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A "Dynamic" Public Relations Case Class: I Don't Know Anything About Science and You Want Me to Say What?
b j Altschul, APR Assistant Professor
[log in to unmask] 202/885-2103 voice 202/885-2019 fax
School of Communication American University 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016-8017
ABSTRACT
A dynamic approach to part of the public relations case studies class facilitates student mastery of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Using a combination of asynchronous learning for research and discussion, role-playing and in-class Socratic Dialogue for negotiation and conflict management, and culminating in a mini-campaign, student teams represent stakeholder clients with widely divergent perspectives on a controversial topic in the news, a scientific issue that affects daily life and communication of strategic policy decisions. ### DYNAMIC CASE CLASS
A "Dynamic" Public Relations Case Class: I Don't Know Anything About Science and You Want Me to Say What?
RUNNING HEAD: Dynamic Case Class
b j Altschul, APR Assistant Professor
[log in to unmask] 202/885-2103 voice 202/885-2019 fax
School of Communication American University 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016-8017
Submitted April 1, 2003, for consideration by the Public Relations Division Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication 2003 Convention Kansas City, MO July 30-August 2, 2003
DYNAMIC CASE CLASS
A "Dynamic" Public Relations Case Class: I Don't Know Anything About Science and You Want Me to Say What?
Sports and entertainment often top the list of specialties that undergraduate public relations and communication majors say they want to pursue professionally. Or they may know they want to go to law school, or work for a non-profit, either in the arts or social services. Indeed, these fields are popular for internships, and upperclassmen come into their senior year full of enthusiasm for entering the profession if they can just find a job when they graduate and make the transition into the first stages of their professional lives. But suggest that they consider going into public relations for scientific or technical organizations, or ask what they think about headlines on science policy decisions that may affect their health, what they eat, the air they breathe, how they get to and from campus or work, and a host of other issues of contemporary life… and their reactions frequently fall silently to the classroom floor. The apathy among communication majors toward such everyday problems rooted in science may be more pronounced at schools whose science departments don't have a strong presence on campus, but it also may parallel the ups and downs of our national effort to increase science literacy throughout the educational system. Indeed, a key policy area that receives less attention in many public relations courses is strategic analysis as it relates to broad policy issues, especially in the sciences. To help fill that gap, the public relations case class is a good venue for focusing on such issues that make a significant impact on society. As our seniors plan to enter the job market full-time and become decision-makers themselves – voters, taxpayers, consumers in the marketplace, community leaders and policy makers – it makes sense to acquaint them with tools to help them deal with the complex choices they soon will face. This means going beyond knowing how to produce technically excellent communication pieces, to articulating the messages and the strategic roles that communication and public relations play in managing an organization. To suggest ways we as educators can encourage this emerging public of soon-to-be recent graduates to look at the big picture, in this paper I describe my experiences to date with a hybrid instructional design, a "dynamic" case method that provides a bridge connecting both lay and scientific perspectives. I also suggest next steps in the continually evolving pedagogy. A dynamic approach can provide students an interdisciplinary framework for applying the public relations management theories and principles they have studied to date to a current problem in a "real world" simulation. It can acquaint pre-professionals – both communicators and scientists – with ways to improve decision-making on scientific issues and simultaneously to acquaint scientists with ways to improve how they communicate about scientific information with lay policy-makers. The intent is to prepare students from many majors to make communication decisions that are well-informed and considered in a long-term perspective. Their mastery of critical thinking skills can help strengthen their problem-solving ability in ways that are useful not only as they enter their respective careers but also as they take on the various decision-making roles. The structure gives undergraduate students a stage from which to experience the role of the "practitioner in the middle" (Rogers, 1986) and engage in the strategic decision-making process.
