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Operation PSA: The Action Learning of Curiosity and CreativityBecause the objective was to find pedagogical alternatives that would be usefulin bolstering leadership skills, former graduate and undergraduate students wereapproached as potential members. Three graduate students were selected becausetheir experiences (i.e., variance in modes of successful learning) and breadth ofbackgrounds (e.g, international, nontraditional, and doctoral) would serve as asounding board for the final resolutions proposed by the team. Initial delineationof duties and time obligations were discussed, along with the general direction ofthe research. Finally, the assembled team approached its endeavors by declaringthat personal ego would not be allowed. Rather, the collaborative efforts of thegroup in addressing the problem would be paramount.Step 3: Topic and Literature ClarificationVarious suggestions regarding elucidation of the topic were discussed duringthis phase of the project, but it was the enthusiasm of one team memberregarding the reproductive and creative means of PSAs for developing publicand nonprofit leadership that rallied our passion. This member’s experience,based on a second-place win in the previous year’s YouTube Challenge, lentadditional credibility to the topic when paired with NASPAA’s continuingpromotion of PSAs.From this point forward, each team member began researching the particularareas of interest and intrigue that they would later write about in their sectionsof the conference PowerPoint display (Kimoto, Frasco, Juta, & Mulder, 2008b).For the previous YouTube winner, the topic of creativity expanded herinvolvement with active learning. For the nontraditional student with abackground in marketing and public relations, there was an immediateconnection in the branding of real-word experiences. The last student member,a graduate student from Zimbabwe who would soon be pursuing doctoralstudies, chose technology because she valued its force as a catalyst of change forall people. The remaining member’s focus rested upon uniting the interests ofthe team members under one theoretical foundation. Action learning wasselected because it advances the prominence that communication plays in thedevelopment of collaborative leaderships. Henceforth, all efforts were poised toinvestigate the boundary-spanning capacity of PSAs as inspirational tools inexpanding leadership capabilities.Step 4: Protocol and Rubric DevelopmentAny group that values its efforts is likely to establish a list of rules and codes.The members of Operation PSA spent a great deal of time discussing theirresearch, the necessity for student participation, potential venues for filming,and the appearance of the final PSAs. First, while the general applicationquestion had been framed, the team brainstormed an additional list of 24questions that could be modeled by student and faculty participants in the368 Journal of Public Affairs Education
Operation PSA: The Action Learning of Curiosity and Creativitydevelopment of their initial PSAs (Appendix A). Using the pool of questions inAppendix A, and through conversations about the strengths and merits of each,the collected items were narrowed down to a reasonable series of 10 questions.Five questions were suitable for use when videotaping students:1. How did you learn about public administration?2. What does public administration mean to you?3. Do you think that you’re in the right field? Why?4. How important is public administration and do we really need thisfield?5. What was your most memorable public administration class and why?Five questions were used when videotaping faculty members:1. What is public administration?2. Who are public administration students?3. How are we doing with recruiting new students to the field?4. What advice would you give to someone considering a publicadministration degree?5. In your teaching, what was the most memorable public administrationcourse and why?The succession and framing of these queries was quite strategic. They were builtinto a funnel sequence that “starts with broad, open-ended questions and movesto narrower, more closed questions” (O’Hair, Gustav, Wiemann, & Wiemann,1995, p. 392). This system enabled interviewees to discuss public administrationin an abstract manner (i.e., What is public administration?) and then proceededinto personal declarations of leadership within and about the field, advice toothers considering public administration, and memorable experiences. In similarfashion, it coincided with Revans’ learning equation, where the first group ofquestions related to past or programmed knowledge (P), the middle onespromoted insight (Q), and the last few revealed a composite of learning.Second, another concern was the identification of which courses to approachfor student and faculty participation when making the PSAs. For example, intrying to explore the spectrum of leadership development within anundergraduate program, PA 270 Public Administration was selected, because itreflected students’ initial forays into public and nonprofit leadership, while thePA 619 Public Management Seminar exhibited a graduate perspective onleadership skills. Once a consent form (Appendix B) outlining the nature ofOperation PSA was drafted and approved by the department chair, teammembers approached students and faculty for participation.Third, because they were to be instruments representing the evolving field ofpublic and nonprofit administration, the team agreed that the resultant PSAsshould (1) document change within the discipline, (2) emphasize the boundaryspanningrole of communication, (3) demonstrate how organizational goals wererealized through group activity, and (4) reflect the needs of communityJournal of Public Affairs Education 369
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