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Enhancing Students’ Professional Competencies in Urban Policy and Management -
Kelly LeRoux, Public Administration

LeRoux Overview

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Background

Public Policy and Urban Administration (PUAD 825) introduces students to urban public policy and the tools used to address municipal, urban, and metropolitan problems. Through the course, we focus on U.S. intergovernmental relations, consequences of local government form in America, and the urban policy issues of housing, economic development and essential municipal services. Finally, this course is designed to advance the achievement of several professional competencies in the areas of service management, administrative policy, external awareness, strategic management, and communication skills.

The particular teaching questions that I had related to this course were:

How deeply are students processing the information we discuss in class, and
How is this course contributing to students' progress in developing the competencies required for professional public service and local governance?

| Implementation

Implementation

There were several components that I altered in the most recent offering of this course. Students are required to complete both a case-based presentation on a public policy tool examined in broad context, as well as an urban issue research paper addressing the relevant literature and the efficacy of the implementation of a particular policy tool. Both assignments were assessed with a rubric that I designed, based on the Public Administration Department's MPA competencies rubric. In this way, I was interested in assessing potential changes in students' achievements of these competencies.

Furthermore, I also included a pre- and post-test of competency achievement within the structure of the course. Students were asked to complete a pre-test of their familiarity and understanding of urban policy issues and local service delivery at the beginning of the semester, and were again asked to respond to the same items at the end of the semester, drawing on the readings and class discussions. Changes across these two measures were also assessed using a modified competencies rubric.

| Student Performance

Student Performance

In terms of the student presentations, overall performance on this assignment was excellent. High-quality work exhibited analyzed the urban policy tools, reviewed the relevant literature, and connected students' individual assessments with current theory. The class performance on the research paper assignment, while still very good, was less impressive than the effort students put forth on the presentations of these same topics. Finally, the analysis of the pre- and post-test responses revealed a very positive trend. Whereas a large number of students held concrete, simplistic views of urban policy issues at the beginning of the semester, there was a trend towards more evolved understandings of these topics by the end of the semester. For example, students at the end of the course were able to describe how competing political values and conflicting citizens' interests shape the outcome of public service delivery decisions. | Reflections

Reflections

In particular, I found the pre- and post-test assessment to be a highly effective means of assessing student learning, and I plan to continue to integrate this structure into my future teaching of this class. I have also discovered that students' learning was maximized through the use of specific examples and cases, their own in-depth research and that of their peers; these findings have caused me to re-think my approach to the class.

My next steps for this course will be to assess the weekly readings, so that they provide in-depth exposure to a subject. I will also work to include more in-class discussions and case examples in my lecture. Finally, I would like to strengthen the link between the MPA competencies rubric and my individual assignments, such as the research paper. | Summary

Project Summary

A public administration professor redesigns a course on Public Policy and Urban Management to increase students’ professional competencies and understanding of local, urban, and metropolitan policy issues.

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