INSTRUCTIONS
Student Learning Outcome:Demonstrate an ability to participate in and contribute to the public policy process.
Topics that would demonstrate your mastery of this SLO (Student Learning Outcomes) include:
- how public problems are defined, and the challenges involved in doing so to determine responsive and viable solutions.
- the steps in the public policy-making process including those related to the implementation and evaluation of public programs.
- the variety of ways in which public administrators may be involved in the policy-making process and the importance of them doing so.
- the importance of relying on credible and unbiased research to make and evaluate policy decisions.
Keeping those topics above in mind, listen to the 3 following podcasts:
Then, in a 3–5-pageessay, discuss the listed topics linking them to the information and/or themes presented in the podcasts. Your essay should also include an analysis of one of the definitions of a public problem presented in either of the podcasts and a discussion of the viability of the suggested policy responses. Your essay should be single-spaced, well-written, including an introduction and a conclusion, and integrating at least 3-4 references from your MPA coursework. Remember to cite all sources properly and include an APA formatted list of references.
ADDITIONAL Resource:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Spiral)
Authors: American Psychological Association
Edition: 7TH 20
Publisher: American Psychological Association – APA
ISBN-13: 978-1-4338-3217-8
ISBN-10: 1-4338-3217-8
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Begin with an introduction that you write AFTER you have written the rest of the essay. It should preview the main points you make in the essay.
- You should have a sub-heading for each of the topics above and for each you should have several paragraphs. You probably should have at least one paragraph for each of the aspects of the topics listed. For example, for the first topic your first paragraph should describe how public problems are defined, perhaps including who makes the decisions, what they use to determine how the problem is defined.
- The next paragraph should describe challenges in defining public problems and how the way a problem is defined affects how responsive and viable chosen solutions are because of those challenges. You would do the same thing for each of the topics listed describing your response to the topics.
- Then, again for each topic above, you should describe an example of that aspect of the SLO from the podcasts and support that example with specific reference to your MPA courses and/or the coursework you completed such as in the Learning Materials or one of the assignments.
Your essay should also include an analysis of one of the definitions of a public problem presented in either of the podcasts and a discussion of the viability of the suggested policy responses. Be sure to include citations for any claims you make about the viability of the suggested policy responses. You will need to do some Internet/library research to support that part of this last section of the paper.
Finally, write a Conclusion that reviews what you addressed, the key points you made, in the essay.
