Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to assess students’ perceptions regarding the value of an agricultural communications magazine capstone course at the University of Arkansas in an effort to describe the characteristics leading to the course’s success and to pilot a clear method of evaluating capstone courses. The course evaluators used the Model for the Integration of Experiential Learning into Capstone Courses (MIELCC) as a framework for the evaluation. Students reported receiving a valuable experience on all accounts. Based on the examination of students’ perceptions through the lens of the model (MIELCC), the course fulfilled students’ needs for experiential learning and prepared students for their careers. Students reported having improved their levels of confidence in their communications skills and having improved important skills to prepare them for the workforce. For new and developing agricultural communications programs, the findings of this evaluation help solidify the need for a similar capstone course in the curriculum and provide a model that can guide capstone curriculum development and evaluation. The results also lead to the recommendation of modifications to the MIELCC to emphasize the importance of internal communications in the capstone experience and to introduce the concept of noise—situations when the
system is hindered—in the capstone environment. This addition adds an element of realism to the model and helps account for difficulties encountered throughout capstone courses. Future studies should employ the MIELCC to examine successful magazine capstone courses in agricultural communications programs across the country in order to create guidelines for developing and improving such courses.
Keywords:
capstone course evaluations, Five R's model, agricultural communications
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