Innovation In Assessment: Injecting Reality Into Business Education

Relevance and reality are often thought to be absent from business education. This paper shows how innovation can be linked to reality in a very simple fashion. It takes us away from the notion that innovation has to be technology based. While much is indeed written in this area of innovation utilising new technologies,  this paper takes us back to basics. It documents the introduction and implementation of an innovative assessment task that has no technical element. The assessment entitled International Marketing in Action brings reality and relevance to students’ learning experience by exposing them to everyday happenings and thereby immersing them in the learning experience

Achieving Relevance In Assessment Through Fieldtrips

Students often bemoan the fact that they can’t see the relevance of the report they are asked to write or the case study they have to analyze. This paper introduces the use of attending an industry tradeshow as a means of making assessment more interesting and meaningful. Much has been written about the need to bring reality back to management education and many institutions worldwide have attempted to do this through fieldtrips, simulations and case studies. This paper explains how relevance and reality can be achieved in a simple and cost effective way. Essentially postgraduate marketing students are given an assessment task which requires them to attend an industry tradeshow. Following the tradeshow they write a marketing plan and make a presentation for a company in a business-to-business marketing context. The implementation of this approach and its effect on assessment and learning outcomes is presented in this paper. Feedback from students on their experiences of the assessment task and its impact on their learning is also presented

From the ground up: archaeology as colonial knowledge production in Upper Canada, 1830-1860

This thesis presents a study of archaeology as a form of colonial knowledge production employed in Simcoe County in the years between 1830 and 1860, set against the backdrop of the Native assimilation policies in Upper Canada. I argue that the identification of archaeological sites, their survey, documentation, excavation, and the collection of their contents shaped new epistemologies that contributed to the administration and governance of Aboriginal populations, their territories and the nation-building efforts of this period. I ask: Who took on the tasks of digging, mapping and collecting in Simcoe County? Why were Aboriginal remains and artifacts tom from their original contexts and reinserted as new forms of knowledge into European historical chronologies? What did settlers, colonial administrators and missionaries cum archaeologists know, and how did they know? To address these questions, I draw on the theoretical framework advocated by historical anthropology and the anthropology of colonialism. Cultural studies of colonialism have revealed how, in the nineteenth century, all across the globe, territory was conquered not only through physical force and economic expansion but also through the creation of facts that gave colonial agents and settlers power over indigenous societies, their natural resources and their culture. Colonial domination was enacted through the defining and classifying of space, the counting of populations, the codifying and representation of the past, and the insertion of this information into government reports and archives (Cohn 1996; Dirks 1992). While historical anthropologists have focused heavily on the textual documentation found within these archives, I also interrogate the material, archaeological archive to reveal the complex architecture of colonialism. Yet, as this thesis demonstrates, colonial knowledge production was not monolithic, nor was it without its uncertainties: what was observed and how it was recorded and made into governable knowledge was conditioned by particular socio-political circumstances (Stoler 2009; Thomas 1994). Through the four case studies that structure this thesis, I seek out the ways in which the project of colonial archaeology in Simcoe County was both contingent and often unsettled. In addition, I identify how the production of archaeological knowledge was not an isolated activity. Published reports and archaeological evidence from Simcoe County moved quickly across imperial space, influencing the formation of emerging racial typologies and categories of difference within the metropole that, as I conclude, reverberate in the present

Counseling Trainees Attitudes\u27 toward and Interest in Working with Older Adult Clients

As the older adult population in the United States begins to grow, the increasing need for psychologists specializing in geropsychology may put strains on the mental health care system. The current study examines contact with older adults, universal diverse orientation, empathy, and multicultural competence as predictors of attitudes toward older adults and in interest in working with this population in a national sample of graduate students in counseling (N = 266). A modified version of the proposed model, which added a correlated residual between empathic concern and personal distress, showed acceptable fit to the data. Results suggest that contact with older adults was a strong predictor of attitudes about older adults and interest in working with this population, while exploratory paths for UDO, empathy, and multicultural competence were non-significant. Results suggest the need for graduate programs to increase contact experiences available for students in order to increase positive attitudes and interest in working with seniors

