This is the course blog for PH 663 - the theory-based, practical, action-packed Health Communication course for ace Health Promotion students in the Graduate School of Public Health at San Diego State University. Are we having fun or what!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Week 15 - Key Learnings
For this week's post, please describe your key learnings from this course, how your thinking has changed (if it has) and what principles and tools you expect to use in your career. And any thoughts about your group project.
Through this course I have found myself being more critical of what I am viewing and the media, as well as respecting that work all the more for all the research and work that went into doing the background information and work to produce the final product. As for my career, I plan on going into Victim Advocacy which media advocacy as well as PR's may be necessary and handy to know how to do. The group project was a real way to see how much work goes into making a campaign.
What a great course! From day one of the class until today, I have continued to learn from both Dr. E, my fellow classmates, and my group members (go team pan flu!). Just as Katie said, one of the biggest takeaways is certainly that I am now a much more discerning critic of the media and of health messages. Also, I just taught my last class of Health Psychology tonight to SDSU undergrads and having the two courses simultaneously was a godsend! I very frequently applied what we've learned in our 663 class to my lectures, and I think the students are probably very grateful for that (thanks, Dr. E!). Also like Katie, I have found the process of putting together a communication campaign to be both challenging and rewarding. So cool how hands-on it has been... Of course I learned and got much more out of the class but these were the main things that I can think of "top of mind!" Thanks to all for a great semester!
Some of the key learning points that I've taken away include: knowing thy audience and critical thinking helps raise the bar for what works and doesn't work. The former is kind of crazy because before I was victim to assuming that it was easy to determine what the audience wanted. Very foolish on my part, I know. But, after taking 663, I realized that there is a lot more to understanding the audience. No assumptions can be made. The more people of your audience that you talk to, the better because it helps make the general consensus stronger. I'll definitely apply that my health career. Likewise, being critical of what I see in the media really gives me a new respect for the level of skill required to develop effective campaigns. It's important to be mindful and respectful to your TARGET audience and a little thinking outside of the box never hurt anyone either. The group project gave me a taste of both lessons.
This course has been most valuable is learning real world skills that for once I feel are useful and practical to apply in various situations. I would love to do formative research and design media campaigns, as well as qualitative research on global health issues. You taught useful organizers on how to pull together a project and I feel I gained a great deal of confidence in applying all of these skills to a similar job. The group project was valuable, A LOT OFF WORK, but still a great learning experience.
I have definitely learned a lot in this course, and unlike many other courses I believe that this information will actually stick with me in the future! I appreciate all of the hands-on activities as those really helped me to understand the concepts we talked about in class. Similar to Katie, I too find myself thinking more about what messages I am exposed to in the world. The group project has been lots of work but very interesting and a great experience -- I enjoyed the fact that we got to put our newly learned skills to use to produce something tangible, and hopefully useful for our 'client.' I anticipate using many of the skills we learned in class in my public health future, especially formative research and audience segmentation, since there is always an audience to reach and formative research can help inform nearly any project/campaign/intervention. Thanks for such a useful class!
Throughout this course, I have been having "aha!" feelings: "So that's why they do that, I get it now." The concepts taught in this class have been very helpful not only in regards to awareness campaigns and formative research, but also to how I personally look at advertising and other forms of marketing. I feel I am a more educated consumer now, which is a powerful feeling. So, to follow in the realm of health communication, this class has made me think of myself and my actions as a consumer, 'them' as the center of the universe, and realize that there is a lot of work behind every message that we receive (or choose not to receive based on our selective perception). This class has made me feel more educated and powerful in my actions as a public health professional, and has made me want to put more effort into every intervention or marketing campaign I may have the opportunity to work on. This was a great class in regards to relevant public health information and topics, lectures, and projects that test our abilities as communicators.
The most important learning for me has been letting go of my own assumptions reagridng my population of interest. The extensive work we have done with Project SOL enabled me to take away these biases and have a more objective view of the target population as well as a goals and campign's objectives. Also, the overall principles of the course reagrding us and them has broughtm me invaluable lessons that cannot only be applied in professional settings, but personal ones as well
Key learning of this course for me has to be that health messages are everywhere. We need to learn how to reveal them to people. This course was a great start for the process everyone will continue in the rest of their careers in public health promotion.
