Translating Philosophy Into Practice

TOPIC V. TEACHING TIPS 171

Jeffrey S. Conant

Texas A&M University

TRANSLATING PHILOSOPHY INTO PRACTICE:

VALUED TEACHING METHODS

My research in marketing education, coupled with my genuine interest in teaching, has led me to frequently re-examine how I teach. In many ways I consider myself a student of teaching and teachers. Like many other educators, I use a variety of teaching methods to stimulate student learning. Four areas that are particularly important to me relate to course structure and organization, class atmospherics, student involvement, and instructor availability.

Course Structure and Organization: It is my belief that students generally appreciate structure and organization in the classes they take. They value knowing the professor's stated learning objectives, how s/he will determine grades, when tests and assignments will take place, and how they should prepare so as to maximize the likelihood that they will be successful in the course. I use a variety of methods to strengthen the organization and clarity of my classes. Some of the more visible methods I employ include: (1) creating comprehensive and detailed syllabi; (2)providing prompt and helpful feedback on all assignments and tests; (3) starting class with an introductory overview of the day's agenda; and (4) using clearly stated questions displayed on overheads as the basis for presenting material (e.g., "What is Marketing?").

Class Atmospherics: Creating a class atmosphere where students are motivated to learn is both important and something I actively work to strengthen during every class meeting. My goal is to create a professional, yet comfortable feeling in the classroom. To help accomplish this, I work hard at being consistent, but not easily anticipated. What I mean by this seemingly contradictory statement is that I want a sense of continuity to exist, but at the same time work to inject variety into how classes are managed. I regularly start class, for example, by reviewing the day's agenda to establish continuity. I try to keep the students from being able to always anticipate my next moves as an instructor, however, by choreographing individual class sessions differently (e.g., some days I start class with general discussion, some with small team work, some with short guest speaker presentations, and others with short videos).

Student Involvement: Getting students involved in class means getting them involved in the learning process. As a college student, I did not take full advantage of the opportunities I was presented with to get involved in class discussion. This is something I regret. It was not until I was an MBA student that I moved outside my “comfort zone” and actively worked to improve my listening and speaking skills. Perhaps as a result, I both talk about the importance of class participation often and place a high priority on creating a class atmosphere that motivates students to become involved. I use several methods to stimulate and encourage student involvement. These include, among other things: (1) basing part of students' grades on participation (in my smaller classes); (2) issuing every student a name card (room permitting) so as to let me address students using their name; (3) never criticizing a student for responding, even if their response is not as strong as it could be; (4) designing small team discussion exercises; and (5) asking frequent questions.

Instructor Availability: Teachers who care about how they teach make themselves available to their students. For me, this means arriving at class early and staying after class has ended to answer student questions. It also means meeting office hour commitments and scheduling extra office hours both before and after scheduled tests and project due dates. Emerging technologies, in particular electronic mail, have also allowed me to make myself more readily available to students anytime and anywhere.

Donna H. Green

University of Windsor

SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES FOR BECOMING

A MASTER TEACHER

My philosophy toward teaching can be summarized succinctly. "Teaching is not telling; doing is learning." I believe that to learn students must be active. They cannot passively absorb knowledge like a sponge or just like a sponge dries out after the cleaning is done the "knowledge" evaporates after a regurgitation test is completed. I see myself as a facilitator or coach – not a lecturer. My courses all require active work by students both inside and outside the classroom. This philosophy directly affects everything I do to enhance learning through my teaching. Some examples are listed below:

¨  Learning Outcomes. In designing my courses I thoroughly review how I believe the students should change by the time they leave my course and how I can bring that about. This is captured in the learning outcomes that are included on each course outline.

¨  Active Learning. Course activities are designed to encourage active learning and the application of knowledge.

¨  Students are People not Numbers. Students who can hide in a classroom or skip a class without being missed don’t get involved in the course and miss the opportunity for enhanced learning and, possibly, a passion for marketing. Therefore, class participation is an integral part of all my courses. For my part, I learn each and every student’s name and use them both within the classroom and when I see him or her in the hall. I also evaluate and record student participation after each class.

¨  Self-Assessment is a Critical Skill; Improvement is Always Possible; We are all Imperfect Humans. It is my personal belief that all of us can do better at whatever we attempt if we strive to do better and are willing to take a critical look at our own behavior. I have developed methods to help me understand and analyze how my course design enhances or hampers learning. Where possible I have also incorporated into my courses ways for the students to enhance their self-assessment skills.

¨  Communications Between Students and Myself. The course outlines not only include required texts, contact information and learning outcomes, but also detailed information on the required activities and the grading criteria to be employed. Explicit instructions for assignments and information regarding my expectations are also provided.

¨  Be myself. Let the passion show through. I believe that to connect with students I must let my personality show. When they realize that it is possible to be both knowledgeable as well as a real human being they respond well and feel that they also can learn.

¨  Active Listening. I see this as a critical skill for both professors and managers. I model it and encourage practice of it in my interactive classrooms.

¨  Fairness. I do everything I can to try to be as fair as possible in assigning grades and acknowledging people for participation in class. For example, I have developed detailed checklists for all major projects explaining what I expect, and I then use these to evaluate papers and essays. These give both the students and myself a consistent frame of reference and allow more detailed feedback than otherwise would be feasible.

