strategies for fostering critical-thinking skills

Strafegies for Fostering Critical- Thinking Skills SUSAN M. STROHM AND ROBERT A. BAUKUS

Undergraduate education has been the subject of much recent criticism and discussion, which, along with changes in media industries, has led to a re-thinking of what and how we teach (Blanchard and Christ, 1993; Shoemaker, 1993). Within advertising curricula, responses to these changes include the integrated communications approach (Duncan, Caywood and Newsom, 1993) and increased emphasis upon teaching critical-thinking skills (Lancaster andMartin, 1989; Rotzoll, 1985).

As faculty search for teaching strategies to foster critical-thinking skills, teachers of advertising may find their discipline well-suited to this type of curricular inno- vation. Advertising courses require that students do original research and use sec- ondary data in a skillful and critical way. In the advertising media planning course, this is especially true, as students must use critical-thinking skills to make decisions in the uncertain and dynamic communication and social environment in which media plans are developed and operate. In this decision environment, few of the social variables affected by advertising campaigns are known, defined, or measured.

Adding to the ambiguity is the lack of information planners face-some information is not attainable, due to cost or time constraints, and that information which is available is often incomplete. As a result, the actions and reactions of the target group, competitors, regulators, and media opera- tors are often difficult for media planners to predict, much less change.

To offer a pedagogic foundation upon which to build teaching strategies, this paper draws upon the seminal work of John Dewey and his theory of reflective thought. This perspective is used to create a series of exercises designed to foster students’ critical-thinking skills through the development of three key orientations to media-planning processes; tolerance for the ambiguity and lack of closure that is a fundamental part of the planning process, flexibility in articulating media planning problems and devising solutions, and adaptability to respond to changing media, market and audience conditions.

Reflective thought Reflective thought is an “active, per-

sistent, and careful consideration of any

Strohm is assistant professor of communications ( R A B G @ P S ~ ~ M . P ~ U . E D ~ ) and Baukus is associate professor of advertising at Pennsylvania State University.

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belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (Dewey, 1933, p. 9). Reflective thought begins when uncertainty or ambiguity is experienced, which triggers a search for information appropriate to the dilemma. The reflective thinker then self-consciously adopts an open-minded approach to the articulation of the problem and the identi-

fication and evaluation of alternative problem solutions (Dewey, 1933).

This approach to problem definition and solution may be difficult for students to develop, as students often prefer the comfort of working within closed systems. Pointing out ambiguity in media planning processes may intensify students’ feelings of doubt, confusion, and anxiety, and de- crease their sense of control over tasks and decision-making. As VanSickle (1985, p. 8) noted, “uncertainty is multidimen- sional.”

As a first step in addressing these difficulties, students need to understand that, as Dewey pointed out, ambiguity and doubt serve a critical-thinking function and are a necessary and even productive part of the process. With this understanding, students are more likely to realize that confusion and anxiety do not necessarily

stem from some sort of personal shortcom- ing. The challenge for instructors is to employ teaching strategies which allow enough discomfort to trigger reflective thinking, yet provide students with enough structure and reassurance to allow them to find a path through the fog.

Tolerance of ambiguity, however, does not mean that students should accept vague or unclear arguments in support of a

particular problem definition or solution. Reflec- tive thinking also in- volves an understanding of how one has inter- preted evidence, a recognition of one’s assumptions, and the ability to see the implications of one’s decisions (Dewey, 1933; Paul, 1990). Stu- dents must learn to articulate the strengths and weaknesses of the quantitative and qualitative evidence they use, and understand how the evidence has been inter-

preted and synthesized to create understanding. Teaching strategies can be designed to foster recognition of assumptions, such as assumptions about the nature of communication environment, message, target audience attitudes, or datareli- ability and validity.

Greater tolerance of ambiguity leads to flexibility, as students move away from dualistic modes ofthinking in which things are seen in terms of rightlwrong, black/ white, or goodlbad and in which “right” answers are sought from teachers (Perry, 1970). Dewey (1933, p. 30) noted that flexibility encompasses two interwoven traits- willingness to dismiss “pet no- tions” and habitual problem-solving strategies, as well as “an active desire to listen to more sides than one; to give heed to facts from whatever source they come.” Rather than concentrating energies on a search for

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the one, “correct” solution, students are encouraged to develop a flexible, multi- strategic perspective to media problems as instructors find ways to show how even the most seemingly tangential idea may provide the seed for a unique approach. This teaching style reinforces the idea that alternatives are more or less helpful, not right or wrong.

