The University of Western Sydney public relations major : industry accreditation and pedagogy for enhanced learning through the development of new public relations electives

In professional educational degrees, such as public relations, students are expected to develop specialised skills to meet the challenges of a demanding workplace. The public relations major at the University of Western Sydney’s development required the design of learning environments, which integrated both virtual and physical locations drawing on relevant and meaningful curriculum, and student-centred approaches to learning. These learning environments, such as WebCT, have enhanced quality learning for the public relations major. The incorporation of online learning projects has led to improved curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment practices. These outcomes indicate that the current commitment to quality improvement to ensure the degree’s learning environment remains relevant to the needs of students within the public relations major. This paper explores the tensions between industry accreditation and academia, and reports on the recent developments of the public relations major within the Bachelor of Communication Studies at the University of Western Sydney. Further, the paper provides an analysis of the learning and teaching outcomes for a new elective. The implications from the student feedback to this unit suggests this method of delivery achieves many of the pedagogical and accreditation goals of this degree