struggle against Ethiopia. Little has been written on Eritrean education policy, and in particular the voices of educationalists responsible for its implementation have remained silent. In this article the voices of middle managers (teachers, school directors and vice-directors, regional supervisory staff, teacher trainers and ministry administrators) in the education system are heard as they discuss the curriculum in relation to the current and future needs of developing countries such as Eritrea. Although the issues that are discussed are often complex, and the mountain that has to be climbed seems at times insurmountable, it is suggested that the passion and vision of these educationalists will be instrumental in enabling the nation to succeed, and that their voices deserve to be heard.

Eritrean voices: indigenous views on the development of the curriculum ten years after independence

Since 1991, the Eritrean government has put into place an education system which had already been developed in the liberated areas during the years of struggle against Ethiopia. Little has been written on Eritrean education policy, and in particular the voices of educationalists responsible for its implementation have remained silent. In this article the voices of middle managers (teachers, school directors and vice-directors, regional supervisory staff, teacher trainers and ministry administrators) in the education system are heard as they discuss the curriculum in relation to the current and future needs of developing countries such as Eritrea. Although the issues that are discussed are often complex, and the mountain that has to be climbed seems at times insurmountable, it is suggested that the passion and vision of these educationalists will be instrumental in enabling the nation to succeed, and that their voices deserve to be heard.

A Web-Shareable Real-World Imaging Problem for Enhancing an Image-Processing Curriculum

A real-world laboratory exercise is presented for image processing and related curricula. The exercise is a traffic-monitoring problem in which a truck must be tracked as it moves across a bridge and its velocity measured. Sequential images are taken from a dedicated Web camera that views the Smart Composite Bridge on the University of Missouri-Rolla campus. The prototype bridge is a field laboratory for several interdisciplinary courses, including a Machine Vision elective. The Machine Vision image-processing elective uses the traffic-monitoring exercise to give students experience with processing complex images, tracking image markers, and applying theoretical orthographic concepts. The laboratory exercise uses an image sequence acquired during the springtime with multiple potential markers available on the truck for assignment flexibility. A wintertime image sequence with snowy conditions is also available for assignment flexibility. This paper discusses the bridge and camera resources, the traffic-monitoring laboratory exercise description, and the Machine Vision course implementation and evaluation. Two versions of the traffic-monitoring exercise, including two image sequences and orthographic MATLAB code, are available on the bridge Website.

Public health workforce development: progress, challenges, and opportunities.

The public health workforce is key to strengthening public health infrastructure. National partners have articulated a vision of a sustainable and competent workforce prepared to deliver essential public health services. Six strategic elements provide a framework for action: monitoring workforce composition; identifying competencies and developing related curriculum; designing an integrated life-long learning delivery system; providing individual and organizational incentives to ensure competency development; conducting evaluation and research and assuring financial support. Partners convened in January 2003 to review progress and to re-evaluate strategies in light of the recently released Institute of Medicine reports on infrastructure and workforce issues. Although significant challenges remain, there is convergence on priorities for competency development, research questions to be addressed and next steps in the national dialogue on certification and credentialing in public health.

Evolving MBA education with business technology innovation: An e-business course directive

SummaryE-business has evolved from visionary ideas supported by optimistic technology maps to complex engineered solutions for business process improvement and innovation. And yet business school courses and programs by and large are lingering at the stage where e-business is introduced, discussed and debated as new phenomena. This paper suggests that MBA e-business related curricula focus on learning the emerging Internet-based management methods and their practice. The gap between the suggested focus and that of the current curricula is evidenced by the results of a survey of over a dozen e-business related courses and programs in the business schools. This paper further outlines a general structure for course or program development with the suggested focus.

National physical education curriculum: motor and cardiovascular health related fitness in Greek adolescents

Background: State school physical education (PE) programmes are common throughout Greece. However, it is not known if the main objectives of the Greek PE curriculum are achieved. Objective: To assess...

Infusing Public Policy into the Geriatric Education Curriculum

A rich literature on public policy abounds in social gerontology and related gerontology curriculum. However, much less emphasis has been placed on public policy in the geriatric education curriculum. This article discusses the need for a greater infusion of public policy into training modules and core curriculum of geriatric education. The view is presented that public policy is, by its nature, a valuable area for interdisciplinary study, cutting across the discipline-specific areas of geriatric education. This emphasis is particularly acute and timely, given rising social and political criticism of safety net programs for the elderly such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Public policy curriculum design will be suggested as well as intervention strategies of use to public health professionals.

