Public Policy Pedagogy: Mixing Methodologies Using Cases

This article presents an approach to teaching how social media impacts the public-sector workplace. Social media creates new challenges for both public administration practitioners and teachers. Yet, the topic does not yet have wide-scale discussion in the public administration education literature. After a review of four approaches to public administration (managerial, legal, political, and ethical), we developed a fictional social media case that was administered in an email survey to a sample of 50 graduates of a Master of Public Administration (MPA) program (37 responded and completed the survey). The case involves a local government employee whose employer wants to terminate because of the employee’s use of social media following a city council meeting. The results of our survey provide insight into how administrators would deal with the situation presented in the case and leads to the development of a series of questions for faculty using the case in their classroom. Our teaching case should provoke serious classroom discussions. Our study reveals the importance of the teaching and discussion of social media in public administration courses along with identifying continuing areas of future research.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching social media and public administration: Applying four approaches to an emerging issue

McBeth

Brewer

Smith

2019

“…Post-positive policy analysis provided a sophisticated and relevant critique of traditional policy analysis. At the same time, however, many authors have argued that post-positivism needs ‘to become more practical so it could play a daily role in governance’ and that what is needed is a middle-way method that is ‘primarily driven by the desire to build a practical (not ideological) foundation for policy analysis’ (Foster et al, 2010: 519–520). In this paper, I follow this perspective.…”

Section: Traditional Guidelines On Policy Formulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy formulation redesigned: A new understanding of policy design and its implications for instruction

Veselý

2020

Despite the fact that our knowledge on how policies are designed has substantially improved during the last two decades, prescriptive literature on policy formulation remains largely disconnected from these new findings. The article examines five major assumptions upon which policy formulation is still predominantly based: (a) there is one way policies are and should be formulated; (b) effective formulation of policies is more about the right application of methods than of the substance of a policy domain; (c) policy formulation is about choosing from mutually exclusive alternatives; (d) problem definition has priority over problem solution; (e) there is a clear distinction between policy formulation, adoption and implementation. This article shows why these assumptions are outdated and that they lead to many practical problems in the teaching of policy analysis. It is argued that policy formulation guidelines and training in policy formulation should be based on current policy design scholarship that stresses, for instance, the importance of local knowledge, deep understanding of actors’ perspectives and the need to formulate policy packages. The article concludes with preliminary recommendations on how to move forward, illustrated with concrete examples from practice.

“…Adopting interactive and participative approaches provides strategies to transform student learning. According to Brock and Alford (2015) interactive teaching encourages students to engage in both listening and discussing ideas, and it engenders a ‘learning by doing’ format that aims to spark students’ interest (Foster et al, 2010). Interactive teaching is grounded in the belief that learning requires a shift in control whereby lecturers and students shape discussion (Boehrer, 1995).…”

Section: Teaching and Learning Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alford and Brock (2014) point out that cases can take various forms depending on the purpose of the class. Cases may illustrate problems and causal relationships, they can emphasize conflicts between groups, and they promote active problem solving and as such, enhance critical thinking (Foster et al, 2010: 523; Peters, 2015: 229). While there is significant research regarding the usefulness of cases in highlighting complex problems, there is little documented evaluation of the process in terms of generating student learning outcomes especially at the undergraduate level, especially in relation to law, business and public policy (Herreid, 2011).…”

Section: Teaching and Learning Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing complexities: Teaching public policy in the age of discontent

Haigh

2019

This paper draws on nine years of undergraduate student course evaluation surveys to explore learning and teaching practices in an introductory public policy course in Australia. The paper situates student responses in terms of an increasingly complex teaching and learning environment. The student cohort includes a diverse group of arts, law, business and technology-based undergraduates. The paper explores both quantitative and qualitative survey data in order to draw out students’ perceptions and views on teaching, learning and their engagement with public policy. The paper considers some of the ways students grapple with increasing levels of complexity, their perceptions of interactive and participatory teaching strategies as tools for learning, and their views around enhancing university learning. The paper provides a set of reflections that may enhance student experiences in increasingly complex environments.