Idea Transcript
Student Journal Writing in
Marketing Courses
Caroline M. Fisher
Student journal writing was tested in marketing courses. Journal writing is similar to writing a diary except that personal experiences are related to course concepts. The goals were to increase (1) communication skills, (2) integration of concepts into the "real world," and (3) participation and sharing in the classroom. A writing assignment which marketinstructors may wish to include among their teaching methods is student journal writing. Student journal writing is a special application of keeping a diary; the student records personal experiences and relates them to concepts learned in the classroom. The assignment develops both cognitive and communication skills.
ing
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION
SKILLS Oral and written communication skills are important for success in the business world and are included among the outcomes expected for business graduates by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in their Accreditation Research Committee’s Outcome Measurement Project. In fact, research studies have found that business people rank communication skills and courses as among those which are most useful to their business careers. In one study, oral and written business communication classes received the highest number of &dquo;very important&dquo; ratings among 13 courses listed as preparatory for business leadership (Hildebrandt et al. 1982). Business communication classes received more &dquo;very important&dquo; and &dquo;somewhat important&dquo; ratings than accounting, business policy, and marketing-indeed more than every subject area except finance. In another study, every respondent stated that communication skills played a part in their advancement to a top management Caroline M. Fisher is Assistant Professorof Marketing, College of Business Administration, Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
position, with 66% stating that these skills had a major effect on their advancement (Bennett 1971). A later replication (Bennett and Olney 1986) obtained substantially the same results and concluded that &dquo;communication skills will have a major effect on the upward mobility of future executives.&dquo; As with other important areas such as computer skills, an alternative to special courses is to integrate these skills into our existing course work. For example, business instructors can use such traditional writing assignments as essay tests, term papers and written cases. Arguments raised in opposition to written assignments in the business classroom include the lack of preparation to teach writing, the length of time required to read written assignments, and the difficulty in grading them. All these restrict the number of written assignments which we assign in our courses. Despite these problems, many marketing educators believe in the importance of writing skills. Writing does much more than communicate ideas and thoughts. Writing improves the students’ ability to identify with the material and make it personally relevant (Fulwiler 1987). Writing also helps develop thinking skills by helping the writer to sort out ideas, retrieve information, and identify with the material (Fulwiler 1987). In addition, &dquo;writing is a mode of learning,&dquo; (Fulwiler 1986) and can be used by instructors as one method of teach-
ing. One reason that writing helps learning is that writing requires activity from the learner. &dquo;One cannot be passive and at the same time generate words, sentences and paragraphs-thoughts&dquo; (Fulwiler 1986). And active participation increases learning and re-
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tention (Bahrick 1969; Buschke and Hinrichs 1968; Siebert and Walter 1974; Voeks 1970). WHY JOURNALS?
The journal is a very personal form of written communication which builds on existing knowledge. We all have been told to write and speak about what we know to improve our performance. Yet when we assign term papers, we ask students to write about what they do not know-usually a totally new and impersonal topic. The journal assignment gives the student an opportunity to write about personally known material that is related to the course work and thereby helps the student to develop written communication skills without having to devote time to library research or other skill areas (case analysis, for example). The student can concentrate on thought development and expression. Classes in a variety of subjects have used journal writing successfully (Young and Fulwiler 1986). The University of Missouri at Kansas City uses journals as an integral part of its internship program in direct marketing (Hamilton 1985), and a study conducted in classes in engineering (Selfe and Arbabi 1986) found that journal writing &dquo;help[ed] students clarify their thoughts, work out strategies for solving engineering problems, understand the important aspects of the structures course, and identify areas in which they needed more
help.&dquo; OBJECTIVES FOR THE ASSIGNMENT
A correlated objective was for thejournals to increase the student’s sensitivity to the consumer behavior that goes on all around us every day. One student began an entry, &dquo;Before taking this class, I was never aware of the many aspects of buying behavior....&dquo; The consumer behavior course should make the students aware of and sensitive to the many determinants ofbuyingbehavior-the students should develop a form of &dquo;medical student disease.&dquo; In turn, this sensitivity should help correct any beliefs the student holds which differ radically from reality. Another goal for the journal assignment was to increase participation in class discussion and sharing of the journal entries. Class discussion promotes synergistic learning since students can relate the concepts to the experiences of others as well as to their own experiences. This sharing of experiences also helps foster an awareness that not everyone behaves the same or reacts to marketing stimuli in the same manner. Students can begin to understand the diversity of human behavior and the importance of not assuming that everyone wants and needs the same products and services. The final goal for the journal writing assignment was to increase communication skills. The instructor did not grade the mechanics of writing (grammar and punctuation) since concern about the mechanics of writing may inhibit the student’s synthesis of experience and concepts. Nonetheless, the students should increase their abilities to express their thoughts to others through explaining how their experiences illustrate course principles.
