Contemporary Teaching

I just came home from my new products development class. The test was definitely something else this time. Instead of actually having a written exam, the professor encouraged a discussion, while most of us thought he was just asking us for topics that he would later test us on.

No one really understood the professor’s intentions the first hour of class. However, as time went on, my group started to suspect the purpose of the discussion. It was actually a really interesting class to participate in.

It felt like a very contemporary class. It was almost like one of those movies where the professor comes up with an excellent way of teaching. I feel that this class is getting more and more interesting. The professor is definitely on top of his game.

I quite honestly felt a little upset in the beginning of the class when everyone was yelling out suggestions to the test. I thought that many suggestions were vague on not very well composed.

I felt that many students were not thinking through their suggestions and to me, it complicated things. I felt very confused in the beginning about various topics and what I had read in the book did not seem to connect with what students discussed.

However, I talked about this and together, we all reached truly important conclusions. It felt like all of us met half way, and we were really able to come up with excellent answers to certain issues.

What is interesting is that the professor knows this. This class could not have come at a better time in my schedule. Most students have a thorough understanding of marketing and the professor’s incentive is clear: to teach us how to think like a marketer.

This is truly working. Our discussion really involved topics that were mentioned in the chapters that we were supposed to study for the test. Although the book talks a lot about certain concepts and forecasting methods, it is important to remember that everything is tentative and that most methods are estimate.

It is therefore important to learn how to think like a marketer and know how to come up with the best ways of evaluating, developing, and launching an idea. This is a class that goes beyond of what any textbook can teach students, and it is a truly interesting class to be part of.