After amedia plan has been designed and put into operation, planners must be adaptable. They must to be willing and able to adjust the strategy, tactics, or even the objectives in response to changes in competitive, political, social, or economic environments. Students must learn that entry of new competitors into the market- place, changed market or economic conditions, unexpected events, (such as natural or man-made disasters), changes in target audience perceptions or attitudes or the rise of new media may offer new challenges and opportunities (for a discussion of uncontrollable factors in media planning, see Jugenheimer, Barban and Turk, 1992). Teaching strategies can be developed which help students understand the implications of initial media decisions for subsequent strategies as well as how to adapt their initial solutions to changing conditions.

Thinking reflectively may be a daunt- ing task for students who, at first, often simply restate their problem descriptions or media solutions when asked to use alternative perspectives, identify assumptions, or provide explanations for what they have done. As faculty find ways to help students practice thinking reflectively, students be- gin to develop the ability to spot media plans built on faulty assumptions, weak rationales and “magic numbers.” This ability is fundamental to the development of a professional orientation to media planning (Priemer, 1987) and provides a foundation for the problem-solving approaches used in many business-school management courses.

Given the nature of the media-plan-

ning environment, it is no surprise that instructors find this class a challenge to teach (Martin, 1992). In a recent survey, educators raised issues related to the teaching of reflective thought and noted that problematic aspects of the course include helping students learn to make critical decisions, teaching them to cope with the quantitative and analytic aspects of the course, and showing students how to use computers as decision-making tools without using the computer output as a substi- tute for their own judgment (Lancaster and Martin, 1989). Dewey’s theory of reflective thought provides a basis for the development of teaching tactics to meet these classroom challenges.

Tactics for fostering skills For purposes of organizing teaching

suggestions, media-planning processes may be segmented into four key parts. These include: (a) delineation, in which the problem is identified and structured; (b) information gathering and coping with missing data; (c) diagnostics, including information transformation; and d) evaluation, in which information is integrated and strategic alternatives are weighed.

Delineation. From the start, instructors have an opportunity to foster tolerance of ambiguity and flexibility through the use of classroom exercises which encourage students to appreciate alternative types of knowledge and to consider multiple ways of identifying and structuring media problems. The exercises below also help foster the ability to analyze, synthesize, and apply knowledge from both qualitative and quantitative sources-an ability suggested by many observers of the media planning process to be central to the development of a good media plan (Poltrack, 1989). At the delineationstage,Raiffa (1970) suggests an important initial step in decision-making in dynamic environments is to acquaint oneself with the qualitative nature of the problem. Decision-makers can then use the comprehensive qualita-

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tive description to choose the salient aspects of the problems to be addressed in a more formal quantitative analysis.

Defining the problem. Using Raffia’s approach, ask students to develop a comprehensive qualitative description of the problem area, using information from at least five different types of sources. From this description, ask students to identify at least three key questions about the problem area which could be answered using quantitative measures.

Exploringplan objectives. From these problem definitions, ask students to discuss alternative objectives of the plan. Re- quire students to explain how each objective is derived from the description and why each suggested objective is necessary for the plan. Ask students to determine how the objectives reflect criteria for decision-making within the media plan and require students to operationalize or provide measurable criteria that can be validly used to benchmark the success of the plan in meeting the stated objectives.

Setting goals from current audience attitudes. Social issues campaigns, such as an AIDS awareness campaign, often present atypical decision problems, involve greater ambiguity, call for greater flexibility, and require adaptability to rapidly changing circumstances. Using public-opinion poll data, newspaper articles, academic research, or their own primary research, ask students to estimate target-audience awareness and attitudes toward a social issue. Ask students to draw on their coursework in psychology and communication theory to explore ways in which awareness and attitudes might be linked to target-audience behaviors in the issue area (students might draw upon models of consumer behavior, dissonance theory, or uses and grati- fications research, for example). Discuss the implications of this for media goals, strategy, and tactics for advertising campaigns on this social issue.

In these assignments, students should be asked to list their assumptions about the

nature of the problem and suggested solutions. Students should identify ways in which the assumptions might be examined in light of evidence (for example, census data, public opinion polls, Simmons data, etc). Students should struggle and discuss issues such as: How do you set goals? Where do the “baselines” come from? If a “hierarchy” is used to describe target audience behavior (Ray, et al., 1973) what are the “drop-offs” between model components? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the hierarchy itself for the problem at hand?

