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The American Association for Higher Education is interested in how computers and online communication technologies can help contribute to the teaching and learning process. There are ways, the organization believes, for professors to incorporate online services into their courses without having to rethink their approaches to teaching. This paper raises the issue as to whether advertising and public relations curricula have kept up with the advances in this technology. The paper discusses the need for, and the merits of, incorporating the Internet and related services into the teaching of campaigns and techniques courses and offers some classroom applications. Contains 24 references. (Author/RS)

Noting that linguistic and mathematical/logical are the two kinds of intelligences the educational system encourages and that the educational system, as well as science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal form of intellect, this paper describes Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences theory and Peter Kline's theory of integrative learning to illustrate how these can be used to develop activities which foster students' creativity. The paper describes individually Gardner's "six intelligences," and discusses Kline's practical application of using all the intelligences in classroom teaching to encourage creativity. Claiming that in a creative field such as advertising all of the intelligences should be available to a student for full functioning and productivity, including the right brain's "nonverbal and global" functioning, the paper outlines 14 activities (including various improvisational exercises, mind-mapping, and ice-breaker techniques) designed to foster creativity. (NH)

Six class activities for 16 advanced students of English as a Second Language that used videotape recording are described. All are designed to improve pronunciation and general listening and speech skills, and all use videotaping and classroom and home playback for peer and self-assessment. The activities involve: (1) oral interpretation of jokes, humorous sayings, and stories; (2) role playing and impromptu dialogues; (3) brainstorming and debate; (4) creation of commercials; (5) transcription of news reporting and preparation of a news broadcast; and (6) transcription of an English narrative told by a friend. The activities are designed to reduce inhibitions about speaking in English, provide practice in improvising in English in real-life situations, teach use of persuasion and information-giving, promote creativity, and integrate listening, reading, and writing in English. One student's narrative is included. (MSE)

Perhaps the most important course in an advertising curriculum is the student-run agency. This paper describes a program instituted and carried out at Oregon State University from 1985 to 1989 which provided students with experiential training resulting in valuable real-client contact and strong portfolios, making students "hot commodities" on the job market. The agency was set up to offer course credit to student participants in two categories, one for account executives and their staff members, and the other for photographers, copy writers, and designers. In undertaking this kind of project, an initial decision requires the selection of a governance policy which determines how closely the agency is monitored by the instructor; in this area, a middle course may be the most effective. Operations logistics, including which students should be assigned as account executives, how long it should take to form teams of students, and the whole question of client relationships, also require careful planning. Staff meetings, consisting of weekly classroom contact with all of the students, became important times of fellowship, cheerleading, and practical review of progress. Overall, the agency program had few problems with client satisfaction. If the program had continued, the next step would have been to stay in more constant touch with actual agencies in order to stay current with agency trends, systems, and perhaps to secure internships and job-placement opportunities. (Twenty-one notes are included.) (HB)

Advertising history is often treated within the context of journalism or mass communication history. The outline of a seminar course in advertising history presented in this paper offers an approach that discusses the social, cultural, and philosophical roots of advertising as well as the institution as it is known today. The focus of the course is not on the practice of advertising, but rather the function. The assigned readings for the course include books, chapters of books, and articles. Readings for the course consider: the placement of advertising into historical context; the role of the consumer and the seller; the development of modern advertising; and the integration of the institution of advertising into the culture. (A syllabus, a reading and discussion schedule, and a 48-item reading list are attached.) (RS)

Connecting visual and print literacies in the classroom can bridge distances in students' experiences, because all literacies are complementary and interdependent. This article discusses this rationale for connecting students' communication experiences in and out of classrooms to foster relevant literacies needed in contemporary society. Next it identifies common literacy principles, textual structures, and reader processes that print advertisements and content area texts. It then explains an analytic method called Deep Viewing, which consists of three levels--literal observation, interpretation and evaluation/application--that can be applied to both types of texts. The following code categories that guide viewers through interpretive and applied/evaluation levels of Deep Viewing are described: sequence and structure; semes and forms; language and discourse; proximity and spacing; culture and context; and effects and production. Twenty-two additional classroom activities to connect and extend students' literacies are offered. Finally, the benefits of connecting literacy principles, textual structures, and reader processes through the use of print advertisements and academic texts are discussed. These include: (1) students demonstrate high levels of motivation, interest, and social interaction; (2) following initial analysis, new critical insights are fostered during subsequent readings of academic texts; (3) student curiosity may be sparked, which can lead to self-initiated learning; and (4) students are assisted in forging cohesive understandings and developing sound literacy strategies for all modern media and communications environments. (Contains 24 references.) (AEF)