A Colourful Approach To Reducing Examination Anxiety

This paper examines the use of visual aids in examinations and provides interesting and innovative ideas for educators in higher education institutions. It shows a clear link between the use of colour and technology and the reduction of examination anxiety. Traditionally examinations tended to be in written format only, questions were multiple choice, short answer, essay or case study based. This paper showcases an innovative approach to examinations where videos and photos are use to supplement traditional methods. A sound theoretical foundation is provided to support the use of the innovative methods utilized. The paper not only provides information for educators on how to approach this idea but more importantly documents student feedback on the successful implementation of the concept

Enhancing Learning Outcomes Through Application Driven Activities In Marketing

This paper introduces an activity used in class to allow students to apply previously acquired information to a hands-on task. As the authors have previously shown active learning is a way to effectively facilitate and improve students’ learning outcomes. As a result to improve learning outcomes we have overtime developed a series of learning activities reinforcing marketing theories. In this paper, we provide details of a marketing communications exercise which in addition to being a vehicle for active learning also allowed students to apply the results of their previous research thereby effectively aligning all learning and assessment tasks. The activity required students to take a previously completed environmental analysis of a foreign country and using that information develop a print advertisement for an Australian branded product unavailable in that country. Details are provided on the in-class activity including guidelines for conducting the practice-orientated exercise and information on the assessment tasks leading up to this activity. The paper provides academics with an example of how to apply concepts to real life examples in the classroom and give students hands on experience and further shows how learning can be scaffolded through assessment. We found that students actively engaged in the experience and improved their learning outcomes through application of their previous research and the concepts discussed in class

Does Sport Matter?: An Analysis Of The Personality Of Sport

This paper examines the intrinsic characteristics of sport and reaffirms the idea that celebrity endorsers bring more to the endorsement process than just their personal qualities. This idea was previously proposed by McCracken (1989) in his transfer of meaning theory. The importance of this research lies in the fact that given the risks associated with celebrity endorsement, marketers must be aware of all factors that influence consumers’ evaluations of the celebrity endorsement. The proposition therefore is that an athlete’s sport is a factor that influences consumers’ celebrity endorsement evaluations. In other words the athlete and his sport cannot be separated

Innovating Through Structured Curriculum Development

Structured and innovative curriculum development can have a profound impact on learning outcomes.  This paper provides interesting and innovative ideas for educators in higher education institutions to allow them to achieve improved learning outcomes.  This paper showcases how engaging students throughout the course and supporting them through consistent, incremental course development leads to innovative curriculum development.  The improved course structure and students’ increased engagement achieve maximum learning outcomes.  Various research studies support the use of innovative methods though not much is said about consistency of assessments and course structure in curriculum development with the aim to reduce exam anxiety and ultimately enhance learning outcomes.  In our unit of study, seminar presentations and poster sessions in conference style were used to engage students and introduce them to a different way of learning other than reports.  The paper not only provides information for educators on how to design engaging course structures but more significantly supports the outcomes through the analysis of student feedback based on objective teaching evaluation conducted before exams

Youve Got Mail: Techniques To Increase Response Rates

While much research exists on the benefits of using postal surveys especially in B2B marketing, it is understood and almost universally accepted that postal surveys are synonymous with low response rates. The paper presents results from a study carried out within the wine industry in Australia where a variety of techniques were utilised to overcome the expected low response rates. The various methods that were implemented to test how response rates can be influenced include the accompaniment of the survey with a reply paid addressed envelope, a coversheet on University letterhead explaining the offer of results in return for completing the survey, pre-notification and reminders via e-mail and the drop and collect survey method. The findings are significant in that a combination of techniques was used on the dyad (buyer and supplier) which allowed for comparison of relative effectiveness and success of the techniques. A timeline used to test these techniques is presented and the subsequent influence is presented. This research provides valuable insights to academics who, because of various circumstances (inaccessibility, cost etc.), have no choice but to use postal surveys. It is interesting also that pre-notification by e-mail had a significant impact

Putting Bling In The Classroom

This paper showcases the innovative use of a case study in action.  It initially introduces a case study on the bottled water ‘bling’ and its phenomenal success in recent times.  From a marketing educator’s point of view it provides an example of how to bring reality to the class room and gives students hands on consumer experience through active learning.  Details are provided on the in-class activity consisting of the case study, questions and guidelines for conducting the practice-orientated exercise.  The paper concludes with student feedback on the activity, which highlights the level of student engagement and motivation to learning and class participation.  It clearly shows that immersing students in the experience through active learning improves learning outcomes through concretisation of the concepts discussed in class. It also provides educators with recommendations for replicating this exercise