Engagement and Evaluation: Creating a Meaningful Student Learning Experience

Abstract

The idea that students are more engaged with classroom active learning is well established in the literature. I have taken this to heart over my years of teaching by venturing away from lectures to a more hands on approach that makes practical application of theoretical concepts. I routinely assign client-based projects to students in upper level marketing courses. The local businesses appreciate interacting with the students and the students benefit from working in the field with real output and consequences for their efforts. Students who complete the best projects then present at the Aurora University Undergraduate Research Conference. This challenge and support approach motivates students to do well in every area. Thus teaching innovation is not restricted to the collegiate classroom. I challenge students to examine how their collegiate experience ties in with their long-term goals. This has led to success, for example the team that I advise won the 2013 GfK NextGen Marketing Research Competition. I accompany marketing students on corporate visits, professional conferences and community service projects every semester. This helps to bridge the gap between collegiate experience and corporate expectations. The Principles of Marketing course is often populated by first and second-year students. Many only take the course to fulfill a graduation requirement in the business curriculum. With this in mind I have developed classroom activities to keep students engaged in the learning process. This active learning takes place via in class games I have developed with interesting parameters, required interactivity and a competitive element. At every level I aspire to bring new and interesting teaching tools to the classroom. However entertainment is not the goal, I always use assessment of learning outcomes to establish that the innovation in question is a more enjoyable class experience and to demonstrate students learn more effectively than a traditional approach. I then use student and colleague feedback to refine my approach to the classroom to ensure that I stay current, challenging and connected with student learning. Students routinely say that I set high expectations regarding classroom learning and academic performance yet I also provide resources to help them reach their collegiate goals. Again challenge and support captures the basis of my teaching philosophy. Being a lifelong learner I also take that approach in my own growth as I adapt to the changing needs of students and demands in the marketing discipline. Thus I feel good about my involvement as conference program chair, track chair, paper reviewer, journal editor, article reviewer, competition founder and organizer, judge, and fund raiser knowing that these out of classroom endeavors contribute to the marketing education profess as a whole. They all serve to help students at all institutions be more successful in their academic experience and professional goals.