Advertising programs have an obligation to teach job search skills to their students and it is in their own best interests to do so. The rationale for this is threefold. First, advertising programs must command the respect of the professionals in the field, because professionals represent the employment market and are increasingly becoming sources of financial support for the programs. Second, an increasing assessment movement nationwide causes schools to want to demonstrate the competency of their graduates. And third, the accrediting criteria of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication require that programs regularly assess their graduates in those fields and also that they provide students with distinctly career enhancing professional experiences. In view of the relationship between professional success of graduates and school funding, faculty resources and time must be dedicated to the coordination and management of placement activities. At the University of Tennessee, a placement program was instituted in which much of the information and instruction that students need to secure jobs was assembled into a one-credit required professional seminar for advertising majors. The seminar addresses such topics as resume writing, interviewing, cover letters, and career choices and planning. At the same time, changes in the program focused on admissions and how to more fully professionalize candidates. The seminar includes a focus on career options, largely incorporated into a number of visits to local businesses connected with advertising. The payoff from the seminar has been excellent, including enhanced reputation and greater student success. All schools should accept the responsibility of teaching job skills, integrate a similar seminar into the curriculum, provide students with professional contacts, regularly experiment with the course, and implement a tracking system. (HB)

One of the best forums for teaching creativity in advertising is the student-run advertising agency. It is organized like a typical advertising agency with a creative department, a media department, a research department and an account service department, and has a pyramidic structure. Student-run advertising agencies exist for two primary reasons: (1) they help to give the student experience; and (2) they provide a service to the community. Comments from former participants in student-run advertising agencies who are now employed in advertising show that experience in on-campus agencies gives students a competitive edge in their job searches. The teaching environment in a student-run advertising agency is more like the professional world and less like the academic world because it teaches by doing, in a hands-on environment. (Nineteen examples of student work are attached.) (SR)

Right brain and left brain dominant people process information differently and need different techniques to learn how to become more creative. Various exercises can help students take advantage of both sides of their brains. Students must feel comfortable and unthreatened to reach maximal creativity, and a positive personal relationship with classmates and teacher should be fostered. Grading should be suspended for the first attempts, as students learn techniques and gain confidence. Students can be paired off, one blindfolded, and the other gently guiding the "blinded" student around to feel trees, cars, and other objects. Then students write about their experiences. Forced association exercises, in which students must write advertisements for a product by using something not usually associated with it, also are effective. For example, students were asked to write an ad for a dress shirt by using a gorilla in it, and numerous creative ads were elicited. Asking students to write mini-plots for ads (using selected characters, goals, obstacles and results from lists on the blackboard) is also a useful technique. Brainstorming techniques, such as asking students to come up with ideas for a restaurant serving nothing but fowl, should be taught, as should listing and guided imagery exercises. These and other exercises, all designed to help students explore different ways of developing ideas and visualizing creative approaches, prove useful in fostering creativity for both sides of the brain. (HB)

The world of mass communications has been hard hit by the decline in advertising revenues in print and electronic media, resulting in very few internships for undergraduates and making these students much less attractive as candidates for entry level jobs in advertising. Consequently, advertising faculty should reassess their programs to better prepare their students for the realities of the job market. Many schools of business operate a Small Business Institute (SBI) program, supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and these might provide a useful way to gain access to the advertising needs of small businesses across the nation. Numerous studies show that small businesses are eager for assistance in planning and creating business advertising strategies. A course was developed in which an SBI is contacted and a business willing to be the subject in an advanced advertising project is located, thus helping both the business and the educational and experiential needs of the students. The business determines the advertising budget, and the students allocate the budget and deliver the advertising campaign. Students conduct the situation analysis research, establish advertising objectives, and prepare a media plan for the company. The final execution of the campaign is up to the business. Incorporating such a situation into the advertising course allows students a taste of the "real world," with the experience and additions to personal portfolios it provides significantly enhancing the market value of students as they enter the job market. (Twenty-four references are attached.) (HB)