This course has taught me to be more aware and analytical of the messages I see on TV, radio, internet etc., which, I’ve learned, can be annoying for those watching/listening with you. However, it really makes me think about how I could use the same tactics to turn it into something with a health promotion objective. Although challenging, I liked the hands on approach of our class working with an outside groups/agencies to complete our group projects and design a campaign. Actually having to go through all the steps was a great learning experience for me and something I will definitely use in my career. I also learned a lot from other groups. I like the variety of topics and agencies that were represented and the ways everyone came up with their specific objectives. I was impressed. Our group project really made me appreciate what goes into creating a (hopefully) successful campaign, how to deal with challenges and how to create a logistic plan that works with the goals of the outside agency and is also feasible for our group to put into action. I’m almost certain that our work will be something we expand after the class is done. The class has been a great experience.
Health communications has been an interesting and informative class. Prior to this class, I had no idea how much work went into a campaign. I have found myself noticing that "communication is everywhere" and I now pay more attention to various forms of communication. Through working on the pan flu project, our team realized how beneficial focus groups can be for creating and disseminating messages. Although it was time consuming to continually change our message, strategy, and channels, we ended up with (hopefully) a more effective campaign. From this class, I intend to look into health communication careers... thanks!
Health communication is EVERYWHERE. This class really brought that into light. Before this class, I was always very bored when the classic health commercials came on TV (i.e. the cholesterol lowering or diet commercials), now I pay attention to not only these messages but also the not so obvious health messages. It may annoy my fellow TV watchers because now I am constantly yelling out “Health Message!!!!” during TV programs. It is like I am more tuned into what I am being exposed to and I don’t see that going away anytime soon. Working on the Family PACT project made all that we have learned in class more concrete. It gave me a chance to apply the tools we learned and I think by doing that I will be less likely to forget them. Unlike writing a paper this project allowed us to have the hands on experience that is health communication. It was (is) a lot of work but I think that every moment has been worth it. I have learned so much not only from the project but from my wonderful group mates. Although group work is hard at times, working in this group has really showed me how important it is to be around other people to get the creative juices flowing and that is so necessary if our health messages want to have even the slightest chance in the huge world of communication.
This class has been one of the most exciting courses I have taken in the graduate program so far. From the beginning you could take what we discussed in class and see it in the real world. I find myself paying more attention to advertising and the media. Especially, public health messages. I keep asking myself "did they do their formative research?" Coming from an anthropology background I completely understand and couldn't agree more with the reasons for doing formative research. This aspect along with the idea of being a cultural spy interested me the most. I also learned a lot from our discussion on 'hard to reach' audiences. I now feel ready to tell anyone who ever poses that phrase to me, "there are no hard to reach audiences!". I have learned so much that I can apply to my work in PH. I definitely plan on keeping my notes and reader handy. The project was challenging and required more creative thinking then I have had to do in any other class. But it was worth it because we were able to apply our knowledge into a real life project. Thanks Dr.Engelberg for sharing what you know.
This class has been, well, long... No offense :) But looking back, I have learnt a look of great things. We should not label people "hard to reach." It takes a lot of formative research to make campaigns, commercials, ads, and so on successful. What public health individuals should do is research how Pepsi, coke, cars, and all the other successfully products market their materials. The projects that we are doing showed us how to segment our audiences, find messages to send out, and how to do focus groups. It was a great experience. I am more aware of ads and its affects on people. Such as Jane Killbourne's presentation. Good luck on Finals!!!