An interdisciplinary approach Given the differences in outlook toward science, science education, and communication among practicing scientists, students, and public relations professionals (Cobern, 1989; Rabino, 1994; Rowan, 1999; Priest, 2001), a linking of related disciplines represents a step toward bring about increased understanding among them all. For the dynamic case design, deliberately seeking out controversial issues with stakeholders from diverse perspectives ensures not only that discussion and debate will be lively but also that majors from any one department will learn from majors in another. The format draws on the literature of education research regarding online course design, public relations management, and science communication. In addition, it bridges the world of academic research and current practice in public relations. While most case classes look at a program or campaign that has already taken place – and this is true for most of the case course that I teach as well – a forward-looking group of scenarios makes students think for themselves. One of the roles frequently attributed to public relations professionals is that of a boundary spanner (White & Dozier, 1992), someone who brings information about external publics and news developments to the organization's management, and vice versa. To achieve this, practitioners conduct environmental scans, especially helpful in an issues management capacity. Students already work on this kind of assignment in their writing classes, so it becomes a natural extension for the case class. The "what if" questions posed through scenarios help them work through ways to handle uncertainty in their organizations' external environments, while recognizing that the variety of possible outcomes may or may not happen in reality (van der Werff, July-August 2000). With a topic that's frequently in the news, there's a good chance that a class scenario actually may play out in real headlines before the semester is over, presenting a spontaneous opportunity to compare student solutions against the actual decision-makers' choices. The problem-solving approach in this course unit emphasizes symmetrical communication (Grunig, J.E., 1989; Grunig, J.E., & Grunig, L.A., 1992). The purpose of this model is to facilitate understanding and communication, based on research about publics. A theory of particular interest and relevance for the dynamic case is that of coorientation, which considers the level of agreement and degree of accuracy of organizations and their publics with regard to their perceptions of each other (Broom & Dozier, 1990).
Choice of issue(s) My classes build the dynamic unit around public debates on food and agricultural biotechnology. Broadly speaking, some life science issues may encompass food and health-related topics for which advocacy organizations develop campaigns for or against particular positions, or for which major public relations counseling firms develop programs for their clients. In particular, the issues surrounding food and agricultural biotechnology lend themselves well to understanding public issues processes. The subject area is new for virtually everyone in the class, and it is richly diverse in viewpoints among the myriad organizations involved. It brings into sharp focus the difficulties of communicating with publics that have different world views, since scientists tend to think in terms of "facts," while non-scientists often make policy choices based on "values." Working with organizational roles at highly polarized ends of the debate help make the concepts we're studying more readily apparent. To pique interest among the high percentage of my students who either are not especially interested in science or who think they don't like it, this topic is one that can appeal through a number of other practice areas: Corporate communication, issues management, public affairs, government relations, consumer relations, activist relations, media relations, non-profit and humanitarian interests, NGOs, international relations and globalization, and others. In terms of communication styles, the organizations with a stake in the real-life debate undertake serious, issue-oriented efforts involving both rhetoric and symmetrical communication, as well as asymmetrical persuasion and activism sometimes for its own sake. There are educational and informational campaigns that have been successful and those that have been failures, as well as elements of stuntsmanship that are clever attention-getters if not always strategic. My syllabus does not specify that the dynamic case revolves around science issues, although, interestingly, one student's criticism at the end of the exercise was that she had not expected so much of the course to be about science.
