ALR103 - Introduction to Public Relations
Unit details
| Year | 2025 unit information |
|---|---|
| Enrolment modes: | Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online, Community Based Delivery (CBD)* Trimester 3: Burwood (Melbourne), Online |
| Credit point(s): | 1 |
| EFTSL value: | 0.125 |
| Unit Chair: | Trimester 1: Deirdre Quinn-Allan Trimester 3: Deirdre Quinn-Allan |
| Prerequisite: | Nil |
| Corequisite: | Nil |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - on-campus unit enrolment: | Trimester 1: 1 x 2-hour on-campus seminar per week Trimester 3: 5 x 4.4-hour on-campus practical experiences (workshops) per trimester in weeks 1, 3, 6, 8 & 10 |
| Educator-facilitated (scheduled) learning activities - online unit enrolment: | 1 x 2-hour online seminar per week (recordings provided) |
| Typical study commitment: | Students will on average spend 150-hours over the teaching period undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit. This will include educator guided online learning activities within the unit site. |
Note:*Community Based Delivery (CBD): only for students of the National Indigenous Knowledges, Education, Research and Innovation NIKERI Institute (located at the Waurn Ponds campus) | |
Content
Beginning with an exploration of what public relations is (and what it is not), you’ll discover why it’s a communication field with many opportunities. The unit focuses on how businesses, non-profits, and governments use public relations to solve communication problems, find opportunities, and forge successful relationships with internal and external stakeholders, target publics and audiences. You will also learn how to research, and plan, and write a simple public relations campaign. Whether you are interested in learning more about public relations or need a foundation for further study in the field of public relations, this unit provides a solid introduction.
Learning Outcomes
| ULO | These are the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: | Alignment to Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) |
|---|---|---|
| ULO1 | Write, redraft, and edit own work clearly and concisely for an internal audience of public relations practitioners. | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication |
| ULO2 | Apply public relations scholarship and theories to examine public relations strategy and tactics | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication GLO4: Critical thinking |
| ULO3 | Use desk research to locate factors internal and external to an organisation to define target publics, set objectives, and inform decisions about public relations strategy and tactics | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO3: Digital literacy GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
| ULO4 | Critically analyse an issue and use a planning framework to develop a public relations plan to support informational, motivational, and behavioural objectives | GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities GLO2: Communication GLO3: Digital literacy GLO4: Critical thinking GLO5: Problem solving |
Assessment
| Assessment Description | Student output | Grading and weighting (% total mark for unit) | Indicative due week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1: Research and writing exercises | 1200 words or equivalent | 30% | Week 5 |
| Assessment 2: Planning Project | 2000 words or equivalent | 50% | Week 10 |
| Assessment 3: Progressive Assessment - Online exercises | 800 words or equivalent | 20% | Progressive throughout Trimester |
The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.
Learning resource
ALR103 Introduction to Public Relations has weekly study guide topics on the unit site. Links to readings and resources are located within the study guide topics. Commence each week’s topic via the study guide. Whilst many readings and resources can be found via the University Library via ALR103, link you should not rely on this list as you may miss learning activities and resources central to assessment and unit quizzes.
Note: When using the reading list via the Deakin library, select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.
Unit Fee Information
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study and their study discipline, and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current Students website.