Awareness campaign as a form of assessment

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Over the years, the call for doing more practical activities outside of the classroom has increased at the tertiary level of education. A good number of students have developed the view that talking and reading about theories does not give them a practical sense of how the various theories are applied in the real world. 

Students have formally through the online unit evaluation mentioned the need for more practical placements, internship programs and excursions. For example, a student who evaluated a unit of mine said; "Theories would be much better and understandable if engaged with practical part of it". Another said; "Knowledge without practical is useless".

The Graduate Tracer Study 2020 Formal Report also shared similar views by former students. A male participant said the University should; "Encourage practical learning for students and work placements for students in the work place". A female participant said; "Engage students practically in their respective fields of study to support the theory lessons".

I asked my students to conduct a public awareness campaign as part of their major assessment task out of 40% for the units IR432 International and Regional Security and IR409 Foreign Policy in PNG. From my point of view, a public awareness campaign around Madang town is the most practical thing one could do as a student. 

The students traveled out of the campus to stage a series of public awareness campaigns which featured live audiences. They were able to write to the gate keepers for permission to conduct their public awareness campaigns. They also had to organize logistics by themselves and most importantly make sure the contents of their awareness campaigns were pitched at the right level. My job was to basically follow them and assess them at the location. 

However, I decided to change the IR409 task to a social media awareness campaign, and left the IR431 task as a face-to-face public awareness campaign. I wanted the students to develop their understanding about Facebook and how they could use the popular online platform to share information that will influence change in the minds of fellow citizens.

One group created a Facebook page to highlight that potential lack of strategy and research about foreign policy options may have resulted in a less articulate foreign policy. They argued that if research is integrated into the process of foreign policy development, PNG would have weighed its options better and come up with workable foreign policies.

Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, my students visited: 

  • Madang International Primary School to conduct awareness on the importance of foreign policy.
  • Tusbab Secondary School to conduct awareness on organ trafficking and environmental security. 
  • Good Shepard Secondary School to conduct awareness on cyber bulling.
  • Madang Technical College to conduct awareness on malnutrition as food security issue.
  • Madang Christian Academy to conduct awareness on importance of foreign policy.
  • DWU main campus car park to conduct awareness on mental health issues.
  • Kusbau Primary School to conduct awareness on HIV/AIDS as a health security issue.  
  • Madang Town Market to conduct awareness on importance of foreign policy.    

The public awareness campaign at the Madang Town Market was a memorable event. The students tried to explain the concept of foreign policy in Tok Pisin to help the mothers at the market understand the concept and its importance. They showed a nicely coloured chart that they made and used a loud-hailer to broadcast their main message. They also distributed pamphlets to the audience written in simple English.

Awareness campaign at the Madang Town Market
Awareness campaign at Madang Town Market before the COVID19 pandemic about foreign policy


Another interesting public awareness campaign was the one staged at the Holy Spirit Secondary School. The school was a few kilometers outside of Madang town. The students were able to travel out and arranged for event to be staged in the school library. They talk about cyber bullying and it harmful effects to a really attentive audience who asked a lot of questions. I sat at the back and observed with my marking sheet.

In 2020 and 2021, the public awareness campaign for the unit IR431 was changed to a social media awareness campaign. It was not safe for students to travel out to organize and stage their awareness campaigns due to the COVID19 pandemic. I had to change the instructions and the marking criteria to include the use of Facebook as a platform for conducting the awareness campaign.  

The instructions in my learning guide for the social media awareness task are organized in logical sequence. Students are: 

  • asked to form 5 groups and select a security issue and then identify the relevant strategy, policy or legislation associated with the security issue.
  • tasked to evaluate how the strategy, policy or legislation helped to address the security issue or influenced other outcomes.
  • instructed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy, policy or legislation.
  • required to find a workable solution if they concluded that the strategy, policy or legislation did not address appropriately the security issue.
  • required to write all the information collated in their respective group wikis
  • tasked to plan and prepare an online awareness campaign on Facebook based on the detailed information in their group wikis.

Last semester, one group decided to work on the issue of environmental security associated with the Frieda Mine Project in East Sepik. They connected with a community based non-governmental organization who is fighting to save the Sepik river system. Another group talked about rising sea level as a threat to human security. They traveled to Kranket Island to interview the ward councilor and primary school students. In addition, the third group looked at border security and agencies that are empowered by our legislation to guard our sea and land borders.   

I had to change my major assessment task in the unit IR409 from a social media awareness campaign to a case study as mentioned in my previous blog. Also I had to change my major assessment task in the unit IR431 from a public awareness campaign to a social media awareness campaign. But, I hope to go back to the original arrangement in 2022, if all students get their vaccination. We will observe the Gutpla Pasin protocol if we travel out of the campus to conduct our awareness campaign for the unit IR431.

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