Communication for Development & Social Leaders

This course will introduce the student to basic concepts and tools of the Communications for Development (C4D) process and social leaders’ skills. The course will review the 5 steps of the process to building social projects: Analysis, Strategic Design, Development and Testing, Implementation, and Monitoring & Evaluation. The student will develop skills to lead projects with lasting positive impact. This course helps keeping all the students ducks in a row with some methodical planning, by showing different strategies and techniques such as Behaviour Change, Audience Analysis, KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice, Strategic Planning, Communications Analysis, SMART objectives, and others. The expert will pass his personal philosophy to the student: more organization leads to improved well-being and the impact of building good communication habits.

This is a theoretical-practical course and explores/responds to the following inquiry according to the professional/disciplinary profile:

What is Communication for Development and how can this technique help me to be a social leader?

In order to respond to this question, we will study the following generative topics:

o What is Communications for Development? o How to define your audience? o How to best reach your audience? o How best develop and test your strategy?

o How to implement Communications for Development?

o How to monitor and evaluate a C4D campaign?

o What is a social leader and how to be one?

Along the course, the following skills will be fostered:

o Ability to understand what Communications for Development C4D).

o Ability to collaborate as a social leader in projects.

o Ability to build a new project based on the 5 steps of the C4D process.

o Ability to develop a C4D strategy. o Ability to control and monitor projects.

o Ability to present and communicate new social projects.

COURSE CONTENT
Unit I. Communications for Development (C4D)
o What is C4D? The Process. 
o Social leader, skills, and competencies. 
o steps of the C4D. 
Unit II. Analysis
o Understand potential target audiences
o Audience analysis
o Behavioural analysis
o Communication analysis
Unit III. Strategic Design
o SMART objectives
o Communication channel analysis
o Communication strategy
o Creative brief
o Monitoring and evaluation plans
Unit IV. Development and Testing
o Develop effective behavior change messages. 
o Pre-testing process
Unit V. Implementation 
o Alliances and stakeholders.
o Getting your message out there. 
Unit VI. Monitoring and Evaluation
o Distinguishing between monitoring and evaluation. 
o Tools to evaluate and monitor. 
o Final review. 

METHODOLOGY 
The methodology is project-based learning, a dynamic and interactive method focused on 
applying new knowledge to a real problem, through investigating, analyzing, and executing 
a social project.
Every unit will be divided into two parts, first to understand the basics and second to apply 
the new knowledge to the project. The students will work on a social project during the 
classes to present the final results at the end period. The course also will include other 
learning activities such as movie discussions and presentations. 
The role of the professor is to facilitate and guide the students in their learning experiences 
and projects, allowing the students to develop new skills and capabilities. It is a student-centered methodology that improves social and collective interactions.

LEARNING ASSESSMENT

Evaluation compiles and evaluates evidence by taking into account feedback and providing pre-established criteria. The course evaluation must be aligned with the competencies and the teaching methodology. There is a rubric for each evaluation resource. Even though the rubric grants a grade, it is also a quantitative and qualitative description of the student's performance. The rubrics include the core and discipline key competencies.

ASSIGNMENTS PERCENTAGE VALUE

2 Group Presentations (10% each) 20 %

2 Movie Roundtables (15% each) 30 %

Social Project: 40%

---Part 1: 7% Part 2: 7% Part 3: 7% Part 4: 7% Part 5: 7% Part 6: 5%

Final Presentation 10%

Total 100