Enhancing the Employability of Leisure Studies Graduates through Work Integrated Learning

Graduate employment rates are often used in Australian universities as a key performance indicator in relation to teaching and learning outcomes. While leisure studies and related curricula have always concerned themselves with preparing students for careers within the broadly-based leisure industries, given the climate of funding of higher education, such programs may be vulnerable unless they can demonstrate their professional relevance. This paper examines how incorporating a student-centred whole-life approach to career development into leisure studies curricula can enhance graduate employability, as a key performance outcome. The framework for this examination is provided through a casestudy of a Work Integrated Learning (WIL) initiative developed in the Bachelor of Social Science (Recreation and Tourism) program at the University of Newcastle, Australia. While this paper focuses on the Australian context, many of the issues relating to career development and planning are likely to apply to other countries, since many of the changes relating to careers are a direct result of the globalization of business activity.

The MBA at the Crossroads: Design Issues for the Future

ABSTRACTHow appropriate is the MBA as the major vehicle for management education in Australia as we enter this new century? This question is explored from two perspectives. First, the implications of the changing social, economic and political context of management education, particularly the emerging needs for a sustainable and reflexive society. The second perspective will explore the recent debates around epistemology and their potentially important implications for related curriculum design issues. Assumptions about the nature of knowledge dominant in the 1960s formed the very rationale behind the design. At this time the assumption that knowledge was cumulative and each discipline had an uncontested knowledge, which could be taught in foundational subjects was central to the MBA's development. We question the ability of such subjects to capture the diversity of the disciplines they seek to represent and whether this design is the best way to develop graduates with the ability for reflexivity in action, who can broach different worldviews and have skills that can negotiate the transformations required of corporate Australia. The MBA is at the crossroads - can it regenerate through an incremental changing of curricula, to incorporate the active engagement of students with these issues? Or do we acknowledge the contested nature of knowledge creation and that the MBA is fundamentally a child of modernism which is no longer appropriate, and create a new holistic and integrated curriculum which is separate from the wide range of assumptions that currently underpin the MBA.

The MBA at the Crossroads: Design Issues for the Future

ABSTRACTHow appropriate is the MBA as the major vehicle for management education in Australia as we enter this new century? This question is explored from two perspectives. First, the implications of the changing social, economic and political context of management education, particularly the emerging needs for a sustainable and reflexive society. The second perspective will explore the recent debates around epistemology and their potentially important implications for related curriculum design issues. Assumptions about the nature of knowledge dominant in the 1960s formed the very rationale behind the design. At this time the assumption that knowledge was cumulative and each discipline had an uncontested knowledge, which could be taught in foundational subjects was central to the MBA's development. We question the ability of such subjects to capture the diversity of the disciplines they seek to represent and whether this design is the best way to develop graduates with the ability for reflexivity in action, who can broach different worldviews and have skills that can negotiate the transformations required of corporate Australia. The MBA is at the crossroads - can it regenerate through an incremental changing of curricula, to incorporate the active engagement of students with these issues? Or do we acknowledge the contested nature of knowledge creation and that the MBA is fundamentally a child of modernism which is no longer appropriate, and create a new holistic and integrated curriculum which is separate from the wide range of assumptions that currently underpin the MBA.

Creating Spaces for International and Multi(inter)cultural Perspectives in Undergraduate Public Relations Education

Public relations educators and practitioners in the United States increasingly voice the need to bridge the gap between current undergraduate curricular content and the international and multi(inter)cultural complexities of today's industry. However, students' views on this topic have not been studied. In-depth responses were elicited from a purposive sample of undergraduate public relations students at a large Midwestern state university. The findings indicate that students are far from apathetic about multicultural and international learning. They feel that the current public relations curriculum does not help enhance a sense of global and cultural connectedness, however. They cite certain curricular and structural impediments to expanding their multicultural and international competence. They express the desire to learn, to provide self-reflexive accounts that elucidate the sociocultural contexts of such pedagogy, and to engage in multicultural and international experiential learning.

The Adoption of Persuasive Internet Communication in Advertising and Public Relations Curricula

The purpose of this study was to investigate the diffusion of Internet communication into the curricula of advertising and public relations programs. While the establishment of any new medium is a process that develops over time, the Internet has taken hold faster than other mass media. This explosion has caused many scholars to ask whether advertising and public relations curricula have kept pace. An online survey administered to a sample of advertising and public relations educators (n=253) explored the perceived attitude, adoption, and innovation attributes associated with persuasive Internet communication. The results indicate that educators have integrated persuasive Internet communication into their curricula, and many have adopted specialized courses in this topic. Compatibility, observability, and trialability predict the rates of adoption.