One main goal for the journal writing assignment was to get the student to identify with the material in the consumer behavior course and integrate the concepts presented in class work into the &dquo;real world.&dquo; The use of journal writing was well suited for meeting this goal, since journal writing forces a form of experiential learning which requires a high level of student involvement and participation. While a diary merely describes &dquo;I&dquo; or personal activities and class notes describe &dquo;it&dquo; or what the teacher and text present, a journal brings &dquo;I&dquo; and &dquo;it&dquo; together (Fulwiler 1987). Thus the student does not merely memorize terms and concepts but relates them to the &dquo;real world&dquo; and makes them personal.
THE ASSIGNMENT The students were instructed to keep a journal with one entry for each class period, noting their observations of consumer behavior or advertising. They were instructed to relate these observations to the material covered in class or in their textbooks, using the appropriate terminology. The students turned in their journals at the end of the recording
period. The first time the instructor assigned journals was during a five-week summer session when the class met daily. The students kept journals for four of the five weeks (20
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Sample Entry 1
entries) and turned them in weekly. During regular semesters, the students kept journals
I viewed
for a total of five weeks or 15 entries and turned them in only once, at the completion of the assignment. The instructions in the course syllabus for one semester are given below. Journal Entries. You will be expected to keep
television commercial about Lou
now
offers
a
comrehensive [sic] Five Year Limited store offers such a
Warranty. No other furniture
claim. In this high involvement type purchase, Compass Furniture does a great job of reducing consumer risk through market controlled strategies of reducing the consequences of failure of purchasing from Compass Furniture....
a
journal, beginning September 1, 1988, of your observations of your own consumer behavior and that of those around you. You will make at least three (3) entries a week, for five (5) weeks, or 15 entries in total. The journal entries will include purchase decisions you make; purchases you observe others make; ads you read, hear, or watch; or discussions you have with others about products. Each entry will relate the inclusion from the list above to the concepts which we are studying in this class at the time of the entry. Your journal may be kept on paper, on computer discs in a form that can be read by WordPerfect on an IBM PC compatible computer, or on cassette tape(s). The choice is up to you.
Sample Entry 2
Recently I was in the market to purchase a larger boat than the one I have presently. I was really just seekinginformation on prices andbrands and so forth. A heavy influence on me was a neighbor who knows everything there is to know about motor boats. He had his own knowledge but also magazines and phamlets [sic] to share with me. This person has informational influence over me in that I respect his broad knowledge of the subject and tend to believe his statements and recommendations.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION consumer behavior the completed journal assignment over three semesters. A total of 116 students turned in journals, seven on cassette tapes and none on computer disc. Although taped journals provided variety from reading papers, the taped journals tended to consist primarily of observation and include less analysis. At first the students were unsure of what the instructor expected in their journals. The assignment was novel to them, and they worried about writing about themselves and their ideas. The inclusion of sample entries in the instructions in recent semesters virtually eliminated this hesitancy. The instructor offered to look over their entries and say whether they were doing them correctly. A few students from each section took advantage of this offer. The students did not complain about writing journals the way others have complained about term papers and other written assignments. The shortness of the assignment and its simple nature do not create as much resistance. While some of the student entries merely described and labeled some observations, most of the entries showed integration of the course concepts with the observations. Examples of entries follow.
a
Rippner’s Compass Furniture Store.... Rippner states to the public that Compass Furniture Store
Five sections of
The entries sometimes raised questions about what
presented student speculation they observed. or
Sample Entry 3 I went to Canal Villere to try chicken for
a
recipie [sic] for Chicken St. Charles. I spent $5 on two boneless breasts. However, whole fryers were cheaper. I’m not really sure why the breasts were so expensive. It was half of the chicken as the fryers. I assume it is because for certain meals boneless breasts are all you can use so the demand is high and grocers can charge a higher price. Please help, I’m confused on this one.
