Public relations and strategic communication are offered in communication departments with a field of study largely geared toward professional communicators. The majors place a heavy emphasis on internships, which seem to be more competitive than ever. A class project can jumpstart students' preparation for entry-level positions in the industry by…

Communication is a critical government function that has important implications for public administration and effective governance. This research study explores how communication competencies are taught in public affairs programs in the United States. Based on a general web content analysis of graduate programs, and specific analyses of course…

The following teaching brief outlines ways for advertising and public relations educators to discuss gender pay equity in the classroom. We know that educators are asked to teach about matters of diversity; yet many faculty members do not have adequate resources to do so. Faculty can rely on data and reports, but there are few hands-on activities…

The objective of the research reported in this article was to evaluate the usefulness of supplemental videos in the advertising and public relations (PR) classroom, featuring luminaries in these same fields. Students in an introductory course in advertising and PR were given an assignment based on videos from an online library of short videos.…

Audience analysis is essential for creating successful messages across communication fields. The audience persona is an effective tool for understanding the characteristics and needs of a target audience. Through this unit activity, students experience the process of persona development, build skills in data collection and analysis, and gain…

Course: This assignment is a unit activity designed for use in a skills-focused undergraduate public relations, organizational communication, or crisis communication course. Objective: The goal of this activity is to increase students' understanding and ability to apply message design concepts in an unfamiliar context. Students will work…

This article describes how an international education component for an Advertising and Society course was developed and taught for undergraduate students through a virtual collaboration between American and Dutch universities. The creation and implementation of a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project for a major requirement…

Aspects of research and pedagogy from the public relations discipline can benefit the business and professional communication instructor seeking new dimensions for the business and professional communication classroom. Elements of public relations (PR) found in Association for Business Communication articles and journals may be incorporated in the…

This article describes an activity in which students will understand, analyze, and apply the principles learned in the RACE process (research, action, communication, and evaluation). Students should have the ability to identify the four-step public relations planning process and ultimately create a public relations plan. This two-week activity is…

The purpose of this study was to revisit Coombs' suggestions for teaching the crisis communication course using service-learning as a framework. The author sought to assess the effectiveness of using this method in terms of the benefits to both students and the partnering organization and students' perceptions of whether they met the learning…

Creativity is the central source of meaning for humans and is inseparable from critical thinking. Creativity and critical thinking are required in the fields of communication, public relations, and advertising. Most college students know the "rules" of the "game" of schooling, but for the majority, creativity has been all but extinguished by the…

This study assesses an assignment for incorporating diversity into the principles of public relations course. The assignment is tailored to the challenges of using an active learning approach in a large lecture class. For the assignment, students write a goal, objectives, strategies, an identification of tactics, and evaluation plans for either…

Today's communication and information environments create an immense amount of clutter for consumers, but a well crafted advertising campaign can differentiate an organization from its competitors. Persuasion in Advertising is a critical assignment where students apply Aristotle's and Cicero's persuasive techniques to a specific advertising…

Nonprofit organizations, such as social service agencies, charities, and hospitals, plan and prepare communications that are vital to their missions. Although not corporations, these organizations produce news releases, newsletters, and annual reports that are similar to those created in the corporate sector. In this research project for a course…