Class introduction to the dynamic case and role-playing To kick things off, opening activities have varied, from my own brief presentation of the topic, accompanied by articles distributed to both the class at large and to individual students based on the organizations they respectively represent; to watching a recent news video (PBS and Frontline both have tapes available that present an overview of the issue, media coverage, and interviews with both supporters and opponents); to a presentation by an expert guest speaker. Most recently I invited one of the biology professors on campus to give a lay explanation of the science of biotechnology, along with a science policy analyst who formerly worked for Hill & Knowlton and is currently on staff at the Pew Initiative on Food Biotechnology. An independent source, the Pew Initiative, with offices in Washington, does not take sides but, rather, seeks to provide information and encourage debate to help all parties make their own decisions (http://www.pewagbiotech.org). Assigned readings lead to class discussion of the pros and cons of being knowledgeable about science (or any other specialty that's relevant to one's employer) when you are in the position of communicating about the subject with key publics. Again, the role of boundary spanner gets some focus. Delegating roles is a key part of organizing this segment of the course. When I first began assembling the pieces of the puzzle, I made up index cards with the names of a couple of dozen actual stakeholder organizations and let each student draw from the deck of cards. That determined in whose "voice" each student would speak for the duration of the case. In some instances students drew roles that they later learned were radically different from their own perceptions, sometimes growing from that experience, sometimes becoming quite frustrated. To generate more buy-in among the students and hence greater interest, I've recently shifted to a learner-centered approach (Azevedo, 1998; Hanna, Glowacki-Dudka, & Conceicao-Runlee, 2000). I name the categories of stakeholders (for example, corporate, government agency, consumers, news media, scientists and agricultural producers, international organization, or food retailer) as well as several prospective "client" organizations within each category. Students then self-select both the category and a single client, ultimately forming teams of about three students who will function either as in-house counsel or outside agency representing that client. Informal feedback suggests this is indeed more effective than the one student/one organization assignment. While we are still in this organizing stage, I steer the class to the bulletin board on the classroom intranet, such as WebCT or Blackboard. They will have several Web-based forums throughout the case, but before we get underway with full-blown role-playing, I ask for an inventory in their own voices to find out what they know or believe, or think they know, about the topic first. Eventually this first post serves as a point of reference against which they can reflect at the end of the case whether and how their opinions have changed, or been reinforced. Where food and ag biotech is concerned, not surprisingly, this is a subject largely unfamiliar to public relations and communication students. This presents an opportunity to learn not only about a new subject, but also some new ways of thinking and analyzing what is going on around them.
Structure Student teams explore the public relations dimensions of food biotech from multiple stakeholder perspectives, along a continuum from supporting through opposing. They examine how these different stakeholder interests communicate and negotiate on behalf of their organizations regarding environmental impacts, pros and cons of applying contemporary technological solutions to improving food production and distribution, health concerns, and the sustainable prospects of ag biotech, among other uses. For the moment, it's helpful to recognize that numerous approaches exist for teaching case studies classes, within both the public relations curriculum and business schools (Kruckeberg & Bowen, 2003, in press; O'Rourke, 2000; Rangan, 1996). The pedagogical mix described in this paper integrates asynchronous learning for research and discussion, role-playing and Socratic Dialogue for negotiation and conflict management, and development of a mini-campaign plan to wrap up the experience. I'll discuss each of these segments in the sections that follow. All segments evolve concurrent with ongoing review of theory and principles.
Phase One: Online research and discussion As I discuss elsewhere (Altschul, 2003, in press), online discussion provides an additional useful forum to develop this skill although some educators have found no significant difference between in-class and asynchronous discussion (Kelleher & O'Malley, 2001). Regardless of the mode, however, the ability to listen attentively to what someone else is saying and to give relevant feedback is a primary skill for effective communicators and strategic counselors. The online part of the dynamic case lays the foundation for the Socratic Dialogue panels in class. The format is also adaptable in the classroom to foster creative and analytical skills so often cited as essential for meeting professional requirements in a constantly changing environment (Gower & Cho, 2001). After the inventory of initial knowledge described above, the first major step in the role play is for students to conduct online research about their assigned organizations on the organization's own Web site, critics' Web sites, and Lexis-Nexis. This gives them a view not only of the organization itself but also the perspective involved in environmental scanning. As they learn, they inform each other of their findings through several asynchronous discussions. Writing now in their clients' voices, they post what they discover about the client's position on the issue, along with a discussion of the client's "persona" as it communicates and makes decisions. At this point, for example, the model(s) of public relations should be apparent. While they continue to discover typical communication behaviors, discussion proceeds to a perception or coorientation stage to identify what each client thinks other stakeholders think about them and vice versa, and why. At this point I encourage my students to begin enacting online the communication behaviors and strategies of their organizations. In my most recent class, for example, the team representing the FDA initiated and responded to posts from several of the other stakeholders as follows:
Subject: Government The FDA conducts extensive studies on all biogenetically engineered food products before they hit the market. We take special care to make sure that every product created is just as safe (if not more safe) than the original host. However, we do recognize consumer concerns with these new products and we wish to work with all sectors of the food industry, including producers, consumers, and marketers to ensure that everyone is as confortable (sic) and content with the scientific progression of food products as possible. Our role is to protect the American marketplace as one of the strongest sectors in the world, while also protecting American consumers.