Written scenarios help crystallize ideas and invite constructive debate as to the validity of different perspectives about the nature of the “real” problem. This reinforces open-mindedness and a multi-perspective approach to problem solving. The writing process also encourages students to reflect critically on their approaches, which may uncover contradictions, anoma- lies, or faulty logic that might otherwise not be apparent. Instructors can encourage students to trade drafts of these assignments and evaluate the rationales that support the suggested goals. This fosters a cooperative classroom environment and provides additional practice in reflective thinking as students evaluate the work of their peers.

Information-gathering. One of the most frustrating aspects of the course for many students is coming to terms with the fact that media decisions are made in an imperfect data environment (Sissors and Bumba, 1990). Teaching students processes for estimating missing quantitative data (and to clearly identify all estimated inputs made throughout the planning process) is part of showing them how to cope with ambiguity. The exercises below are designed to help students develop an understanding of estimation procedures and a sensitivity to the strengths, weaknesses, and assumptions in the data. This understanding allows students to evaluate the validity of their estimates and the role of

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estimation in the decisions they make, and to become more critical readers of the plans they create.

Estimating television reach. Using current Nielsen data for all households and older Simmons data for a specific target-audience, ask students how they might use these sources to estimate a current, target-audience specific rating for a prime-time vehicle.

To make Nielsen data target-audience specific, students can multiply the current Nielsen rating by the target audience index for the vehicle. Students can identify what kinds of over-time changes this procedure accounts for (general increased or decreased popularity of the pro- gram) and what it assumes (that any changes are consistent across subgroups).

Estimating television costs. Using a cost guide and Nielsen ratings, ask students to estimate the absolute cost and the cost-per-rating point for a new prime-time vehicle for which no cost estimates are yet available.

One way to estimate the cost is to identify vehicles running in a similar time slot and with similar qualitative traits. Using these vehicles, students can calculate an average cost and average rating and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using these averages as estimates for the new vehicle.

Estimating magazine reach. Group students into teams and ask them to estimate the target-audience reach for a magazine not listed in Simmons, using information about comparable magazines from sources such as Standard Rate and Data Service and Simmons. Have each team put its reach estimate on the board, explain the estimation procedure, and identify the assumptions underlying the data estimation procedure they created.

One solution to this problem is for students to identify magazines with similar editorial formats, compare the A.B.C. circulation of these vehicles to the Simmons circulation for all adults for these vehicles

to get pass-along rates, and apply the pass- along rate to the A.B.C. circulation for the magazine not listed in Simmons. To get reach, this total circulation estimate can be divided by the number of adults as listed in Simmons. To make this reach target-audience specific, students can multiply the reach by an average of target-audience in- dexes for qualitatively similar vehicles.

After completing these exercises, students should discuss the ways in which estimates might be inaccurate, the implications of these inaccuracies for media decisions based on these estimates, and strategies and tactics amedia planner might develop to address these implications.

Diagnostics. Students often see the computer output as the most concrete and precise part of the course, but they must come to recognize ambiguity even here; computer models account for only a lim- ited set of variables, use estimated inputs, and make assumptions about target audience behaviors which may or may not be valid.

Although the computer output serves to standardize knowledge about media impacts, students need to distinguish between the output itself and its meaning and implications for decision-making (for example, the difference between understanding how the software is used to com- pute effective reach and understanding the implications and assumptions of the effective reach concept, as in Kreshel, Lancaster and Toomey, 1985). Without this understanding, students may develop a static approach to media planning and narrowly articulate and structure media goals, strategies and tactics in a computer compatible way.

Demystify the technology In order to better understand how the software trans- forms raw data inputs, and to become more aware of the inter-relationships between specific output components (such as the net reach and average frequency relation- ship), ask the students to reproduce the computer output by doing hand calcula-



tions using the input data. Understand the assumptions about

reach in the data transformation process. Ask students to calculate net reach and the duplication estimate using the random probability model and then compare these results with the survey-based, Simmons two-issue reach data (in the Duplication of Audiences volume). Ask students to discuss the conditions under which random probability models produce the most valid

estimates, as well as situations in which the model proves less appropriate.

Explore the optimal frequency concept. Discuss frequency assumptions related to message exposure and reception (Cannon, 1987, provides an excellent review of 27 propositions that relate to the concept of optimal frequency). Ask students to select and justify optimal he- quency levels for each medium in their plans.

