Teaching Public Administration

vLex
Publisher:
Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication date:
2021-09-06
ISBN:
0144-7394

Issue Number

Latest documents

  • Book Review: Where research begins
  • Training civil servants in promoting the reputation of the country in the settings of crisis communication

    The purpose of the study was to identify how the updated refresher course influences the civil servants’ readiness to promote or restore the reputation of Ukraine in the setting of crisis communication. The study used qualitative methods and tools for baseline analysis of the currently delivered refresher courses for civil servants and quantitative methods for quasi-experimental research. It was found that there was a need for updating the curriculum to concentrate more on training civil servants in promoting the reputation of the country in the context of crisis communication. The main outcome of the intervention was the student-designed and presented projects. These were as follows: “Consolidation of the world through the “soft power” of the state,” “Transparency: See, Invest, Gain,” “Handwriting of Consolidation: Books and Journals,” “Welcome to Our Club,” “Great Citizens: Footprints in History,” “Fight Fakes: Learn how,” “From Heart to Heart via Facebook,” and “Did you ever know that …? You’ll be surprised!.” Using the researcher-designed awareness and readiness for promoting the nation’s reputation scale (ARPNRS), it was found that the updated refresher course for the civil servants improved the attendees’ brand management awareness and skills, crisis communication awareness, and skills, awareness, and skills in measuring a nation’s image and reputation, and motivational components. The ANCOVA test identified that there was a shift from knowledge readiness level (71.23%) to readiness-to-perform level (62.50%) in the participants of the updated course (EG). Further research is needed to identify the effectiveness of student-designed projects in real-life settings.

  • Teaching American government in public affairs education: Creating a foundation for success

    Public administration has a long tradition of close connections to the field of political science. As the field of public administration evolved from a basic politics administration dichotomy, it became evident that the distinction between politics and administration was nebulous at best. As such, public affairs students need exposure to, and knowledge of, the founding documents and basic principles that underpin American government. This article explores the reasons for including American government instruction in introductory public affairs courses, student knowledge and preparation in American government, and strategies for enhancing the coverage of the principles of American government in public affairs programs.

  • “‘Why? Why? Why?’ is the question of the course”: Master’s of Public Administration students’ perspectives on their learning in a standalone ethics course and the implications for ethics education throughout the curriculum

    This paper reported the findings from 18 qualitative interviews of students across two sections of an elective, standalone ethics course in a Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) accredited Master’s of Public Administration (MPA) program at a northeast university. The findings suggested that a survey of normative ethical theories and opportunities to practice applying those theories to case studies in public administration led students to uncover the values upon which they stood and consider the strengths and deficiencies of those values in practice. Students generally described the value of this learning experience as developing the ability to identify and systematically consider the reason and logic of their ethical perspectives, consider alternatives presented by others, and take a principled stance. Implications of these findings for embedding ethics education across the curriculum in NASPAA accredited programs was considered.

  • Overview of the practice of training civil servants in post-Soviet countries in the context of digitalization

    Modern conditions of public administration are formed in the BANI world (Grabmeier, 2020), unstable, disturbing, uniquely technological and digital. How many of today's civil servants are capable of functioning in such a world through current training and professional development systems? This issue is particularly relevant for post-Soviet countries, as most of them belong to emerging economies that are still shaping their own unique public administration system. The article is aimed at studying the practice of professional development of civil servants within the framework of additional education in post-Soviet countries in the context of digitalisation. According to the study, it is clear that the Soviet model of supplementary education for civil servants is still valid, with minor differences in the countries studied. This model is characterised by a centralised organisation of training of civil servants within the framework of specially created structures (public service academies). With the transition to digital learning, countries are differentiated by the pace and level of transition to distance and e-learning for public servants.

  • Exploiting a natural experiment in assessing student learning outcomes in public and nonprofit administration: A demonstration

    This study exploits a natural experiment to establish the equivalence and/or difference in student learning outcomes between online and face-to-face public and nonprofit administration courses. Its main contribution is thus methodological. We will reexamine the online v. classroom debate - the face-to-face lecture is still the most effective method to deliver course content to students - using a new dataset and estimation approach. Our research addresses this causal inference question: Does the format of course delivery impact student learning? The most robust empirical strategy to rule out alternative explanations in causal studies is the experimental approach. In this study, we did not employ the experimental research design or any standard techniques, for example, regression analysis, available to the program evaluator or policy analyst. Instead, we exploited a naturally occurring phenomenon in a classroom environment to approximate statistical equivalence in the characteristics of students in the online and classroom formats and satisfy the exogeneity assumption of the treatment variable. Its more practical contribution is the use of learning theory and new research in online pedagogy to discuss the study’s conclusions and implications for online programming, instruction, and program coordination. We developed the feedback as teaching philosophy or approach to close the gap between the learning outcomes of completely asynchronous online and entirely face-to-face classes in public administration.

  • Book Review: Intersectionality and crisis management: A path to social equity
  • Factors affecting learning outcomes achievement of public administration bachelor students in Ethiopia

    Public administration education is a key instrument to address emerging public administration challenges. Ethiopia started public administration education in the 1950s, and currently, 13 public universities are offering bachelor programs in public administration. Nevertheless, PA program learning outcome achievements are not been studied, and comparative studies are absent. By relying on the resource dependency theory and survey data collected from PA Bachelor students (n = 91) and faculty members (n = 28) in three PA-teaching public universities, this article tries to fill these gaps. Significant differences were found between students and faculty members, and between universities with regard to PA learning outcome achievements. The variation between universities in terms of access to resources and student support is also substantial. The difference between students and faculty members, and between universities on the PA faculty quality and the quality of the teaching-learning method proved insignificant. The study confirms public administration faculty members, access to resources, and student support services positively influence PA learning outcomes. The article contributes to PA education literature and PA program evaluation.

  • The Reinventing of public administration in the new hybrid world

    The turbulent environment pushes public administration to its limits, resulting in revolutionary changes. When the pandemic hit the world in early 2020, public administration was faced not only with complex problems, but also tumultuous challenges marked by the emergence of unpredictable events. In the new hybrid world, public administration has evolved into a distinct model that enables organizations to use new and emerging technologies. By redefining the characteristics of speed, ethics, and fusion, this article aims to contribute to the discussion of how a hybrid approach to public administration may contribute to ongoing debates.

  • Immediate and sustained effect of a service-learning course grounded in public problem analysis

    This study aims to propound an instructional design for a service-learning course grounded in public problem analysis and verify its immediate and sustained outcomes through the actual instructional process. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted wherein students who were enrolling in a service-learning course were considered as a treatment group, while those not enrolling in the course were categorized into a comparison group. Three-wave surveys were distributed at the beginning, end, and 6 months after the end of the course. Our difference-in-differences (DID) analysis showed that the project-based service-learning experience seems to be negatively related to perceived problem-solving ability but positively associated with students’ public service motivation (PSM) in the short term. However, the above influence did not sustain as time progressed. This study helps to clarify the relation between service-learning courses and students’ problem-solving ability as well as PSM in the field of public affairs education. It can also serve as a foundation for efforts to improve subsequent instructional plans of service-learning courses.

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