The journal writing assignment also improved student performance in other class activities. Students participated in class discussion more, often bringing up observations they had recorded in their journals. They also understood concepts better, although this observation is strictly subjective. Student Comments and Evaluation
Student feedback about the journal writing assignment was positive. Some students even referred to the assignment as &dquo;fun!&dquo; Others stated that they felt the assignment
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helped them understand the concepts studied in the course and relate them to their daily lives. In the fall semester of 1988, all 29 students in one section of consumer behavior completed a more formal evaluation. These students rated the journal-writing assignment on 11 items using a Likert-type scale with 1
indicating &dquo;strongly disagree&dquo; and 5 indicating &dquo;strongly agree.&dquo; The 11 items and the average student ratings are given in Table 1. Overall the ratings were neutral, averaging 3.24. The students rated the journal-writing assignment highest on learning from the assignment and applying the material to the real world. The lowest was to increasing class participation.
TABLE 1
STUDENT EVALUATIONS OF JOURNAL WRITING
a
Based
on a
scale 1
=
strongly disagree
and 5
=
strongly agree.
Grading
entries. An example is an explanation of how the steps in the complex decision-making process fit the observed behavior. some
One of the best features of the journals is that they are pleasant to read and grade. The entries are often humorous and are almost always personal. This alone is a good reason to switch to the journal assignment. A set of criteria was developed for grading. A grade of &dquo;C&dquo; (75) required the assigned number of entries, each of which included an observation and perhaps a concept label such as &dquo;high involvement purchase.&dquo;
Sample Entry
Sample Entry 5-Label I saw an interesting ad. It was an ad for the ‘Wall Street Journal’ and it was mostly informational content & the slogan on the top of the page was ’on staying number one, once you become #1.’ It was a very effective slogan and it made me want to read it.
Sample Entry 6-Explanation
4
I went
I stopped in Sears today to buy a pair of shoes that I saw advertised in the Sunday paper. I could not find the shoes on any of the racks, so I went up to the register to get some help. Well there were about 4 or 5 people returning shoes, and a few others waiting to be helped. I got tired of waiting so I left. One thing I really hate is when there is a sale that will bring in a crowd, and only one or two
people are working. The next grading level (&dquo;B&dquo; or 85) required the use of labels on most entries and explanations or justifications of the labels in
through
a
complex
decision
making
process with the recent purchase of my car. I knew the criteria I would use to make my selection. It was just a matter of finding the right car. I used a noncompensatory method because if a certain car did not meet one of the criteria it could not be made up on another criteria. When it failed to meet a criteria it was automatically ruled out. After going through my list, I finally found a car that met all of my needs. I immediately bought the car.
A grade of &dquo;A&dquo; (95) was assigned only if several of the entries included something more-speculation, synthesis of ideas from
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several class topics, connections made between different areas and the like. Sample Entry 7--Speculative This evening my boyfriend and I were talking about seasonings-Brennan’s new line of products such as Tony Chachere’s. My boyfriend’s brother lives in Wyoming and he misses spicy seasonings. There aren’t any products such as Tony Chachere’s up north. If marketers and companies decided to extend and distribute products such as this in the Northern areas certain adjustments would have to be made. These products might be too spicy and hot for people living in these regions. They should emphasize use of this product with beef and chicken since seafood is expensive and not readily available there. New Orleans has an image and reputation for wonderful food so the advertising should link in some way the product to New Orleans. Tabasco was a
huge success.
