Top GIFT from AEJMC-PRD 2018

Editorial Record: Submitted to AEJMC-PRD GIFT Competition by Feb. 5, 2018. A blind copy was peer reviewed by the PRD Teaching Committee, led by Chair Katie Place. First published online on August 17, 2018.

Author

Chris Cooney, Washington State University

Sparking Creativity Through Purpose-Driven Storytelling

RATIONALE

The Digital Strategies and Techniques course begins with a two-part assignment in which students produce a multimedia story about their transformation from a college student to a communication professional.

The assignment aligns with the Washington State University Foundational Competencies for Communication, which require students to “creatively adapt content and conventions to diverse contexts, audiences, and purposes,” including the use of digital communication technologies (UCORE, n.d., para. 7). Adobe Spark requires less than one hour of classroom instruction for students to gain the skills necessary to complete the assignment. Having a minimal need for technical instruction enables students to focus on the structure of their stories and the significance of the elements they contain.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS

This assignment furthers the following WSU Communication learning goals: “Defining, analyzing, and solving problems;” “combining and synthesizing existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways;” “thinking and working in imaginative ways characterized by innovation, divergent thinking, and risk-taking” (WSU, n.d., para. 3).

CONNECTION TO PRACTICE

My Great Idea For Teaching (GIFT) combines the process of personal narrative construction with Adobe Spark as a media creation tool in an assignment that empowers students to confidently engage in communication strategy development and purpose-driven multimedia storytelling grounded in PR practices.

The problem-solving approach, creative process, and media creation tool used in this assignment are intuitive and approachable. Students follow a strategic content creation process that requires research, strategic development, ideation, content creation, and implementation.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

The intuitive workflow of Adobe Spark gave students the confidence to make mistakes and experiment without significant risk of wasted time or effort. Students can quickly explore new possibilities that they previously saw as unattainable. I could then provide feedback during the class period and suggest changes, which the student could often implement before the end of the class period.

Student Examples

Listed below are examples of the multimedia narratives students produced based on the assignment instructions.

Karen Gallardo, https://spark.adobe.com/video/oTxttwh2VDj21

Kelly-anne Cubley, https://spark.adobe.com/video/xD0EXPQVhfe6g

Niko Balocco, https://spark.adobe.com/video/IXDHt3Po4joRR

ASSIGNMENT

For the first part of the assignment, Personal Professional Assessment and Vision, students write a structured narrative, grounded in their personal values and goals, that describes how they will leverage their strengths and overcome obstacles to achieve what they define as success.

In the second part of the assignment, Personal Introduction Presentation, students translate their written story into a multimedia narrative using Adobe Spark, a free storytelling tool that is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud.

The assignment requires students to engage in a planning and creative process that mirrors the situation analysis and strategy development process used in professional public relations. The assignment is a practical and meaningful introduction to strategy development and digital content creation.

REFERENCES

UCORE. (n.d.). UCORE Categories and Course Lists. Retrieved from https://ucore.wsu.edu/students/categories-and-courses/

Washington State University (n.d.) WSU Learning Goals: Communication Learning Goals. Retrieved from https://ucore.wsu.edu/students/learning-goals/

 

Appendix

Assignment

These are the assignment instructions provided to students.

Assignment – Part 1: Personal Professional Assessment & Vision

Assignment on the course blog: https://comstrat381.com/assignment-1b-personal-professional-assessment-vision/

This assignment will serve as the basis for your Presentation 1: Personal Professional Introduction assignment, so you should complete it before you begin work on your presentation.

Overview
For this assignment, you will develop a structured narrative, grounded in your personal values and goals, that describes your personal transformation from a college student to a successful communication professional. Although this is a personal story, the structure of this assignment and the process you’ll use to develop it is based on the same creative process you’ll use to research clients and customers, so you can develop communication solutions that meet strategic goals.

Task
Create a document that captures your structured creative thought process–including relevant details, references, goals, actions, and insights. You will use it to construct a personal story about your transformation from a college student to a successful communication professional.

Document Outline
A. Personal Information – Start with an overview of yourself; where you came from, how you got to WSU, and what you’re doing right now.