With this in mind, we are announcing today plans to research and develop a method of product labelling that will be required for all genetically engineered foodstuffs. Our research includes the possibility of a new logo that will serve as a universal symbol for biogentically (sic) engineered products.
Current research involves cost analysis and feasibility. During this time period, the government will hear feedback from the industry as to specific needs and concerns before announcing our plan for implementation.
Subject: Re: Media The FDA would like to make arrangements where we could meet with the media and discuss our plans on a public issues campaign for the topic of genetically altered foods. Our position is to educate the public about this issue so that they may feel more comfortable with the idea. The FDA is willing to share whatever information we have on the issue with the media. We are aiming to use various kinds of media to make the public aware of our future plans. Please contact the FDA regarding any questions you may have on our position.
Subject: In Respone (sic) to Concerned Consumers
The FDA fully understands the concern on behalf of the consumers. Though many consumers may believe that GM foods have just arrived on their shelves, biotechnology has been used for a great deal of time. In 1992, the FDA published a policy explaining how existing regulations for food safety would also apply to bioengineered foods. GM foods are altered using biotechnology to help make the crop produce better. There is nothing different with the end product. There are voluntary guidelines that allow companies to label GM products. The reason that they are only guidelines is because of our previous position that GM foods are no different. The FDA's job is to ensure the safety of all food regardless if they are regular or GM foods. It is our position that all GM foods are safe and that consumers should in no way be alarmed. As earlier released, we are planning are beginning a public education program to inform the public on the issue of GM foods. We have also established a website which can help answer questions of consumer and allow them to submit their comments to the FDA.
We value the opinion of the comsumer (sic) and feel that it is our job to make sure all products produced are safe. We have no reason to believe that GM foods are unsafe or should not be consumed.
The Greenpeace team submitted a plea for legitimacy, phrased perhaps different from how the organization might speak in reality, which gave us an opportunity to talk in class about power and power-control relationships:
Subject: Greenpeace-->Re: Government As a member of Greenpeace's in-house PR counsel, I applaud the FDA for taking measures to work on labeling. But I hope that this will be more than talk and actually be implemented.
I noticed that something was absent, however, from the FDA's statement regarding how it will work with all sectors of the food production industry to arrive at mutually acceptable food products. What about Greenpeace? Doesn't the FDA care to include Greenpeace in this discussion? We may have a radical reputation yet we are reasonable people who can negotiate civilly. The FDA need not be afraid of Greenpeace. Please include us in your negotiations, we deserve a seat at that "conference table" because we represent the interests of many people. Those people's views should not be ignored. Thank you.
Technology thus supports learning, rather than being an end in itself. It provides a space for students to report, formulate and test their own ideas and arguments (Morgan, 2000), leading up to their ability to participate in "live" panel discussions, the next phase of the dynamic case.