A strategy for developing educational evaluations for learner, course, and institutional goals.

The curricula for both veterinary and human medicine are undergoing review and change as a new and highly competitive practice environment influences what abilities graduates require to be successful. Concerning many is the contention that some graduates lack skills and aptitudes necessary for economic success. If significant changes are to be considered for the curricula of either profession, it will be difficult to plan for meaningful change in the absence of high-quality information about the needs of graduates and related curriculum gaps. The purpose of this article is to argue why educators should design more effective systems of evaluation that are responsive to the needs of educational program planning. One example from a medical school is described. In this case, the authors discuss how their institution's evaluations were insufficient for answering new and important questions that go beyond traditional cognitive measures: specifically, no data set was available that allowed the institution to answer questions about practice environment and curricular innovations. More recently, institutions have become interested in learning to what extent their broad missions are accomplished or not. Similarly, academic leaders are not simply interested in performance of learners on tests of competence; they want to know more about how their graduates are doing in the practice setting. To answer questions such as these, educators must expand their systems of evaluations to address these broader themes. The authors conclude by identifying several lessons learned from their experiences in developing a new system of educational program evaluation.

Teaching ethics across the public relations curriculum

This article suggests ways of incorporating ethics across the undergraduate public relations curriculum. Ethics is discussed in numerous textbooks for a variety of public relations courses. The most concentrated and comprehensive discussion of ethics occurs primarily in public relations principles texts. This article will review current coverage of ethics in public relations principles, public relations writing, cases in public relations and public relations campaigns textbooks, identify current pedagogical strategies and suggest other methods that teachers can use to incorporate ethical pedagogical tools in all public relations courses in an effort to develop students’ ethical awareness and to improve their skills in ethical decision-making.

International public relations: A framework for future research

As a profession, public relations has become a global enterprise. Public relations education is only now beginning to catch up with the global nature of the profession. It is quite widely acknowledged that as far as public relations education is concerned, the USA is the leader in the number of universities that offer public relations courses as well as in the breadth and depth of the public relations curriculum. In its October 1999 report on the status of education in the USA, the Commission on Public Relations Education constituted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), called for curricula that prepared students to be effective communicators in the “age of global interdependence”. This paper argues that educators around the world are being hampered by the lack of an established body of knowledge (based on empirical evidence) about public relations practices in different parts of the world. This lack of evidence is preventing educators from preparing their students to become useful professionals who can meet the challenges of the “age of global interdependence”. The paper reviews literature identifying environmental variables that should help one understand public relations practices in different given countries. Based on this review, the paper operationalises these environmental variables as a next step towards cross‐national research. The paper also stresses the need to gather appropriate case studies in international public relations. Future researchers should be able to use this framework for conducting crossnational comparisons of public relations, thereby providing educators with the necessary empirical evidence to prepare the public relations professionals of the future.

Using Visual Basic in the CS curriculum

Visual Basic is currently the most popular programming language in the United States. And yet, it is rarely found in traditional Computer Science (and related) curriculums. Perhaps this is due to the fact that VB is not truly object-oriented, but object-based. Or perhaps because VB is not an open language, instead supported only by tools from Microsoft Corporation and available only on the Windows platform. Or perhaps it is simply Microsoft itself, with its monopolistic tendencies.This panel will argue that Visual Basic --- while it should not replace the use of more traditional languages such as C++, Java, or Scheme --- fulfills an important role in modern CS and related curriculums. The panelists will highlight a few of the cases in which they have found VB to be exceedingly useful, and discuss their rationale for choosing VB over other languages.

National curriculum in Australia? A matter of politics, powerful knowledge and the regulation of learning

This article maps the contentious question of ‘national curriculum’ in Australia. It explains both why there is no national (i.e. Australian) curriculum, and analyses the history of curriculum formation with a view to documenting the changing significance and status of ‘national’ (i.e. nation-building) curriculum. The analysis is informed by an historical sociology perspective which begins by considering curriculum in relation to the national question in Australia and then moves on to examine the role of curriculum in the contemporary re-design of education as a social institution and a regulatory device within the Australian national jurisdiction.