The issue of whether teaching methods can influence creativity in the advertising copy writing classroom can best be examined by breaking it into three areas of knowledge access (perceptual, action, and conceptual). One of the perceptions of creativity is that creativity ceases to develop once a student is of college age, and that college itself serves as an obstacle to creativity. An appropriate action is to shift to student-centered teaching, based on principles of psychotherapy and the educational assumptions of Rogerian counseling. The first step in the process may be the deletion of copywriting syllabi. In a copywriting course at a mid-size southwestern university, using the student-centered type of syllabus construction, 46 of 47 students had only positive feedback about the approach. The class picked readings germane to the current topic, invited speakers, and wrote their own versions of assignments, rather than relying on one text. Another action important to the stimulation of creativity is inquiry and curiosity. Each class should contain more interrogatives than declaratives. Conceptually, these practices make sense, but do they work? Determining which of differing teaching methods is more effective is not a simple problem. It is imperative that instructors become researchers in their own classrooms. These suggestions will increase student creativity only inasmuch as the instructor using them enhances and encompasses the passion and pride involved in teaching creativity. (RS)

Everyone sees through advertisements, yet no one is immune from their appeal. In a writing class the students were able to look at ads without being injured or seduced by them, but doubted that others could do the same. It is important to encourage students to discuss what they actually think about writings rather than what they are supposed to think about them, and to teach them to articulate a response before celebrating or criticizing it. Assignments for a basic writing class include asking students to: (1) look at the uses they make of popular texts in forming their own self-images or identities; (2) write about how a certain kind of music, movies or fashion entered into and affected their lives; (3) define the sort of viewer or reader that a certain text seems to address; (4) consider David Marc's argument for the value of watching television "actively"; (5) take the approach of the marxist critic John Berger in reading a current advertisement, drawing on what is already know about how ads work in order to talk back to Berger; and (6) follow the lead of Roland Barthes in looking for the meanings of various objects or "texts" that might often be thought to mean little or nothing at all. If students learn how to use what they know about the media and pop culture to gain a hearing as writers at the university, taking on the languages and methods of the university to say new things about that culture, they will no longer be the sort of "other reader" whose responses critics worry about and speak for, but critics themselves. (PRA)

Deconstruction is a critical literary theory which focuses on the unintentional meanings of a text and aims to achieve an unprejudiced, value-free vision of the social and political power structures in society that combine to produce the text. The development of such critical skills in advertising students will deepen their ability to judge the quality of their work and the work of others. A series of examples of students' deconstruction of advertisements provide examples of how students can "undress the ad" to (1) show how cultural messages are woven into sales messages, and (2) discuss mythology and symbolism, cultural stereotypes of men and women, and sexual fantasy. Deconstruction holds great promise for raising the standards of professionalism in advertising and for shaping a more scholarly approach to the study of advertising. (SR)

The prevalent use of sophisticated advertising techniques in political campaigns presents the great danger that citizens can be manipulated to make political decisions out of emotion rather than rational thought. Citizens must be provided with the educational tools needed to detect the bias, distortion, and other tactics used to influence them. The social studies curriculum can provide students with the skills needed to detect bias that will allow them to make good decisions and thus become better citizens. This paper examines the use of bias in advertisements, graphs, and political cartoons, and suggests instructional strategies teachers can use to help students develop the skills necessary to detect such bias. A 6-item reference list is included. (DB)

