Branding101

ErasmusCourseEvaluation

Lecturer:AnaADI

Session2010/2011

Semester2–May2011

AttheendoftheBranding101course,the10participatingstudentswereaskedtotakeasurvey inordertoevaluatethecoursetogetherwiththe lecturer’smethod,approach and enthusiasm. The evaluation survey was accessible online leavingstudentswith the option of taking it at their ownpace and in the absence of thelecturer. To avoid bias, studentswere asked to submit their answers before theirfinalgradesweredelivered.All10studentstookthesurvey,offeringresponsesfrom100%ofthecourseparticipants.

The survey followed the same structure as theNewMedia Course the lecturer isteachingatthesameinstitution.

Overall,70%ofthestudents(7outof10respondents)foundthecourse“verygood”andwhile 80% of them believe the “overall teaching effectiveness” to have been“excellent”.

1.Overallcourseevaluationresults

Thestudentswerealsoaskedtoevaluatespecificaspectsofthecoursedeliveryandthelecturer’sactivity.Mostoftheanswersrangewithintheexcellentandverygoodrange with the lecturer’s answer to the students’ questions and lecturer’s use oftechnology being rated at the highest (80% of the students votes). The lecturer’sabilitytopresentalternativeexplanations, the lecturer’senthusiasm,the lecturer’savailabilitytoofferextrahelpwhenaskedandthemethodofinvitingguestlecturerstothetalkandworkwiththeclasshaveallbeenevaluatedasexcellentby70%ofthecourseparticipants.The quality of the questions raised during the course received overall goodevaluationswith40%ratedasgood,30%asverygoodand30%asexcellent.Takingintoaccountthatmostofthestudentsintheclasshadabackgroundinbusinessand

businessadministration,itispossiblethattheconceptscoveredinthisintroductorycoursewerealreadyfamiliartothestudents.

2.Specificcourseelementsevaluation

Amongotheraspectsofthecourseevaluatedweretheuseofclasstime(60%verygood),theamountlearnedinthecourse(60%verygood),thereasonablenessoftheassigned work (70% excellent) and the relevance of the topics covered for thestudents’areasofstudyandfuturecareers(60%excellent).40%oftheparticipatingstudentsdeemedtherelevanceandusefulnessofthecoursetobeexcellentwhileanother 40% found it very good. This suggests that even if the students’ wereexposed to concepts of branding before, the course and its content was stillconsideredrelevantandmanagedtoprovidestudentswithnewlearningpoints.Thisis confirmed by the 60% very good evaluation of the amount the studentsconsideredtheylearnedinthecourse.

3.Othercoursedimensionsevaluated

Withregardstoattendance,allrespondingstudentsattendedallclasses.Halfoftherespondingstudents(5outof10)expecttoreceiveanA.Threequalitativequestionswerepartofthesurveyaswell.Theyaimedtodeterminethe areas that students most liked or disliked as well as identify elements thatstudentswouldhavewantedthecoursetocover.Althoughthestudentswouldnotchange the course, they did have several suggests towards improving it such asprovidingexamplesofbothgoodandbadpractice(thecoursesofarconcentratedmoreonbestpractices)orincludingevenmoreguestsintothecourseprogram.One suggestion was made to provide an example guideline for the final brandproject.However, taking intoaccountthat70%ofthestudentsratedtheclarityoftheirresponsibilitiesandrequirementsasexcellentandtakingintoaccountthattheelementsthatwererequiredforthefinalprojectwereincludedinthesyllabusandextensively explained in class, including an example case at this point would notsupport further the students’ knowledge nor provide themwith space to expresstheircreativityandanalysis.

4.Newcourseelementswanted

5.Suggestedimprovements

Finally, among the things the students liked the most were the practicalassignments,theguestlectureandtheteachingstyle.

6.“Whatdidyoulikemoreaboutthiscourse”answers

ObservationsandConclusions:Alltheanswersgiventothequestionsaskedareinthehigherpositiverange–fromgoodtoexcellent.Theareasmarkedthestudentsasbeingexcellent(obtainingalsothemajorityvote)were:

• Theoverallteachingeffectiveness(80%)• Thelecturer’sanswertothestudents’questions(80%)• Thelecturer’suseoftechnology(80%)• Thelecturer’sabilitytopresentalternativeexplanations(70%)• Theclarityofthestudents’responsibilitiesandrequirements(70%)

Thepracticalaspectsofthecoursewerementionedasstrongpointsofthecourseand good learning experiences. The course featured a mix of problem‐basedexercises, student‐led learning and lectures including the observation of brandingandpurchasesbehavioursinageneralstoreandthedesignofabrandstartingfromagivenproduct.

Itisnotablethatmanyofthestudentsindicateasanimportantfactorthelecturer’senthusiasmandsupport.Thisreiteratesthepotential,ifnottheneed,forcoursestobe delivered in a more interactive way where students are constantly givenchallenges to solve together with the lecturer. Even if students were exposed tosomeofthecontentbefore, theway inwhichthecoursewasdeliveredkeptthemfocusedandinterestedinthecourse.Recommendationsandsuggestions:Takingintoaccountthestudents’observationsandinanattempttomakealinktotheareasdeterminedinthecourseevaluationashavingapotentialforimprovementitissuggested:

• Using several brand cases to follow throughout the course as a way ofreinforcingtheoreticalconcepts

• Increase the number of practical exercises as a means for students todiscoverthetheoreticalconcepts

• Providemoreopportunitiesforpeerlearning.