Outcome-Driven Learning: Creating Opportunities for Change

Abstract

Through a case-study approach, Outcome-Driven Learning (ODL) is introduced as the first model to be grounded in the academic literatures of communication, action learning, and personal development, each of which has forged the understanding and teaching of public administration. This model is significant in that it defines success as a process where the teaching of public and nonprofit administration puts communication at the forefront of the learning experience in a way that allows students to articulate how they may become more effective citizens and better public service administrators. It is particularly suited to the teaching of administration through personal development because it uses communication to bridge the gap between the public and private aspects of service. Here, communication is the quintessential tool in promoting a balance between individual creativity and organizational constraint. Furthermore, through action learning, ODL enables students to attain a higher level of service learning where objectives are co-determined with organizational partners who strive to create meaningful outcomes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diane M. Kimoto

Diane M. Kimoto earned her PhD from the University of Southern California with emphases in interpersonal and organizational communications. Her research and publishing interests combine communication and pedagogic theory toward identifying the underlying approaches that guide the co-operative experience between teachers and students in promoting excellence in learning.

Lorne Mulder

Lorne Mulder has eight years of executive management experience leading behavioral health and international humanitarian relief agencies. He has a master’s degree in public administration, with a nonprofit concentration, from Grand Valley State University. He is currently applying to PhD programs with hopes of eventually teaching at the collegiate level.

Cory Jackson

Jenny Frasco earned a Master in Business Administration from the University of Michigan–Flint (2010) and a Master of Public Administration from Grand Valley State University (2008). She is currently a Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps, United States Navy as a Health Care Administrator.

Jenny Frasco

Cory Jackson is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying public and nonprofit administration with an emphasis in budgeting and finance at Grand Valley State University. He has led several service learning trips across the nation and continues to look for ways to enhance service learning in classrooms.