Shadings between the 75, 85, and 95 grades were assigned in some cases where the entries were felt to border between the two. The grading process specifically excluded
writing mechanics such as grammar and spelling since the goal of the assignment was thought and synthesis rather than mechanics. The instructor did not comment on mechanics unless the entry was impossible to understand. Intentionally ignoring grammar and spelling speeded up the grading process. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The instructor successfully used the journal writing assignment as the first writing assignment in several sections of consumer behavior. A subjective evaluation by the instructor suggested that the journal assignment met the first three goals. An objective evaluation by the students was neutral but indicated that the assignment was most successful at helping students to integrate concepts into the &dquo;real world&dquo; and was least successful at increasing class participation. The results of this evaluation should be interpreted with caution since the students completing it were
all from
one course
computer simulations. Comparisons between one large and several small assignments would also be valuable. The journal assignment fits well in any course where the concepts studied are highly observable and relate directly to the student’s own experiences and behavior, such as consumer
behavior, advertising, promotions, per-
sonal selling or retailing. However,journals can be assigned in other ways in many courses. The journal can be assigned to record thoughts and questions about material presented in the textbook or in class. The student can record comments on the difficulty of the material, a &dquo;real-world&dquo; observation, or anything related to the course. The journal entries may provide the instructor with feedback about the textbook and the classroom presentations. If the students turn in their journals several times during the semester and the instructor returns them with comments, the journals can become a dialogue between teacher and student. Feedback from the instructor encourages further journal entries and increases integration of concepts into the student’s life
experiences. The journals can also be assigned as part of a larger project. Before and during the work on the project, the student can record ideas and questions about the assignment. Writing the journal should help the students develop ideas and organize their thoughts. The journal might also be a good place to record difficulties encountered during team projects to aid both student and teacher with later group evaluations. Another alternative which could be studied is assigning the journals as &dquo;extra credit.&dquo; This procedure could reduce the time required to review the assignments since a letter or numerical grade would not be necessary. The procedure might also reduce the quality of the entries. A last alternative is to assign time at the end of the class period to write or discuss journal entries.
CONCLUSION
section and were few
in number.
Further investigation of the journal writing assignment could compare student evaluations of differing assignments. Other assignments that could be used for comparison include bibliographies, cases, research, or
Using a journal writing assignment in marketing courses may serve many instructional objectives, including (1) getting the student to identify with the material and integrate the concepts into the &dquo;real world,&dquo; (2)
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developing the student’s sensitivity to the marketing activities that go on all around us every day, (3) increasing class participation and sharing of ideas and experiences, and (4) increasing communication skills. In addition, journal writing is a form of experiential learning. Peterson (1988) found that all the other business disciplines used experiential learning methods in a greater percentage of their courses than did marketing. Cohen (1988) made three arguments for the use of experiential learning experiences in marketing courses: (1) experiential learning matches the learning style of marketing students, (2) experiential learning is more interesting and holds the student’s attention better than lecture, and (3) &dquo;memory of something is better fixed through personal experience than by second-hand experience.&dquo; We need to increase our use of experiential learning methods, and the journal writing assignment accomplishes this while integrating writing into the marketing curriculum. REFERENCES
Bahrick, H. P. (1969), "Discriminative and Associative Aspects of Pictorial Paired-Associate Learning: Acquisition and Retention," Journal of Experimental Psychology, 80, 113-19. Bennett, J. C. (1971), "The Communications Needs of Business Executives," Journal of Business Com8
munication, (Spring),
5-11.
Bennett, J. C. and R. J. Olney (1986), "Effective Priorities for Effective Communication in an Information
Society," Journal of Business Communication, 23 (Spring), 13-22. Buschke, H. and J. V. Hinrichs (1968), "Controlled Rehearsal and Recall Order in Serial List Retention," Journal of Experimental Psychology, 78, 502-9. Cohen, W. A. (1988), "Enhance Teaching with Experiential , Marketing Educator Learning," 7 (Winter), 1/5. Fulwiler, T. (1986), "The Argument for Writing Across the Curriculum," in Writing Across the Disciinto Practice T. FulwilerandA. plines: Research , Young, eds., Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook. _ (1987), "Using a Journal," in Writer’s Guide: , L. A. Bond and A. S. Magistrale, Psychology Lexington, MA: Heath. Hamilton, R. A. (1985), "Internships Are Key to Direct
News 19 (15), Marketing Program," Marketing , 33.
Hildebrandt, H. W., F. A. Bond, E. L. Miller, and A. W. Swinyard (1982), "An Executive Appraisal of Courses Which Best Prepare One for General Management," Journal of Business Communi, 19 (Winter), 5-15. cation Peterson, R. T. (1988), "Use of Experiential Learning in Marketing Lags Behind That of Other Business Marketing Educator 7 (Winter), 4/ Disciplines," , 7.
Selfe, C. L. and F. Arbabi (1986), "Writing to Learn: Engineering Student Journals," in Writing Across the Disciplines: Research into Practice, T. Fulwiler and A. Young, eds., Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook. Siebert, A. and T. Walter (1974), Student Manual to Accompany Understanding Human Behavior, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Voeks, V. (1970), On Becoming an Educated Person,
Philadelphia: Saunders. Young, A. and T. Fulwiler, eds. (1986), Writing Across the Disciplines: Research into Practice, Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.
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