One of the issues with classroom teaching is that the traditional lecture method ends up as “one way communication”. In life true learning is achieved by doing and as teachers we need to apply this in the classroom. You will be surprised by the results that it can produce.
Here are two experiments that I have tried out in class and my students have always ended up surprising me pleasantly. These student centered methods have been applied by me in teaching communication, management, marketing and advertising. This is how I go about it…
Students are told that there will be a creative activity in class on a certain day. They are asked to form groups of 3, 5 or 7 persons (not more than that). Having anymore students in the group will limit the scope for individual contributions, hence the prescribed limit.
Students have to bring certain things with them to class…old magazines, newspapers, scissors, glue, stationary items like sketch pens and markers, just about anything they would like to make a great poster. Do not tell them what the poster will be about, this will introduce the element of surprise and bring spontaneity to their work.
On the day….Students are given products, services, companies (real or imaginary) for which they have to create advertisements within one or two hours. You can ask them to prepare a print ad or a hoarding advertisement as these are things they come across on a day to day basis and such advertisements are best produced on paper. Tell them what you will be looking for…a good copy, layout, slogan, logo, etc…all these are elements of text advertisements that students learn in the theory of advertising. This way they will end up focusing on these aspects, thinking about them seriously and putting them on paper.
Another alternative method that I have employed has been asking students to prepare a basic business plan for a theme restaurant or a single product food chain like cupcakes, doughnuts, bread or even tea and coffee shops.
Students can produce their plan on the poster in terms of :
· The Product
· Pricing Strategy
· Promotional Methods
· Distribution Plan
· Vision for the next 1/3/5 years
What you will cover in this exercise…branding, the four P’s of the marketing mix, marketing planning (short term, medium term and long term) and strategies. The results at the end are amazing in terms of quality and innovation. In the end students will have learnt far more about these concepts than they would have learnt by simply reading/listening. This is why “learning by doing” is really all about “doing and learning”.
