A Creative Framework of Online Teaching of Public Relations Modules during the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Action Research Approach

ABSTRACT

The education of public relations and media modules has been tied in the literature to the professionalism of these disciplines. The contribution of this paper is that it is the first paper that has used areflective action research methodology to improve the on-line teaching of skill-oriented modules of public relations at the university-level in Bahrain during Covid-19. The instructor/researcher developed two action research cycles where she planned and implemented new teaching strategies based on the students’ needs, observed, evaluated, and reflected. The paper finds that action research has been useful in creating acollaborative relationship with the students, and helped to reflect on the e-learning process of public relations modules. The paper recommendsthe use of action researchtoimprove new creative strategies ofteaching other media and mass communication modules at the university-level during the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, the researcher invites future scholars to take the results of this research further, and use action research to improve creative educational methods that would improve high education in Bahrain after the Covid-19 pandemic. © 2021, Verlag Barbara Budrich. All rights reserved.