DACUM: A National Database Justifying the Study of Speech Communication

This article proposes that Developing A Curriculum (DACUM), a standardized curriculum development process, be tapped to justify the study of speech communication in higher education. DACUM is a standardized method for determining curricular needs. Its purpose is to identify the duties, tasks and skills performed in a particular occupation, career area or profession. DACUM assumes that successful workers are best equipped to identify the competencies needed in their specific occupation. DACUM was created by he Canada Department of Manpower and Immigration and the General Learning Corp. of New York