Weed_TeachingPhilosophy_2018

Awaken the
MUSE
A Statement of Teaching Philosophy
What is the MUSE?
As an instructor of strategic
communication, I view myself as a brand and
my brand produces a product — the classes
I teach. In my classes, I strive to maintain
an “authentic” brand by understanding my
consumers (my students) and tailoring my
message to them. I teach my students the
value of the MUSE principles when creating
strategic communications campaigns
for their future clients and I apply these
principles to my teaching philosophy.
MUSE stands for four brand qualities that
are essential when communicating with
consumers.
The MUSE Principles
The MUSE Principles
Meet Expectations
Meet Expectations
Be Unique
Be Unique
Tell a Story
Tell Story
Create an Emotional Impact
Create an Emotional Impact
Like a company has its key client base
of consumers, a professor has their client
base of students. By applying the MUSE
principles to my teaching, I build connections
with my students that facilitate
learning and encourages them to apply
their newfound knowledge toward practical
experience.
Meet Expectations
Meeting expectations is a reciprocal
process. From the first day of class, I create
an environment where my students know
what they can expect from me and what I
expect from them. In our first class of the
semester, I explain that I consider teaching
a class like a communication campaign:
I am trying to sell a “product” (skills and
knowledge) to an audience (the students).
As their first assignment, they complete a
“pre-campaign” survey, which identifies the
experience and knowledge they bring to the
class, but also share their thoughts of what
they believe makes a successful professor.
The survey becomes their introduction to
consumer research. By understanding their
experience and needs, I can better tailor my
communication strategy as an educator.
To reinforce class lectures, I incorporate
examples of how the key concepts are utilized
in real-life applications by having students
read case studies from industry publications
to illustrate how those concepts are applied
in actual campaigns. Case studies help my
students make the connection between
theoretical concepts and applied skills, and
also serves as inspiration for their team
projects. In addition to case studies, I also
schedule guest speakers who work in the
advertising and public relations industries to
discuss how they are applying class concepts
in agency work.
For class assignments, I allow students
to meet learning objectives in a progressive
manner, which I call the “puzzle method.”
Assignments completed throughout the
semester become individual elements of
the final project. By providing extensive
feedback on those individual assignments,
students have the opportunity to incoporate
the feedback for a stronger final project. The
puzzle method allows students to build their
confidence in specific skills and to develop
portfolio-quality work as the outcome of the
class.
Group work is a critical part of the
public relations industry, which rely heavily
on project teams to design and execute
strategic campaigns. To replicate the agency
environment, I assign students to teams based
on complemetary work strengths identified
through CliftonStrengths. While this method
of team formation is time-consuming, it is has
resulted in a track record of successful teams
that have produced professional-quality work.
To be successful in the public relations
and strategic communication industry, the
ability to constructively evaluate the work of
others is a necessary skill. To build that skill,
I ask teams to make informal presentations
“After taking more classes with Professor Amanda Weed than I have with
any other professor, I can definitively say that she has revolutionized my
understanding of communication and given me invaluable experiences that
have forever changed the way I think. Professor Weed’s innovative teaching
style offers students the opportunity to navigate real world situations. In her
classes I learned theories and concepts, and then applied what I learned in a
fun, exciting, and very meaningful way. Professor Weed’s passion for teaching
and the personal pride that she takes in her work are contagious. I can tell that
she is constantly looking for ways to improve her courses and she empowers her
students to do the same in their own work. She is always challenging us to top
our own personal best and to reach new levels of excellence. I consider myself
lucky to have been able to take so many of her classes and grateful for the
impact that she had made on my life.”
Susanna Savage
Ashland University
Class of 2018
of their research-in-progress. Students are
not evaluated on their presentation, but the
quality of feedback they provide to the team
they are evaluating. The exercise provides
a vaulable opportunity for students to learn
from each while building critical analysis
skills.
~over~

Be Unique
Allowing students to be co-collaborators
in the learning process is one way I create
a unique learning environment. I often ask
for students’ input in classroom discussion
but, more importantly, to provide feedback
to their peers. Throughout the semester, I
have students participate in team pitches
called “Quickfire Challenges.” In those
challenges, students have 48 hours to
develop a campaign idea for their client and
make a pitch to the class. At the end of the
pitches, students provide feedback to the
teams and vote for their Top Pitch (which
comes with a small prize and bragging
rights). The Quickfire Challenges provide
students with experience in creative
brainstorming and development of criticial
analysis skills, and are often cited as a
favorite assignment.