One approach to teaching a college-level retail advertising course emphasizes the use of newspapers and shopping guides. The course objectives are (1) to acquaint students with practices and problems of retailing, with particular emphasis on promotion and advertising; (2) to acquaint them with ways local advertising media meet promotional and advertising needs of retailers; and (3) to instruct them in procedures and techniques of advertising services of local print media. The course schedule includes a field trip to a local newspaper, assignments that involve students in market research and promotion, student involvement in telephone surveys for data collection, media guest speakers, and four or five assignments that include layout and illustrations. The coursework culminates in a 20-minute sales presentation by each student. In the presentation, students try to get the instructor (who is acting in the role of project retailer) to sign an advertising contract with their publication. The student's presentation book includes market promotion data (initially developed for an earlier assignment), information about the specific publication, rates and schedules, and speculative advertisements. (Appendixes include a syllabus, course schedule, detailed topic outline, topic reading list, and guidelines for guest speakers.) (HOD)

One new approach to argumentative writing in an advanced composition course uses the creative juxtaposition of rhetorical and psychological theories and behavioristic research. All of the assignments for the course simulate the kinds of writing actually performed in the professional fields of advertising, politics, business, law, and religion. Instead of writing academic papers, students gain genuine preprofessional and interdisciplinary experience by writing the ads, speeches, reports, or legal arguments that would be expected of them were they employed in these respective fields. Persuasion and argumentation are viewed as a continuum of discourse, persuasion being more closely related to the control end of the continuum, argumentation more closely related to the discovery end. The course begins with a focus on persuasion and the theoretical background of Aristotle. This is enhanced with a study of modern psychological theory. Following a study of political persuasion, the course shifts to the forms of persuasion and argumentation that are found in legal, religious, and philosophical writing. Finally, the course considers how religious/philosophical persuasion is almost ideally suited for merging discovery and control--because religious/philosophical questions are largely unanswerable, every time the persuader re-enters the persuasive process, he or she is engaged once more in discovery with the audience. (The appendix includes outlines of three assignments given in the course and a short list of references.) (HOD)

In an effort to promote computer literacy among advertising students, an assignment was devised that required the use of online database search techniques to find secondary research materials. The search program, chosen for economical reasons, was "Classroom Instruction Program" offered by Dialog Information Services. Available for a charge of $14 per hour, the program provides students with access to over 100 different databases. For the assignment, students were asked to prepare search objectives for any advertising-related topic of their choice. Once the students completed their search objectives and a command outline, they were given a very basic search to be typed into the terminal. This basic search provided a vehicle through which students could evaluate their understanding of the search program before searching. After completing the rote assignment, students made their own bibliographic search. To reduce the telephone connect time, several constraints were included, among them the following: (1) students were assigned to work in teams of 3 to 5 individuals; (2) the number of bibliographic references typed was minimized; and (3) search setups were graded and corrected before signing on the computer. Instructor preparation was provided by the database vendors and Dialog. Especially useful were their training seminar manuals. Initial evaluations of the assignment showed the only deficiency to be too few searches. (HOD)

The Accrediting Council on Education for Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC) is the only agency that accredits college and university advertising programs. Its accrediting committee consists of 10 educators and seven professionals who base the accrediting process largely on how well an advertising unit or sequence meets the objectives and philosophies it has established for itself. A journalism unit or sequence initiates the accreditation process by requesting evaluation by the accrediting council. It then prepares a previsit report in which it assesses its objectives, strengths, and weaknesses. A visiting team appointed by the accrediting committee then visits the campus for about two days, observing classes and interviewing administrators, faculty, and students. Before leaving the campus, the team prepares its report and presents it to the unit head and the college's highest academic officer, but its recommendation is not revealed at this time. The accrediting committee considers all reports at its annual meeting. The advertising programs are evaluated primarily in terms of their own objectives and philosophies, but the committee has established some basic standards of administration, teaching, facilities, and goals. The Association for Education in Journalism could seek some changes in the current accreditation process, but in any case it must continue to examine and define its own position on accreditation. (JL)