We are DONE!!!! I have to say this was one of my favorite class so far, next to advance stats (LOL). I enjoyed all the real life applications we did, especially the groups project. Who knew that devising a health campaign can be such hard work on rewarding all at the same time. I would like to thank my group members for their work, dedication, great ideas, and fun times. It feels good to know that we came up with a campaign that our target audience enjoyed and want to implement in their health communication program in the church. I guess Moshe taught us well. I can't say that i will miss the blogging, but it was therapeutic at time for me to get somethings off my mind and be able to relate the class lecture in a more personal level. Hope you all have a great summer. And remember to keep your audience at the center, do your formative research, and use your open face :) Peace
14 comments:
Through this course I have found myself being more critical of what I am viewing and the media, as well as respecting that work all the more for all the research and work that went into doing the background information and work to produce the final product. As for my career, I plan on going into Victim Advocacy which media advocacy as well as PR's may be necessary and handy to know how to do. The group project was a real way to see how much work goes into making a campaign.
What a great course! From day one of the class until today, I have continued to learn from both Dr. E, my fellow classmates, and my group members (go team pan flu!). Just as Katie said, one of the biggest takeaways is certainly that I am now a much more discerning critic of the media and of health messages. Also, I just taught my last class of Health Psychology tonight to SDSU undergrads and having the two courses simultaneously was a godsend! I very frequently applied what we've learned in our 663 class to my lectures, and I think the students are probably very grateful for that (thanks, Dr. E!). Also like Katie, I have found the process of putting together a communication campaign to be both challenging and rewarding. So cool how hands-on it has been... Of course I learned and got much more out of the class but these were the main things that I can think of "top of mind!" Thanks to all for a great semester!
Some of the key learning points that I've taken away include: knowing thy audience and critical thinking helps raise the bar for what works and doesn't work. The former is kind of crazy because before I was victim to assuming that it was easy to determine what the audience wanted. Very foolish on my part, I know. But, after taking 663, I realized that there is a lot more to understanding the audience. No assumptions can be made. The more people of your audience that you talk to, the better because it helps make the general consensus stronger. I'll definitely apply that my health career. Likewise, being critical of what I see in the media really gives me a new respect for the level of skill required to develop effective campaigns. It's important to be mindful and respectful to your TARGET audience and a little thinking outside of the box never hurt anyone either. The group project gave me a taste of both lessons.
This course has been most valuable is learning real world skills that for once I feel are useful and practical to apply in various situations. I would love to do formative research and design media campaigns, as well as qualitative research on global health issues. You taught useful organizers on how to pull together a project and I feel I gained a great deal of confidence in applying all of these skills to a similar job. The group project was valuable, A LOT OFF WORK, but still a great learning experience.
I have definitely learned a lot in this course, and unlike many other courses I believe that this information will actually stick with me in the future! I appreciate all of the hands-on activities as those really helped me to understand the concepts we talked about in class. Similar to Katie, I too find myself thinking more about what messages I am exposed to in the world. The group project has been lots of work but very interesting and a great experience -- I enjoyed the fact that we got to put our newly learned skills to use to produce something tangible, and hopefully useful for our 'client.' I anticipate using many of the skills we learned in class in my public health future, especially formative research and audience segmentation, since there is always an audience to reach and formative research can help inform nearly any project/campaign/intervention. Thanks for such a useful class!
Throughout this course, I have been having "aha!" feelings: "So that's why they do that, I get it now." The concepts taught in this class have been very helpful not only in regards to awareness campaigns and formative research, but also to how I personally look at advertising and other forms of marketing. I feel I am a more educated consumer now, which is a powerful feeling. So, to follow in the realm of health communication, this class has made me think of myself and my actions as a consumer, 'them' as the center of the universe, and realize that there is a lot of work behind every message that we receive (or choose not to receive based on our selective perception). This class has made me feel more educated and powerful in my actions as a public health professional, and has made me want to put more effort into every intervention or marketing campaign I may have the opportunity to work on. This was a great class in regards to relevant public health information and topics, lectures, and projects that test our abilities as communicators.
The most important learning for me has been letting go of my own assumptions reagridng my population of interest. The extensive work we have done with Project SOL enabled me to take away these biases and have a more objective view of the target population as well as a goals and campign's objectives. Also, the overall principles of the course reagrding us and them has broughtm me invaluable lessons that cannot only be applied in professional settings, but personal ones as well
Key learning of this course for me has to be that health messages are everywhere. We need to learn how to reveal them to people. This course was a great start for the process everyone will continue in the rest of their careers in public health promotion.
