Bachelor of Science in Recreation - Therapeutic Recreation

at Northwest Missouri State University USA

A degree in English education prepares students for meaningful careers in middle and high school classrooms. As an English education major at Northwest, students learn the skills to be successful in the classroom – classroom management, differentiated instruction, professionalism, practical strategies for teaching reading and writing – but they also learn about the teaching of English as a craft and an art.

Through books, English teachers expose students to other cultures and time periods, giving insight into how others think and have thought. Through writing instruction, English teachers give students a voice of their own and the means to express themselves to their world. Often, English teaching is associated with spelling, punctuation, grammar and other basic skills. As an English education major, students learn how to teach those skills, but also promote social justice and give kids the tools to thrive in an evolving world through reading and writing.

Students majoring in art with an emphasis in graphic design learn to create powerful, compelling design work that meets the needs of clients. Faculty ensure students learn the fundamentals of art and graduate with a diverse portfolio to use skills and tools in different aspects. Students get experience creating an idea-driven visual and create new ways to give a message that helps to educate and inform an audience.

Graphic design majors work closely with professionals and are actively involved in Northwest programs. Student engagement provides many opportunities for experimental learning including internships on the Northwest campus.

Economics majors at Northwest develop analytical, critical thinking and decision-making skills in preparation of evaluating the decisions made by businesses, consumers and government. The goal of this degree is to assess information and decisions in order understand the structure, operation and investigation of decisions.

In addition to small class sizes, Northwest students receive instruction from faculty who have received the Dean’s Award for Exemplary Teaching and the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Classes are small and upper-level courses have an average of fewer than 10 students.

The art education major is designed for students who want to teach in schools, museums or community centers. This interdisciplinary program focuses on children’s artistic development, skills-based learning with two- and three-dimensional art, critical thinking regarding images in pop culture including logos, advertisements, television shows and memes; and issues-based learning that promotes problem-solving.

The Human Services major at Northwest is designed to meet human needs through interdisciplinary knowledge, focus on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintain a commitment to improving the overall quality of life. Faculty focus on preparing students to effectively serve individuals, families, groups and communities in the human services field; communicate efficiently with clients and professionals; and develop culturally competent skills.

A career in the human service profession promotes improved service by refining accessibility, accountability and coordination among professionals and agencies in service delivery.

The curriculum is designed to provide the additional education necessary for students with vocational or technical non-transferable certificate/degrees to earn a bachelor's degree.

Recreation majors at Northwest is the study of play and leisure in an individual’s life and methods to improve quality of life. Student can emphasize in:

• Recreation and Park Management which prepares students for program leadership and development, and budget and facility management;
• Corporation Recreation/Wellness which involve programs related to a person’s physical well-being;
• Therapeutic Recreation which prepares students with the skills to assess and evaluate the needs for individuals with special needs; and
• Sport Management prepares students for leadership roles in professional, collegiate and community sports organizations.

The General Studies major is both an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary program. This provides you the opportunity to explore your interests and is adoptable to your needs by discovering electives from any discipline that appeals to you. As a student of the program, you gain the fundamental skills in problem-solving and communication as well as critical reading, writing and speaking. The goal of this program is to introduce you to contextual framing of any discipline in the arts and sciences and achieve the broad knowledge and training that employers require.

Students majoring in mass media with an emphasis in applied advertising focus on the tangible media, the visual as well as creative aspects of advertising. At Northwest, students have opportunities to participate in creating and selling advertisements on the award-winning,  student-managed KZLX radio and KNWT television stations, Northwest Missourian newspaper and Tower yearbook as soon as the first semester of their freshman year.

Faculty focus on three core areas: business of advertising, creativity and media sales. In business of advertising, students learn legal and regulatory ethics, operational structure and media planning; the creativity component includes the message strategy, design concepts and knowledge of critical analysis; and media sales provide information about media mix concepts, messaging across sales, understanding media rates and the importance of digital and social media.

Students majoring in mass media with an emphasis in broadcasting and production gain critical thinking and communication skills that aid in learning processes and techniques for pre- and post-production, recording techniques, microphone and camera operation, script writing and legal and regulations of public radio and television. Students have opportunities to participate on the staffs of Northwest’s award-winning radio and television stations as soon as the first semester of their freshman year.