Case Study 2: The Marketing Trade Show: An applied project that mirrors the realities of work
A Case Study from the University sector. Part of the Enhancing the Effectiveness of Tertiary Teaching and Learning through Assessment project.
The University Sector
Name: Trisha Koslow
Organisation: The University of Waikato
Email: TRISHA@waikato.ac.nz
Researcher: Jill Musgrave
In brief
'When you go out into the world of work, no one's going to give you lots of multiple choice tests - they're going to give you a project.'
A university lecturer initially developed this assessment to overcome the problem of increased class sizes in the absence of a corresponding increase in budget or staffing.
Students work in groups to complete each stage of an applied project that mirrors real life business. They receive ongoing feedback, which they use to change and improve the evolving project. By the time they complete the final poster presentation, they have covered all of the required topics and understand 'the nuts and bolts' of the theory behind each stage as well as 'how all those different elements in marketing work together'.
Students initially express concern about the project workload, but they value the learning in the end.