Beyond Basic: A Temporal Study of Curriculum Changes in a First-Year Communication Course

Abstract

Communication courses in most institutions are seen as basic courses. Fundamental principles, core competencies and context-based activities mostly constitute part of introductory or core courses in communication across professional degree colleges in India. Most educators aspire to develop a comprehensive course that is sound in method and outcome, and prepares the learners for their future. Over the years, these courses have undergone gradual changes. The transformations and adaptions in these courses, and what they indicate has however been undervalued. The ecology of education, classroom practices and the needs from these courses have changed. The student learning preferences and teacher-student equation has changed, thus demanding more student-centric practices. The course develops as needs evolve. This paper works on a descriptive study of the first year communication courses offered through twenty years at a premier management institution, to evaluate the changes in the same. The evolution of the course over time, with changes in pedagogy, curriculum and assessment, is studied and mapped. Tools like WordStat8 and ATLAS.ti have primarily been used for analysis of qualitative data. The findings of the temporal analysis of course content and important developments are presented to understand the changes the course has undergone.

Keywords: temporal study, curricular change, ecology of education, student learning preferences, qualitative study

JEL Classification: I21, I23