Phase Two: In-class Socratic Dialogue Panel Discussions One management training technique that the Public Relations Society of America has incorporated into programs at national conferences and large chapters is a Socratic Dialogue panel discussion modeled after the popular PBS programs moderated by Fred Friendly (Galloway, 1999). At the professional level, a panel of experts responds to a hypothetical crisis scenario for a given industry during an intense hour and a half of questions from a moderator. PRSA's Strategic Communications Scenario Program says success depends on choosing a critical issue and posing a scenario that "realistically demonstrates how the issue might affect a wide variety of stakeholders and observers of the industry" (Public Relations Society of America [PRSA], n.d. a). Intended to demonstrate the power and value of public relations with key management audiences (PRSA, n.d. b), the format also works as a creative springboard for students to extend their own analytical and critical thinking skills, essential for meeting professional requirements in a constantly changing environment (Parkinson & Ekachai, 2002; Gower & Cho, 2001). For undergraduate students, who don't yet have substantial professional experience or expertise, each panel lasts about a half hour. Although philosophy professors may point out that what PRSA calls "Socratic" goes counter to what Socrates himself practiced (J. Lesher, personal communication, September 14, 2000), the adaptation for the dynamic case nevertheless seems to work well. Socrates worked with his learners on a one-to-one basis, assuming the individual initially knew little or nothing about the subject at hand. The classroom situation comes slightly closer to Socratic method than the PRSA programs in that the starting point for discussion is a subject about which the students know very little at first. Up to the time of the in-class panels, they have phrased and rephrased what they have been learning, advancing to the point where they can take their client organizations' viewpoints and relate them to the beginning of the dynamic case. When they are confronted with scenarios that now ask them to attempt communication solutions, they must finally apply the other public relations theories discussed in class and test what is effective. This synthesis is the heart of the process (Munns, 2001; Strauss, 2000). Every stakeholder team is represented over a series of three different scenarios (see sample, Appendix). Non-participating team members may "prompt" the panelists during the discussion or otherwise engage in communication activities relevant to the scenario. Teams in my classes have prepared and distributed complete media kits, flyers and posters, and staged mock protests, some more convincing than others. In both professional settings and the classroom, an engaging panel is one in which all parties come to realize the value of dialogue throughout the problem-solving process. After the in-class panels, students "debrief" in a final online discussion in which they post their overall reactions, what they learned, and how the entire study may have changed or reinforced their initial beliefs. Collectively, these activities give students a chance to examine the interchange and decision-making processes among publics who affect and are affected by broad policy issues.
Phase Three: Mini-campaigns The final part of the dynamic case design segues to a campaign component, but not in as much depth as would be expected for a campaigns class. Mainly due to time constraints at this point in the semester, teams are limited in how much research they can do beyond an environmental scan or situation analysis, so the emphasis is on matching objectives and tactics to the right public(s). For this assignment each team develops a plan for the client it has represented throughout the exercise, making recommendations geared to solving problems posed by the issues that emerged during the online and Socratic Dialogue phases. We take a full class period for all teams to present their proposals, with a concluding discussion of what the teams think the outcome would be and an evaluation of which stakeholders actually are communicating most effectively in the real world.
Results and next steps Student feedback in the online debriefing has yielded both support for the dynamic case process and a number of suggestions to improve it. Some students prefer discussion only in the face-to-face mode, while others realize they have more time to think during asynchronous exercises. Most develop an understanding of the subject, if not an actual interest in it; on occasion a student will forward a pertinent online news article to me well after the semester is over, suggesting a continuing increased level of awareness. Here's a sampling of student reactions: …the dynamic panels were an excellent idea. It was a good way to practice thinking on your feet because that is what PR practitioners will be forced to deal with. I think in the future I will be more confident when asked questions on the spot…. I learned more about dialogue. In addition, negotiation was very much evident in the panel discussions.
…it was nice to split up into smaller groups and interact with everyone to present each side of the debate. I think that type (of) forum makes it easier to learn (the) truth about the issue. Plus, being involved in kinesthetic learning allows much more information to be retained than just listening to lecture.
I liked the roundtables. It really brought the case issues to life…. I also really liked the group aspect of the dynamic case and that we each assumed the role of a different group. It got us involved in the project.
Many times group work is difficult to coordinate, but the online discussion forum made it easy to collaborate (on) ideas.
I found many of our in class discussions quite engaging as heated discussions (took place) more often than not.
Working with groups and having discussions online helped me understand a little bit more of what many people knew already about biotechnology… we needed to step back and think about all the different ways that each organization can express their facts, beliefs and research to their publics in a fair and unbias(ed) way.
I truly enjoyed the interactive aspects of the dialoges (sic). On the subject matter of biotechnology and GM foods, I began this class with little knowledge. I have come to learn about these foods through our discussions online, class speakers, and individual case projects.