An enhanced awareness of the assumptions inherent in computer programs better prepares students to assess critically the utility of the computer-transformed information as it applies to the decision problem at hand. With this understanding, students will be more likely to use computer tools to augment, rather than sup- plant, critical decision-making in the plan-

ning process. Evaluation. Keyto reflective thought,

evaluation is “the act of selecting and weigh- ing” facts and suggestions (Dewey, 1933, pp. 119-120). Evaluation consists of two processes: analysis, in which “confused data are cleared up,” and synthesis, in which “seemingly incoherent and discon- nected facts are brought together” (Dewey, 1933, p. 126).

Analysis and synthesis, however, must take place in the context ofthe stated problem definition, objectives and solutions. Each strategic alternative must be examined in terms of the criteria for success laid out in the delineation, or problem identification, phase of the process (for example, the adequacy of the computer estimated average frequency of exposure must be evaluated in terms of the a priori stated frequency goal). An understanding of the tar-

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get audience and some of the uncontrolled factors in the marketing environment may help sensitize students to the context in which media plans operate.

Evaluation also requires that students thinkabout the consequences of their decisions. Students should think beyond the initial plan goals and develop a series of related goals for future quarters and/or years. As part of long-term thinking, students should develop contingency plans which allow them to adapt to changing conditions, especially conditions which may disrupt the campaign and are beyond the control of the planner.

Analysis. Ask students to review all estimated reach and cost data which were used in developing the media plan. For each estimated factor, have students develop the range for the missing piece of



information (for example, the high and low cost estimates for a new prime-time television vehicle). Have students redo their plans, using the highest reach and cost estimates, the lowest reach and cost estimates and the mixed conditions (high reach-low costs; low reach-high costs). Discuss the results in class and the simi- larities of these plans to the outcomes produced by the “best guess’’ estimates used in the original plan.

Synthesis. Instructors can introduce the process of synthesis though a narrowly focused class exercise in which students are provided with at least three quantitative facts about the target-group (thesemight relate to the selection of media categories, such as quintile analysis of media alternatives, for example). At least three qualitative evaluations should also be provided (such as target group perceptions of the media or vehicle selections, campaign messages, orthemarket environment). Ask students to evaluate and explain how all of the information can be used in developing a media plan aimed at the target group. Students should discuss the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative media factors and how each may be helpful in deriving media recommendations.

Context:personalizing the target audience. As Priemer (1987) noted, it is some- times difficult for media planners to re- member that the target audience consists of human beings, with their own expecta- tions, feelings, and needs. The quantitative indicators of the adequacy of the media plan (for example, effective reach, average frequency, or costs) only tell part of the story. Ask students to observe members of their target audience using the vehicles in which their ads are placed, noting the level of attention or the amount of counter- arguing that takes place. Ask students to discuss the impact of their findings on the validity of the plan.

Contingencies: uncontrolled factors. Ask students to consider how external uncontrolled factors related to competitors’

scheduling pattern, for example, might af- fect their evaluations of the adequacy of the media-scheduling decisions.

Contingencies: responding to a disaster. Ask students to discuss how they might respond to a natural or man-made disaster, such as a catastrophic oil spill, a case of product tampering, or consumer boycott of the client’s product. Students’ responses should include both a broad strategic and narrower tactical component.

Knowledge of the media-planning environment is the filter that every media planner must develop as media information is evaluated and applied to decision environments. Although case studies and scenarios can be used to illustrate the application of evaluation processes in past situations, students need to be aware that evaluation in the professional setting is intertwined with experience. The pedagogic assumption is that regardless of the appropriateness of students’ final media recommendations, valuable experience is gained in how to make media decisions and cope with the vagaries of the media environment.

Conclusion This paper draws upon theories of

reflective thought to develop teaching tactics designed to foster three critical student orientations to the media-planning process: tolerance of the ambiguity and lack of closure that is a fundamental part of media-planning activities, flexibility in ap- proaching media-planning problems, and the ability to adapt to changing industry, media, and audience conditions.

Given the dynamic nature of the decision environment, media planning is more of an art than a science. Students’ decision-making abilities are enhanced through practice in thinking reflectively and through the development of an inherent empathy with the nature and processes of how people use and are influenced by media. No cookbook application of the numerical data entered and produced by

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computer models can replace human experience and judgment. As teachers, we must help our students become aware of the complexities of decision-making and the power of their own abilities to think creatively, and to reflectively think though media issues whenever they approach media-planning problems. D

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strategies for fostering critical-thinking skills

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