The second way I create a unique
learning experience is through
“crowdsourced” learning. In Strategic Social
Media, students are contributors to a class
blog, which acts as a showcase for their
work. Assignments are posted so students
may share their work with peers, but
also to promote that work to an audience
outside of the university. The blog provides
hands-on experience for students to apply
their class knowledge, with outcomes that
have direct benefit to their future careers.
Since the beginning of the blog in Spring
2015, students have earned nearly 35,000
views and has been cited by several online
publications including AdWeek, Inc., and
Cracked. The blog has become a valuable
portfolio resource that students may utilize
when applying for internships or jobs.
Finally, I encourage my students to
provide their input for assignments as the
semester progresses. One example of this
is with social media promotion of the class
blog. In the last phase of the blog campaign,
students submit short proposals for
campaign posts and I select the ideas that
best incorporate the concepts learned in
class. By allowing students to have a hand
in designing the campaign, they experience
a heightened sense of ownership for its
outcomes.
I believe that a variety of learning
methods helps students retain and recall
information. As part of my teaching
method, I utilize readings, lectures, class
discussion, and multimedia examples
to reinforce key concepts of the class. I
challenge my students to go beyond recall of
information to critically evaluate examples
from the advertising and public relations
industries. Each semester, I select a core
group of classic campaigns, as well as
current examples. I also encourage students
to share examples of campaigns that they
feel are relevant to our key concepts.
Encouraging their involvement allows
my students to think about our learning
objectives in a context they feel is personally
relevant.
Creating stories are also ways in which
students can exhibit their learning of class
concepts. When students are describing
their consumers and client in the creative
brief, I explain that I want them to tell me
a “research story.” To help them bring their
research story to life, I have developed
assignments encourage them to think about
Strategic communication campaigns
often tap into the emotions of consumers
to draw interest to the strategic message.
The consumer often doesn’t have automatic
recall of a strategic message based because
the words but, instead, emotions are
the trigger to message recall. I use a
comparable model when teaching students
new learning concepts. When I choose
examples of campaigns to reinforce lecture
topics, I often select examples that use
emotional undertones to reach students.
When we discuss the examples, I begin
by asking their emotional response, and
then move to the analysis of the message.
I find this method helps students to recall
information with greater ease and to put it
into a context that has tangible applications.
Tell a Story
their consumers and clients as unique
people who are engaged in a relationship.
One assignment that helps students
create a research story is the brand
personal ad. Students create a personal
ad written from the perspective of their
client who is looking for a “date” with their
desired consumer. I encourage students
to be creative in writing the personal and,
most of all, to have fun with it. I have
found the assignment allows students to
envision their clients and consumers as
actual people having a conversation, which
helps immensely in the brainstorming
and development phase of their strategic
communication campaign.
Finally, I encourage students to find
their personal story promote as a young
professional. I have been the event planner
for “Building Brand You,” now in its fourth
year. “Building Brand You” teaches students
how to begin building a personal brand to
set themselves apart from the competition
when applying for internships and jobs.
Each year, the event grew in popularity to
eventually becoma a college-wide event.
Create an Emotional Impact
To support the learning process, I temper
my constructive feedback with positive
reinforcement. Many talents do not come
naturally, but must be nurtured to reach its
full potential. By sharing my enthusiasm
for the potential in their work, I believe
my students will view crtique as a postive
learning experience.
And finally, I share my passion and
excitement about current topics in the
advertising and public relations industries.
I am a self-proclaimed “brand geek,” which
I embrance in my teaching persona. I have
found that sharing my own enthusiam for
current topics and issues, students are more
likely to bring their own insights into the
discussion and have fun in the learning
process.
Amanda Weed with members of the
Ashland University Chapter of PRSSA
Scholar
W A
Teacher
Amanda J. Weed
Ph.D., APR
614-657-4766
@amandajweed
amandajweed@gmail.com