A 7-week project was carried out at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio) which had the following goals: (1) teaching students enrolled in two sections of an interpersonal communication course about nonverbal communication, focusing on popular advertising and how such advertising exemplifies various areas within nonverbal communication theory; (2) involving students in experiential learning by including them in the research and development of an educational slide show and accompanying audiotape; and (3) using the presentation for future instruction. After completion and observation of the presentation by 34 students, they were asked to write a brief report evaluating their involvement in the project as a learning experience. Student responses to these questions indicated that their participation in the project was an enjoyable, positive learning experience. The slide show was presented to 38 students from two sections of the course in the following semester, who then completed a written survey which quizzed them on their knowledge of the concepts covered in the presentation, and solicited their views on the effectiveness of the presentation. Students who observed the presentation exhibited correct understanding of the nonverbal concepts and agreed that the presentation benefited their learning of the material. Comparison of students who produced the presentation with the students who only observed the presentation indicated that the students who produced the presentation gained a more thorough appreciation of the application and relevance of nonverbal communication concepts. (Ten references and a survey are attached.) (ARH)

Writing techniques espoused by Peter Elbow, applied to the teaching of writing in advertising copywriting classes can help students develop into better writers, generating better copy ideas. The shift of focus from writing a finished piece the first time to concentrating on the process of writing allows for a freer flow of ideas and creativity. The procedure has eight steps, some of which can be repeated as often as necessary: warm-up, process writing, sharing, revision, sharing, revision, editing group sharing, and revision. The warm-up gets the writer focused on the flow of writing. Process writing, 15-20 minutes of directed freewriting using any of 13 different approaches (such as first thoughts, dialogues, and narrative thinking) to thinking about the topic, fosters both creativity and control over the topic. Sharing and editing take place in groups of students, the sharing groups concentrating on ideas rather than grammar and syntax. Assignments are turned in to the instructor only after going through several drafts and after editing by an editing group. By participating in sharing and editing groups, students essentially learn by teaching. As a result of using these techniques, the instructor's role changes from a grammar and mechanics corrector to that of a writing partner, guiding the students to the clear expression of their ideas. (SR)

In advertising, a creative idea can be defined as being right or on strategy in a unique way. For a copywriter, it is not easy to create an ad that has the "Big Idea" in it. Some helpful techniques that advertising students can use to generate creative ideas are (1) analogy, (2) forced relationships, (3) doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing, and (4) closure. Sense analogy was used in David Ogilvy's famous headline for Rolls Royce: "At 60 miles an hour the only sound you hear is the ticking of the clock." The comparison is with total silence. Forced relationships are similar to analogies but more contrived. An example of this technique is the Voit ad in which sporting goods equipment is shaped in the form of a Christmas tree. Doing the opposite can mean the opposite of what the competition is doing, the opposite of what is normally found in that particular medium, or even the opposite of what the audience is likely to expect. Closure is designed to involve audience members in an ad by having them complete and fill in various words or pictures. In a classic Volkswagen ad, verbal closure is used because a dependent clause, "or buy a Volkswagen," demands partnership with an independent clause. A common thread in these ads is their tendency to convey a single, meaningful idea instantly and with creative impact. The techniques exemplified in the ads are in everyday use by creative minds in advertising, and can be equally helpful for advertising students. (NKA)

One of the major problems in advertising courses is that students are expected to generate original, exciting advertising ideas, but often are not taught how to go about the process. Idea generation techniques can help students generate quantities of creative ideas more quickly and fluently. By looking at ads and recreating the workings of the creative minds behind them, ways in which ideas are produced can be highlighted. The beginning of idea generation is a matter of isolating themes as they are derived from features, selling points, and benefits. If a theme is the "matter" of an ad, an idea is the "manner" of the ad. An idea bank, consisting of layout pages where seeds of ideas are sketched and including a grid logging key features, selling points and benefits, is a means of keeping track of one's creative consciousness. Idea generation techniques include: (1) associations (again based on features, selling points, and benefits); (2) opposites, including list opposites, media opposites, expectation opposites, and competition opposites; (3) verbal plays, including onomatopoeia, rhyme, alliteration, and multiple meanings; and (4) clocks and calendars (referring to time, seasons, etc.). (Thirteen photocopies of ads illustrating the techniques discussed are attached.) (SR)