Integrating Liberal Arts Learning Outcomes in the Development and Implementation of a Multisection Undergraduate Public Health Capstone Course

Abstract

As demand increases for well-trained public health professionals, academic leaders of universities and colleges must tailor their curricula to prepare students to be ready for the public health workplace, while also providing critical thinking and awareness skills through a liberal arts course context. Temple University's undergraduate public health program has created a capstone experience that bridges these two priorities. Using public health community-based program planning and evaluation as its content, this two-semester (32 weeks) writing-intensive course provides training for students in writing a grant proposal, including conducting a needs assessment, devising evaluable program goals and objectives, creating an intervention and planning its implementation and evaluation, and developing budgeting and marketing plans. Students also complete related assignments that help develop the critical thinking skills they need to understand the context of public health within the larger society. Utilizing the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes, we infuse integrative, interdisciplinary, and applied knowledge with the concept of civic responsibility as pathways for ensuring learning, while still providing concrete skills related to public health practice. We discuss how the course is implemented and how public health practice and liberal arts learning objectives are emphasized to ensure an "educated citizenry." Universities and colleges that offer an undergraduate degree in public health can use this framework to implement a capstone experience that bridges both public health and liberal arts skills.

Infusing high-impact practices in undergraduate public health curricula: Models, lessons learned, and administrative considerations from two public universities

“…Three broad goal categories have been suggested. First, undergraduate public health education has been situated within a liberal education framework, where the predominant goal is to give students the critical thinking skills, broad general education, and content area knowledge to be able to effectively problem solve, adapt into new roles, and apply public health thinking and practices to a variety of situations ( 9 – 11 ). A second framing centers undergraduate public health education in a professional education framework, with the primary goal being educating students to develop the skills needed to be successful in the public health workforce at the bachelor's level or to have the foundation of training to be successful in the workforce at higher levels with additional masters or doctoral- level training ( 12 , 13 ).…”

“I Was Learning Every Step of the Way”: Student Perceptions About a New Required Foundational Master of Public Health Program Planning Course

“…Participants reported that the program planning course provided essential training crucial to their current job. 10 Additional studies have noted that service learning–based program planning courses can enhance students’ comprehension of course concepts, increase their self-efficacy, and make students feel more career-ready. 3,5…”

“…Undergraduate and graduate program planning courses have used diverse teaching and learning approaches, including service learning, problem-based learning, practice-based learning, and traditional classroom health education formats. [5][6][7][8][9][10] The few published evaluations of program planning courses have found that they have effectively prepared students for public health careers. For example, 1 study contacted health education program alumni to inquire if, and how, program planning and evaluation courses prepared them to work in various health settings.…”

“…Participants reported that the program planning course provided essential training crucial to their current job. 10 Additional studies have noted that service learning-based program planning courses can enhance students' comprehension of course concepts, increase their selfefficacy, and make students feel more career-ready. 3,5 Although these studies present promising findings on the role of program planning courses in students' professional development, the literature is limited regarding best practices for the design and implementation of these courses and students' attitudes about them.…”

Message From the Editor in Chief

“…Another group in Bass, Scarpulla, Patterson, Watt, and Twersky (2017) demonstrates how to integrate liberal arts learning outcomes in an undergraduate public health capstone course. While their capstone course has many of the well-recognized skill components for public health programming, such as planning, needs assessment, goal setting, implementation, and evaluation, they have both heightened the level of and spread the genre for the writing required for the major project in their course.…”