A STATEMENT OF
TEACHING
PHILOSOPHY....and
some small
innovations
Leyland Pitt 2010
Cases are
•a very inadequate way of teaching
theoretical concepts
•a great way to show what problems a
discipline such as marketing is able to
solve
•If you want to make students excited
about a subject like marketing, there is
no better way than using cases.
The worst cliche I’ve
ever put on a slide....
the “7 habits of
Effective Marketing
Case teachers”
Rule 1: It is
unforgivable to bore a
class, regardless of
whom or at what level
they are.
Rule 2: I can never
“teach” a class – I
can let them discover
for themselves.
If I do this well, they will give themselves the credit
for it, and hopefully, to me as well.
Rule 3: If students
are dissatisfied with
my teaching it is my
fault not theirs.
Rule 4. All the formal
courses and studying
in the world will not
make me a great
teacher.
Rule 5: Students
need and deserve
feedback that is
customized not
general, pertinent not
irrelevant, and timely,
not late.
Rule 6: You might be
able to buy
popularity, but you
can never buy
respect.
Rule 7: The best that
any of us can do for
our profession is to
ensure that there are
better people than us
to continue what we
do.
Case Teaching in the Age of
Technological Sophistication
•T
•U
•T
Writing Marketing
Case Studies via
Technology
Writing Your Own Cases
•For Fun
•Useful to have your own cases
•Makes
one a better case teacher and a better
writer
•I owe it to my community
e.g. Deighton, J., Pitt, L.F., Dessain, V., Beyersdorfer, D., and Sjöman, A.
(2006) “Marketing Chateau Margaux”, Harvard Business School Case
Study, 507033, Boston MA: Harvard Business School
Halvorsen, W., Parent, M., and Pitt, L.F. (2009) “Selling Green Dots in
Second Life”, Richard Ivey School of Business Case Study 9B09A033
The innovation
•making case studies available and
accessible on mobile computing
devices Apple’s iPod Touch and
iPhone
•The intention: bring reality to students
to what they have read
•developing multi-media cases that will
be downloadable as iPhone apps
•iPad:“converged” device will herald
the ultimate paperless case study
Teaching Marketing
Case Studies via
Technology
Two technological
innovations
•an incremental innovation to teaching technique
•a radical innovation to the classroom setting
Incremental: Case teaching with
Tablet Computers
•Good, old fashioned blackboards and lots
of chalk!
•“…when one is uncertain and one needs
to record words, the best way to do so is
with chalk on a blackboard, for one will
frequently have to erase things”,
•the forensic psychologist Kreizler, in
Caleb Carr’s (1994) novel The Alienist
Unfortunately....
•Whiteboards....
•PowerPoint presentations
I use the tablet.....
•as my sole media tool in marketing classes
•through the LCD projector
•to store digital movie content
•it is in the teaching of cases that the tablet really
comes to the fore
•Microsoft’s Windows Journal
How the innovation
solves the problem(s)
•media - tablet’s pen never
dries up;
•no continually needing to
raise and lower the
projection screen
•soft & hard copy record of
the class discussion and
analysis – good for
students AND for teacher
The Results – Some
Observations
•forces me to plan more effectively,
and to teach in a more focused way focus on critical issues without having
to manipulate arcane technologies
•Feedback from students is entirely
positive
•“it was great to have a printable record of our
class’s analysis”
•“knowing we can access the notes means I can
listen and speak more”.
•“Now I really hate it when other instructors use
the stupid screen, up and down all the time”
•“Why do some instructors still use the white
board? I can’t read writing with a green pen, no
one can”
•“Meanwhile it’s the lazy accounting professor
from the previous class who neglected to put the
pen’s top back on”
Some Problems Encountered
•one only has access to a page at
a time
•e.g.
•be aware that standing in front of
the tablet all the time means that
one moves around less
•focus on handwriting!
•where students are required to
prepare and do “PowerPoint”
presentations and may wish to use
their own laptops to do this – make
them use USB memory sticks
Radical: Case Teaching in Second
Life
Intentions in teaching marketing cases via in
SL were twofold
Wished to make students aware of, and
engage them in, a technology that is new to all
of us
Always looking for alternative ways of
overcoming the limitations imposed by physical
classrooms, time, and distance - The virtual
world means that a class can be held and
How it Works
•required the setting up of a
virtual classroom, complete
with seating for students in
an amphitheater-like setting
• both students and
instructor need to create
avatars for themselves
Interaction in an SL marketing case class
•much like it would be in a
real life situation
•instructor can move about
the class just as in a real life
situation
•Students can also react and
comment by means of written
comments on a side screen
•class session can be
recorded, stored, and
distributed if desired.
Assessment of, and
Feedback on,
Marketing Case
Studies via
Technology
Assessment and
Feedback Problems
•Time - for both students
and instructor
•Realism
Assessment:
A
PowerPoint
submission
presentation
as
electronic
“…She invited you to make a very short presentation to them, their senior employees and some of
their suppliers, at the meeting they planned to hold in the near future. However she also asked you to
ensure that you stick rigorously to the following guidelines:
1.
The time allocated to your presentation at our meeting is 30 minutes, and you are courteously
but firmly requested not to exceed this.
2.
Therefore, we are asking you to make a PowerPoint presentation, and you must NOT use
more than 12 slides, one of which is your title slide. So what you will submit as your examination is a
presentation consisting of no more than 12 slides, with the first slide being your title slide with your
name and student number on it.
3.
Obviously you cannot write voluminous amounts of text on a slide – please use bullet points
to address the main issues and short, incisive, quantitative analysis where you think this is necessary.
Lengthy “essays” on slides will be penalized – remember that no one can read 14-point font from the
back of a room.”
Feedback
•Grade/Mark out of X
•Record voice feedback using
“insert sound file”
••
Thank you for your warm words of encouragement. I
realize I said too much though, and will try to follow your advice.
••
What a nice surprise to hear your voice! This beats
written comments which are mostly unreadable, and unread!
••
I really appreciate your very personal feedback to me
and the useful comments. Thank You.