One of the central projects that have defined my time at Ohio Northern University has been to develop a new study aboard program between Communication and Media Studies and the University of Salford in Manchester, England. This partnership led to a one-off workshop between our two institutions and Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. The workshop was more limited in nature as the focus dealt with radio production in the United Kingdom. The focus was explicitly on community radio in England, which the closest way to describe a community radio station is by calling it a public access radio station. Six students created an hour-long show for Wythenshawe FM presenting an American perception of life in Manchester.
The next step in our study aboard partnership needed to be a more concrete course construction that reflects the students’ needs when it comes to media production and content creation in an international environment.
This post represents my process and rationales for the decisions that were central to the overall design of my syllabus for “Global Communication.” Step zero in my course design is crafting a course description that I feel gets to the root of a problematic of study or presents a worthwhile educational experience for all stakeholders in the class.
Course Description
My course description for Global Communication is:
“The course is designed to be a high-impact comprehensive inter-program learning experience focusing on the issues, theories, and practices surrounding international, world, transborder, and global communication. There are two tracks for the course. There is study abroad option (CAMS 4021) which will allow students to travel to the University of Salford and work at MediaCityUK on a campaign after the end of the fifteen weeks. Those students will focus on the sections marked with the ‘ symbol. There is also a domestic option (CAMS 4031) where the students will be working on a project that focuses on an international organization and creating a media campaign for them. Those students will focus on the section marked with the * symbol.”
This course needed to fulfill two major requirements. The first requirement was that the Public Relations major needed a global diversity course for their PRSA accreditation. The focus of the class had to be related to a diversity of international experience to broaden the student communication capabilities. The second requirement was to expose the students to as much of the MediaCityUK campus and facilities as possible. This requirement meant that students needed to be prepared to work in the studio environment that was beyond what the students had access to in Ada. It was with these two requirements in mind that we began to construct the course.
Course Objectives
I have discussed in a previous post about how I use the course learning objective and assessment analysis (CLOA) to craft the course objectives. I will note that the process for this course was a little different as this course was mainly a two-part course design. Most of the practical lessons for the course will be taught in the CAMS 4011: Global Communication portion of the class structure. The second part of the course will be either in the form of a study aboard experience at MediaCityUK at the University of Salford (CAMS 4021), or the students will work on an international media campaign from the comfort of Ada, OH (CAMS 4031).
I originally pitched five learning objectives to the University of Salford during our meeting with them over the summer. They were:
1.) identify basic mass communication theory as it relates to global communication,
2.) perform essential audio and video production functions,
3.) analyze international audiences and organizations and applying that analysis to the development of successful communication tactics and strategies,
4.) create media products for a global client, and
5.) conducting, writing and editing multiple informative stories based on interviews with international students.
These five learning objectives were designed to be practical concerning assessment and directly connecting to the description of the course. There were concerns about the broader strokes of what was going to be taught in the course and the overall expectations of the course. These objectives also did not include the Dreyfus level of Proficiency that I usually add in a class that I would design.
Dr. Kathie Fleck and I crafted four primary learning objectives based on the requirements for the course, the structure of the course, and the previously listed goals. There are listed below:
1.) Students will learn how to engage cross-culturally and internationally with audiences using mediated content.
2.) Students will learn how to work with international organizations, understanding different workflows, and organizational structures that would be present in those organizations.
3.) Students will learn how to work in multiple modes of communication (mass communication, organizational communication, and public relations) with an international focus.
4.) Students will learn the production process and time management skills needed to complete a complex multimedia product for multiple distinct audiences.
Course Assessment
There are four points of assessment that will be used throughout this course. Three of the four modes of evaluation will be completed before the end of the Spring semester.
The students will first need to complete five small writing assignments that will be in the form of an analysis of assigned reading materials and mediated content. The students will be required to watch mediated works from other countries and analyze those works based on what they have learned in class. These writing assignments will make up a third of the final grade in CAMS 4011.
The second mode of assessment will be to interview international students on campus to create a short video explaining their perceptions of life in America. This interview will make up a third of the final grade in CAMS 4011.
The third mode of assessment will be a “Media System and Structure” report and presentation. The students will be using Robert McKenzie’s Comparing Media from Around the World as the theoretical model to create the paper and presentation. This project will make up a third of the final grade in CAMS 4011.
Students taking the study abroad track course will be working with a community partner in Salford to create a group media campaign. The students will create audio and video content to promote an aspect of that given community partner and have the Manchester community should be able to understand the messaging. This project will make up the entire CAMS 4021 grade.
Students taking the domestic track course will pick an international organization to create a group media campaign. The students will create audio and video content to promote an aspect of that given community partner and have an American audience understand the messaging of the campaign. This project will make up the entire CAMS 4031 grade.
Course Literature
The primary readings for the course will come from two works in the field of global communication. Robert McKenzie’s Comparing Media from Around the World will be the first text used in the course. Its relevance was discussed earlier in the post. The second text will be T.L. McPhail’s Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends. The rationale for this book is that the structure of the chapters within the book matches the flow of the course nicely and works well given the second and third learning objectives. It is important to note that these books may be changed before the start of the semester as we may find a better textbook.
General Education
I believe given the nature of the course design, description, objectives, assessment, and literature that the course would fulfill the tenth general education requirement at Ohio Northern University which focuses on “an understanding of diverse cultures.” I can offer three rationales why this course would fit this requirement:
1.) It seems to fit the accreditation body’s definition of “understanding of diverse cultures”: The design of this course matched the requirement for diversity as defined by PRSA.
2.) A study abroad course should have as part of its structure exposure of cultures outside the ones that the students are most familiar with during their day to day interactions.
3.) The course learning objectives and readings are focusing on having the students understand diverse cultures via the understanding of international mediated content and direct interaction with communication structures within global organizations.
Summary
I believe that this course should be a through and enjoyable examination of global communication patterns. I also think that students that complete this course will have a broader exposure to the diverse nature of human communication across the globe.