In terms of teaching technique and course design, a shorter timeframe for each online forum likely will compel a quicker response from students, rather than a longer duration. To date I've worked with a 10-day to two-week turnaround time, but this does seem to drag out the discussion. Depending on the frequency of class meetings, four to seven days may be more effective. In addition, the entire dynamic case can probably be condensed; instead of taking up the bulk of the semester, interwoven throughout all of the other activities the class is working on simultaneously, a concentrated five- or six-week module may be more workable. By responding to scenarios about the importance of food, environmental and health crisis issues, students become better positioned to understand not only food biotech but other headline cases in the sciences, for example, the Alar apple scare or Mad Cow disease. Because of the nature of the different roles undertaken – industry, scientists, government, activists, consumers, international interests, and the news media – the dynamic case appears to be a natural candidate to involve students from these other disciplines, both within communication and journalism departments as well as public affairs, business, international studies, the life sciences, agriculture and natural resources. Collaboration opportunities exist with colleagues on campus and at other universities; using the online discussion forum provides a useful tool for this kind of expansion. While my classes so far have relied solely on the asynchronous features, the chat, or synchronous, capability can offer yet another resource, especially to bring in guest experts who might not be able to visit the classroom in person. To the extent that an instructor can arrange for one or more experts, these voices could address and answer questions from the entire class, selected teams, or students from more than one campus. Additionally, the scenario-writing activity lends itself to future collaboration prospects. Individual student teams can be assigned to write a situation for the other teams to respond to during the in-class panels, or guest experts may be invited to challenge the class with a scenario from their own organizations. Each semester leads to refinement that further improves the learning experience, making the interactions among students, instructor and guests an ongoing construction of knowledge. On balance, the dynamic case contributes to professional development grounded in application of theory to real world situations, with potential to simulate real world interdisciplinary problem-solving. ### APPENDIX Sample Scenario: Feeding the Hungry in the Developing World It is 5 p.m. on Tuesday evening. The Embassy of Zambia is hosting a reception for decision-makers and opinion leaders who may be able to help them with their urgent need to reduce hunger. The reception is being catered by Restaurant Nora, the first certified organic restaurant in the U.S., located in Washington, DC. Among the guests will be representatives of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Organic Consumers Association. U.S. trade negotiators have just worked out a deal with several agribusiness companies to donate 100,000 tons of corn and cheese products to Zambia and other developing countries. These products – that have been produced using techniques of genetic engineering – have been sold and consumed for several years in the U.S. with no ill effects. Zimbabwe has agreed to accept the shipment. Zambia is undecided. More than 30% of its population is suffering from malnutrition as a result of inadequate food supplies and faces starvation in the not-too-distant future. Outside, Greenpeace is staging a demonstration against U.S. exports of GE food products, and a media crew has arrived on the scene from Channel 7 (the local NBC affiliate). It's been a slow news day and the TV people smell an opportunity to get a quick story on the 6:00 evening news.
Entering this scenario, your client is either for the use of biotechnology to produce food and agricultural products, neutral, opposed, or conflicted.
Every time you hear one of the other stakeholders present his or her position, try to enter the dialogue to persuade that stakeholder to adopt your position. Initially, try to express positions, actions, and communications that you've learned are typical of your client. That means you may stick to your guns, or you may engage in "principled negotiation" like the activity we did in class with the oranges, or points in between. Likewise, you may communicate asymmetrically ("scientific persuasion") or you may try a more sophisticated coorientation approach, or anything else you think might work.
Your goal is to resolve this situation to your client's satisfaction. After some initial discussion, if you feel it is necessary to counsel your client to adopt a new perspective on the issue, please express your advice out loud when appropriate. If your client is reluctant to heed the wisdom of your expert counsel, be prepared to tell what steps you would take to convince the organization's leadership to come around.
Consider: • Communicating Uncertainty, Ch. 11, The Importance of Understanding Audiences (Rogers) • Matters of trust and credibility where scientific uncertainty is concerned • Cultural and international factors that affect public perception • RACE or ROPE processes you might follow in choosing an appropriate response
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NOTE: Additional instructions were provided that were specific to each team. REFERENCES
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