Dr. Alma Mintu-Wimsatt, Marketing & Management
Creating Effective and Personalized Courses
I have long been involved with technology mediated learning since its introduction at A & M- Commerce. More than 15 years, the College of Business & Technology used ITV (interactive television) to deliver our courses to multiple campuses in the Northeast TX area. Today, technology mediated learning at A & M –Commerce has evolved to significantly enhance students’ learning experiences.
In my Marketing courses, the tone is set with a detailed syllabus e-mailed to students before the semester starts. This gives the students a clear idea on what they can expect from the class/instructor as well as what is expected from them. The syllabus contains, among others, a detailed week-to-week schedule that will followed throughout the semester. The detailed schedule includes deadlines, exam dates, and topics/chapters to be covered. A thorough syllabus is very important to many of our MBA students who have to travel and/or have work deadlines to follow.
In order to make the class more interesting, my courses are very applications-driven. Fortunately, the nature of Marketing fosters this approach. For example, how can anyone teach Marketing without discussing the Super Bowl ads or the changing purchasing habits of American consumers as a result of the current economic downturn? Because these topics are very mainstream and relevant, business students become more involved in the online class.
To further encourage students to be engaged in class, participation in weekly discussions is a major component of a student’s grade. The discussion topics are mainstream business topics – this makes the topics more relevant and interesting to most business students. A rubric for the minimum requirement for weekly discussion is provided in the syllabus and clarified during the first week of class. The grade equivalent is similar to the mid-term or final exam. As a result, students are cognizant of the importance of participation during the discussions.
Just like F2F classes, students are only able to “enter” a course during a 3-day or 4-day cycle each week. At the end of each cycle, feedback e-mails are sent to the class summarizing the key points discussed during the week. Often, some students’ names are singled out and included in the feedback because of a particularly interesting point or comment they had conveyed. This forces students to make sure they are current with the course’s schedule and are diligent with their discussion responses. It also demonstrates that their instructor reads all their postings.
I am a strong advocate for constant communication. Communication can be achieved in several ways: (1) Students’ emails, per their syllabus, are responded to within 24 hours during the week and 24-48 hours during weekends; (2) E-mails are sent to students to remind them to forthcoming deadlines; and (3) Most important, during the weekly discussion, I actively participate and monitor the discussion threads. Once it becomes evident to students that their instructor is engaged in the class, they do the same as well.
Finally, a good sense of humor injected into the class is important. Showing your personality and sharing personal information, when appropriate, improves teacher-student rapport. It is fairly common for students to share pictures and personal stories in my class. I certainly do the same.
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