Curriculum Evaluation and Design Guidelines for the UCG Undergraduate Degree Program in Journalism

Abstract

This study was conceived and designed as part of a collaborative project to analyze the current curricula of various Casa Grande University Departments, compare them to excellent peers worldwide and make suggestions for improvements in the new curricula. This document corresponds to the Journalism Department. The methodology involved analyzing papers in professional journals, presentations in Congresses and legal documents to identify the principal issues or threats facing journalists, and the media. The comparative analysis of the curricula of effective peer undergraduate journalism programs offered insight into the elements that could have contributed to the success of the program. These findings were compared to the UCG curriculum. With this information it was possible to develop suggested guidelines for the redesign of the journalism curriculum. These findings include the need of the professional to manage three languages, possibly including an ancestral Ecuadorian tongue. The recognition of the importance of the contextualization of the journalist, especially in the community where he works, reinforces the pertinence of the UCG pedagogical model that emphasizes the use of simulation exercises, and suggests amplifying it. The comparison of the UCG journalism curriculum with those of its peers revealed a poverty of enriching, humanistic studies, due to the credit limitations mandated by law.