Innovative and Involving Course Activities

Over the years I have developed a number of innovative and involving course activities. Some of those are listed below:

¨  Self-Generated Examination Questions (see Journal of Marketing Education)

¨  Day-in-the-Field (Job Shadow of Sales Representative) in Sales Management

¨  Five minute presentation graded solely on presentation skills – for sales management class (the topic may be the day-in-the-field experience or a recruiting speech as a potential president for a company in the simulation)

¨  Recruiting and Selection Section of Sales Management: personal résumés are to (1) to select Presidents for the teams for the simulation (2) then for the Presidents to select group members for their simulation teams (the résumés are graded, feedback is provided on a six page check sheet – many students have commented that the résumés developed in this course helped them to find employment)

¨  Brand Manager Presentations to “bring the product alive”

¨  Development of a Marketing & Business Plan for a New Retail Store in Vacant Space in the Regional Shopping Mall Following Site Visit to Mall and presentation by the mall manager and the marketing manager of the property development company

¨  Videotaped Role-Play as Sales Representative. Then Evaluation as Sales Manager for own and others’ selling interaction. The data from all ‘sales managers’ are entered into a database so each student gets feedback from five to seven others and can compare their own self assessment to that of others’

¨  Portfolio Assignment – Internet scrapbook

¨  Expertise Reports in Retailing and Marketing Strategy

¨  ”Live Case” for Marketing Strategy course with cash prize for report from the company (this term they are examining the steel industry)

¨  Web Page Design and Implementation for Internet Marketing

Final Comments

I enjoy learning and became a professor so I could continue learning as a part of my career. Teaching allows me to help others learn some of the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years. Through the course design and the assignments I’ve developed, I ensure my students are active learners and will retain important skills and information for many years. Listed below are some other activities that have helped me to improve the quality of my teaching:

¨  Keeping current on teaching issues through a subscription to the Teaching Professor (summarizes current thought and research in university level teaching) and the listserv from the Society for Teaching and Learning (STHLE).

¨  Monitoring my own behavior in the classroom through a systematic assessment of each case, each class, each activity, and a review of detailed feedback from students which they freely provide on evaluation forms I’ve designed for that purpose.

¨  Maintaining a teaching portfolio. This was and is one of the most powerful aids to improving my teaching that I have used. During its development I thoroughly re-examined each course I teach and the results of that teaching. It currently fills a two-inch binder and doesn’t include the two new courses that I have developed this term.

John Perrachione, Truman State University

Charles E. Michaels, Jr., University of South Florida/Sarasota

INTERNET SCAVENGER HUNTS

Scavenger hunts--setting students in search of various items and information--have been a popular pedagogical tool for some time; they provide an entertaining, motivating, and educational means for exposing students to both knowledge and means of acquiring that knowledge, in a problem-solving context.

The utilization of the internet/worldwide web for scavenger hunting was inevitable. It provides opportunities for students not only to retrieve specific information but also for practice in locating and evaluating that information. It introduces the student to the vast amounts, types, and quality of information available on the internet.

An internet scavenger hunt can focus on course-specific content, general field-relevant content, or even the use of the internet, web search engines, etc. for those less familiar with this means of accessing information. Pedagogical objectives for an internet scavenger hunt can include: receiving and sending email; using the internet and web search engines to search for and access information; selecting and evaluating information; practicing appropriate "netiquette"; and disseminating information via the web.

What follows is a farrago of ideas and suggestions that might help you create and manage an internet scavenger hunt for one (or more) of your classes.

Students

Internet scavenger hunts can be tailored to any marketing class; they may be especially appropriate for intro-level classes where students' internet skills might be least developed. They can be completed by students working individually or in teams.

Timing

They can be used early in the course to introduce concepts. Questions can be added throughout the term. Or they can be used later in the course to integrate concepts and to show students how much more complex, involved, and detailed is the actual practice of marketing compared to what they have learned in the course.

A time limit (e.g., one or two weeks) may be imposed, or the hunt may be carried out over the course of the course. Alternatively, the duration can be considerably shortened by making the hunt a contest of who can submit the each correct answer, or the most correct answers, first.

Questions

Questions of a general nature may be good for developing facility with search engines, selection of key words, etc. However, the more general the initial search, the more likely internet searching is to become internet surfing (which, as we all know, is a major contributor to chronocide).

Generally, the more detailed or specific the question, the more it should lead to reliable results. Indeed, some constraints (e.g., specific date or time period) can make the hunt more manageable for students.

Hunt items can include information (generally in the form of answers to a series of questions), and items such as graphical images and sound files. Questions can be national or international in scope, as well as being tailored to a specific region or even city.

Depending on the purpose for which the hunt is used, and if/how it is evaluated, hints (perhaps even sequential hints of increasing direction) might also be provided.

Distribution

Hunt items can be distributed via hard copy (on paper), can be emailed to students, and/or can be posted to a course web site. (If distributed via web site, students might be advised to open a new window directly "over" the hunt window, so that they can refer to the questions in one while they are hunting for the answers in the other.)

Answers

Answers should generally include not only the actual information sought, but also the exact URL(s) from which it was obtained (since some answers may also be available other than on the web), and perhaps even the date and time, since web sites can change frequently. Also, keywords used to search for each item, and all URLs visited (a "webliography"), can be required.

Note: Because web sites do come and go and change frequently, it is a good idea (make that "Great Idea") to check your scavenger hunt items before each hunt, and even during the hunt if it lasts the better part of an academic term.

Collection

If answers are to be submitted via hard copy or diskette, requiring a printout or copy of the actual web page containing the information is feasible. Answers can be submitted via email, in which case the information and URL can actually be copied and pasted from the navigation bar into the email.