Field Research in Health Care Administration Courses: An Effective Teaching Technique
Minerva Cruz – Western Michigan University
The literature related to education and health care shows several teaching techniques that can be utilized in Health Care courses. For instance, application of technology in the classroom, motivation, and service learning are shown in the literature as important teaching techniques in Health Care related courses (Adler, Judd, Bringman, Wells, & Marrs, 2013; Wells, Jones, & Jones, 2013; Wyatt & Peterson, 2008). However, in order for students to understand how health care services are provided and how satisfied customers are with those services, it is important for students to perform field research. This presentation is about a project assigned to Master and Doctoral students in a Public Administration program with concentration in Health Care Administration. Students were assigned to visit a health care institution of their choice and interview its administrator (or someone in a similar management position) to learn about services health care institutions provide to customers/recipients of health care services. In addition, students were assigned to interview a customer/recipient of health care services to learn about the quality of services they receive, and how satisfied they are with those services. Students were asked to submit a written report and provide an oral presentation in the classroom based on their experiences during the interviews. In this presentation I will discuss the motivation behind the fieldwork project, reactions of students during the process, and outcomes of the project. In addition, I will present questions used during these interviews as sample questions that can be used in this type of assignments. The project was used to complement the readings and textbook in class. It also provided students the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts learned in class to solve real world cases. To my knowledge, the fieldwork project described here has not been adequately employed in the literature as a teaching technique in health care courses. In this regard, this fieldwork project can make a contribution to the literature by providing another effective teaching tool in Health Care courses.
Teaching Today’s IT Generation Using Old Tried and True Techniques:
Field Trips and Experiential Learning in Public Administration and History
Amanda Sedlak-Hevener – The University of Akron
“The history that lies inert in unread books does no work in the world.” ~ Carl L. Becker. Venturing outside a classroom is useful for public administration students, particularly when they are learning about the past. This is where the academic majors of Public Administration and History collide in a multi-disciplinary way. However, it must be done in an innovative way in order to capture the attention of today’s technologically savvy students. There are two effective ways in which to do so: field trips and experiential learning. Field Trips: Sometimes looking at a textbook picture of a couch that Ulysses S. Grant sat on is not enough – one needs to go there and see it in person. Walking in the footsteps of an historical figure, particularly a former U.S. President brings history to life, creating a new learning experience at the same time. Experiential Tourism: In a regular tour of a historical site, you might see butterflies. On an experiential tour, you release the butterflies. These tours put visitors right into the time period of the home or site that they are visiting. At the Dennison Railroad Depot, visitors are instantly transported back to the WWII era. Students and visitors have to make sandwiches for the soldiers in the canteen, pick up and distribute magazines for the soldiers to read, and go onto authentic, restored, time period train cars to see the soldiers. The students and visitors are then led to an auditorium where they watch a short WWII clip while in the back of the theater (unbeknownst to them) workers are setting up tables with the sandwiches, beverages and other treats. At the end of the film, the visitors turn around and they become the soldiers - they are given a hero’s welcome, and get to snack on the food that they prepared earlier. These experiential experiences are not possible when sitting in four walls of a classroom.
Hollywood's Influence on Teaching Today's IT Generation:
Clipping Old and New DVD's to Teach Concepts, Recurring Themes, & Theories of Public Administration
Ramona Ortega-Liston – The University of Akron
Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them" - Act II, Scene V, Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. Movies abound that can make each of us more effective teaching professionals. When teaching Leadership and Decision-Making, two movies are especially effective: Norma Rae and Patton. Both films dramatically teach differences in leadership styles. Norma Rae is an unlikely leader—one thrust into a leadership role, while General George Patton believes he was born to lead. Paraphrasing a quotation taken from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, it has been said that some are born to lead, some aspire to lead, and some have leadership thrust upon them. Norma Rae clearly has leadership thrust upon her and Patton believes his DNA has equipped him to lead. Clipping and showing specific scenes enables students to capture leadership styles quickly and in this age of MTV, concepts and theories must be taught fast or we lose our audience. Mr. Holland’s Opus and Dead Poets Society illustrate needed passion for teaching the next generation of young leaders. Stand and Deliver, starring James Edward Olmos, stands alone by teaching how passion for a subject and believing in our students’ abilities to learn makes teaching complicated courses like math, algebra, and calculus to “drop-out prone” Latino students by convincing to the students who watch the film—not the entire film, just a few clips. It is in the editing that key concepts and principles can be taught efficiently and effectively—two recurring themes in public administration. This film in particular motivates, inspires, and gives confidence to minority students who need to be convinced that they, too, can learn math. Nell and Absence of Malice can be used in teaching Ethics in Public Service. In both films, ethical issues are clear and lead to salient discussions of what makes an ethical administrator. Discussions of the differences between ethics and morals are made possible. Lewis’s Go/No Go Model is made clear by a few deft clips. Her model asks future administrators to ask themselves if the decisions they have made are legal, moral, and effective? Short film clips deftly illustrate concepts and theories important to teaching public administration theories, concepts, and recurring themes.
Room: Phillips Hall 231