• Your name and hometown.
• Your major, area of interest, minor, or other active academic pursuits.
• When will you graduate? How many months away is that? How many days?
• What are you doing this semester besides taking 381?
• Your hobbies, interests, groups/organizations you are a member of or other things you want to share about yourself.
• What are your core values? In other words, what personally do you stand for and consider most important?

Research requirement: Include at least two relevant statistics in this section that help establish context or scope for your personal background and interests. Include citations for these statistics.

B. Vision of Future Professional Self – Where do you see yourself professionally five years after graduation?

• Where will you live? – Geographic location, urban or rural, relevant details about your living situation.
• Where will you work? – Type of company or organization, location, relevant details about your work environment.
• What will your title be? – How does this title relate to your skills and strengths? Cite a real title and organization with specific job responsibilities and requirements.
• Who will you work with? – What kinds of people will you collaborate with at your company or organization? Who will you engage with outside of your company (customers, clients, the public, etc.)?
• What work will you do? – What will you create or produce, what impact will it have on people and on society?
• What will you do besides work?
• How does all of this relate to your core values?

Research requirement: Research the location you want to live in and firms and titles in the industry and location you identified. Cite at least two sources in this section to demonstrate a clear connection between your vision of yourself and the real possibilities that exist there today.

C. Situation Analysis – Do a strength, weakness, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis on yourself based on your preparedness to begin your professional career and be successful. Include relevant information about your skills and experience.

Summarize your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats either in a table or as a bulleted list.

Identify what you think is your greatest opportunity and your greatest threat or challenge.

D. Steps to Enable Future Vision – What are 3-4 specific decisions you can make or actions you can take in the next four months to use your personal strengths to capitalize on the greatest opportunity you identified or minimize the most significant threat that could stand in the way of you moving toward your vision of your future professional self?

List your greatest opportunities and most significant challenge.
Then for each of them:

• Identify the specific action you can take or change you can make that will address it.
• How will taking this action lead to your vision of your future self?
• How does taking this action this relate to your core values?

Research requirement: Identify 2-3 specific resources (people, organizations, classes, scholarships, etc.) that could help you make the most of a particular opportunity or overcome a challenge. Cite these resources.

E. References – Include a references page at the end of your paper. Use MLA style for your citations.

Assignment – Part 2: Presentation 1 – Personal Introduction Presentation

Present your personal story about your transformation from a student to a successful communication professional.

Assignment on course blog: https://comstrat381.com/presentation-1-personal-introduction/

Overview
Develop a multimedia presentation that describes your transformation from a college student to a successful communication professional. Use Assignment #1B: Personal Professional Assessment and Vision as your reference for your presentation structure and content. Collect and incorporate multimedia elements (photos, video, audio, etc.) to help illustrate your story and engage your audience.

Task
Create a short, multimedia narrative using Adobe Spark. You can either use Spark Page to create a web page to illustrate your story, then deliver a verbal narrative in class that relates to the web page. Or you can create a standalone Spark Video that may only require a brief verbal introduction in class. You also have the option to combine a Spark Page and a Spark Video to deliver your presentation. Remember, you cannot exceed the 2-minute time limit for your presentation.

Your in-class presentation should not exceed 2 minutes. Spark Videos should be 1-2 minutes.

Format: A Spark Page or Spark Video.

Presentation Outline
This is the suggested outline and order for your presentation. You can adjust the order to fit your personal vision and concept for your story, but your story must include all of the elements listed in the outline.

A. Introduction – Start with an overview of yourself.

Include relevant details from your previous assignment.
Introduce your core values.

Media requirement: Include at least two images in this section.

B. Situation Analysis – Where are you today? What is the most important information about your current situation for your audience if they are to understand where you want to go and how you are going to get there?

Identify your most significant opportunities and most significant challenge.

Media requirement: Include at least two images in this section.

C. Vision of Future Professional Self – Where do you see yourself professionally five years after graduation?

Media requirement: Include at least two images in this section.

D. Path to Future Vision – What are you going to do to move toward your vision of your future professional self.

Identify the specific actions you will take.

Media requirement: Include at least two images in this section.

E. Outcome and Benefit – What is now possible? What is the result of having achieved this vision of your future professional self?

• How do you benefit?
• How do others benefit?

Media requirement: Include at least one image in this section.