2008 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

Tales of a Service Learning Component in the Public Relations Foundations and Research
Course: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Ann D. Jabro
Robert Morris University
jabro@rmu.edu
Background
Public relations practitioners and academics herald the value of an internship experience
(Coco, 2000; Kelley, 2004; Sgroi & Ryniker, 2002). Internships typically commence after
students complete the introductory major-specific courses. Internships are but one form of
experiential learning. Service learning or according to Dostillo (2008) “a methodology that
combines academic instruction, meaningful service, and critical reflective thinking to enhance
student learning and civic responsibility (p.1) is another pedagogic approach to motivate learning
and engagement.
This presentation focuses on a service learning project designed to introduce and apply
diverse formal and informal research methods while learning about the steps in a public relations
campaign during an introductory course in public relations and research methods. Oral and
written communication, team building, group dynamics and conflict management competencies
were also explored in the course. After assiduous reflection on the experience by both the
instructor and the students, analyses of students’ weekly reflection logs, final project oral
presentation rubrics and individual written projects and team member evaluations, the good, the
bad and the ugly aspects are shared with colleagues to increase awareness of the strengths and
weaknesses of combining this content in an introductory course and best practices for using
service learning as praxis are recommended.
This first course in the public relations sequence was not the ideal place to incorporate a
service learning activity; however, the students enrolled in the course were both majors and nonmajors
and ranged from sophomore to senior class standing. This course was the first of seven
courses constructed for a newly-approved concentration in public relations and its debut in the
curriculum offerings. Five weeks into the semester, the majority of students in the class, seniors,
expressed deep concern that they would leave the University without an opportunity to
implement the information being taught in class; they wanted more than text reading and
assignments about public relations. The students wanted to “do” public relations.
To understand the needs and expectations of the students enrolled in the course, a presemester
assessment survey featuring open-ended, forced response and scale questions was
administered on the first day of class. The findings are presented in Table 1: Pre-assessment
survey results.
Table 1: Pre-assessment survey results
Course preference: elective (73.8%) concentration requirement (22.2%)
Class Standing : senior (73.8%) junior (4.20%) sophomore (21.5%)
PR as a career choice: not likely (73.8%) likely (22.2%)
Self-identified slackers (barely meet deadlines): (82.0%)
Desired grade “A”: (95.2%) B – C range (4.80%)
Availability outside of class: 3-6 hrs. weekly (50.0%) less than 3 hrs. (50.0%)
Work commitment: 20 hrs. weekly (25.5%) 40 hours weekly (25.5%)
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