This course has taught me to be more aware and analytical of the messages I see on TV, radio, internet etc., which, I’ve learned, can be annoying for those watching/listening with you. However, it really makes me think about how I could use the same tactics to turn it into something with a health promotion objective.
Although challenging, I liked the hands on approach of our class working with an outside groups/agencies to complete our group projects and design a campaign. Actually having to go through all the steps was a great learning experience for me and something I will definitely use in my career.
I also learned a lot from other groups. I like the variety of topics and agencies that were represented and the ways everyone came up with their specific objectives. I was impressed. Our group project really made me appreciate what goes into creating a (hopefully) successful campaign, how to deal with challenges and how to create a logistic plan that works with the goals of the outside agency and is also feasible for our group to put into action. I’m almost certain that our work will be something we expand after the class is done. The class has been a great experience.
Health communications has been an interesting and informative class. Prior to this class, I had no idea how much work went into a campaign. I have found myself noticing that "communication is everywhere" and I now pay more attention to various forms of communication. Through working on the pan flu project, our team realized how beneficial focus groups can be for creating and disseminating messages. Although it was time consuming to continually change our message, strategy, and channels, we ended up with (hopefully) a more effective campaign. From this class, I intend to look into health communication careers... thanks!
Health communication is EVERYWHERE. This class really brought that into light. Before this class, I was always very bored when the classic health commercials came on TV (i.e. the cholesterol lowering or diet commercials), now I pay attention to not only these messages but also the not so obvious health messages. It may annoy my fellow TV watchers because now I am constantly yelling out “Health Message!!!!” during TV programs. It is like I am more tuned into what I am being exposed to and I don’t see that going away anytime soon. Working on the Family PACT project made all that we have learned in class more concrete. It gave me a chance to apply the tools we learned and I think by doing that I will be less likely to forget them. Unlike writing a paper this project allowed us to have the hands on experience that is health communication. It was (is) a lot of work but I think that every moment has been worth it. I have learned so much not only from the project but from my wonderful group mates. Although group work is hard at times, working in this group has really showed me how important it is to be around other people to get the creative juices flowing and that is so necessary if our health messages want to have even the slightest chance in the huge world of communication.
This class has been one of the most exciting courses I have taken in the graduate program so far. From the beginning you could take what we discussed in class and see it in the real world. I find myself paying more attention to advertising and the media. Especially, public health messages. I keep asking myself "did they do their formative research?" Coming from an anthropology background I completely understand and couldn't agree more with the reasons for doing formative research. This aspect along with the idea of being a cultural spy interested me the most. I also learned a lot from our discussion on 'hard to reach' audiences. I now feel ready to tell anyone who ever poses that phrase to me, "there are no hard to reach audiences!". I have learned so much that I can apply to my work in PH. I definitely plan on keeping my notes and reader handy. The project was challenging and required more creative thinking then I have had to do in any other class. But it was worth it because we were able to apply our knowledge into a real life project. Thanks Dr.Engelberg for sharing what you know.
This class has been, well, long... No offense :) But looking back, I have learnt a look of great things. We should not label people "hard to reach." It takes a lot of formative research to make campaigns, commercials, ads, and so on successful. What public health individuals should do is research how Pepsi, coke, cars, and all the other successfully products market their materials. The projects that we are doing showed us how to segment our audiences, find messages to send out, and how to do focus groups. It was a great experience. I am more aware of ads and its affects on people. Such as Jane Killbourne's presentation. Good luck on Finals!!!
We are DONE!!!! I have to say this was one of my favorite class so far, next to advance stats (LOL). I enjoyed all the real life applications we did, especially the groups project. Who knew that devising a health campaign can be such hard work on rewarding all at the same time. I would like to thank my group members for their work, dedication, great ideas, and fun times. It feels good to know that we came up with a campaign that our target audience enjoyed and want to implement in their health communication program in the church. I guess Moshe taught us well. I can't say that i will miss the blogging, but it was therapeutic at time for me to get somethings off my mind and be able to relate the class lecture in a more personal level. Hope you all have a great summer. And remember to keep your audience at the center, do your formative research, and use your open face :)
Peace
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