This project aimed to address the issue that students find it difficult to understand public relations planning and how this relates to the types of work they could do in industry. 

  • Course: COMU1052 Introduction to Public Relations, 1st year undergraduate communications course (230 students)
  • School/Faculty: School of Communication and Arts, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Delivery: two-hour tutorials, one-hour lecture and two two-hour workshops
  • Active learning approach: videos with industry professionals; industry tutors, guest lectures, workshops, small group work; industry client-based project
  • Assessment tasks: weekly reflective journals, a case study based on a real-world public relations brief, and group presentation. 

Key issues and anticipated outcomes

This project aimed to address the issue that students find it difficult to understand public relations planning and how this relates to the types of work they could do in industry. It also aimed to:

  • explore how active learning could be used to connect public relations theory with public relations practice
  • enhance student understanding about working in public relations and embed the UQ employability framework into the course 
  • educate students about consultancy vs. internal public relations roles.