Narrated Slide Presentations - On student CD

Chapter Outline Notes-Course web page

Hypertext Database of Course Concepts- On student CD

Multiple Choice Questions for Each Chapter- On student CD and publisher’s web page

Chapter Slides, outlines, and lecture notes on my homepage.

The tests during the term and about two-thirds of the final exam are based on a modified objective-test format and brief essay format. The tests will consist of multiple-choice questions. You will be asked to pick the best answer from among those presented and mark your answer on an answer sheet The tests during the term will involve about 35 multiple choice and three essay questions each.  They will sample about evenly from both the general concepts and the details presented in the text and in class. Please bring a few good number 2 pencils (and a good eraser) to the test for the multiple choice and apen for the essays;

The objective portion of the final exam will be like the midterm, and will cover what the other two tests did not. The final exam will also include a discussion question, probably based on a short case involving all the concepts in the course.

You should recognize from the very beginning that there is much more material in your reading assignments, and related exercises than is possible to cover, repeat, and develop in detail in class. Lectures will only touch on some of the most important issues. Thus, although tests tend to place somewhat more emphasis on topics that are covered in both the text and in class, the focus of the two tests and the objective portion of the final is on the core material from your reading. Class lectures and related assignments will be directly relevant to your understanding of the material and other aspects of your performance.

Note that the discussion portion of the final exam will about a quarter of the final exam grade. The discussion portion of the exam will not simply ask you to recite/rehash a particular idea or concept developed in your reading or a specific class discussion, but will require that you demonstrate an ability to analyze a situation, determine relevant issues, and integrate a set of ideas. That is what you are expected to do with the case assignments we will be covering throughout the course. Thus, that work on those assignments will be particularly important in developing skills relevant to this portion of the exam.

Please keep in mind that being prepared and present for the tests is your responsibility. The tests are on the schedule and I urge you to mark them on your calendar now. Missing a scheduled test without documentation for serious illness or death in family will result in a zero for that test. Missed test will be made up by a special comprehensive exam. When I assign a case, I expect you to prepare a page of notes that reflect your thinking and key ideas about the case. This need not be in narrative form if you find it more comfortable to create an outline of bullet points or a summary table of points, etc. However, I’d like these notes to reflect your thinking/conclusions, and not be just a summary of the "facts" presented in the case. We will typically discuss a portion of all of the assignment material in class—so you will have instant feedback on your thinking. I will collect the written work from the daily assignments on an intermittent basis. I check the daily work to see if you are doing the assignment, and I keep a record. However, this is basically a "check-off" type grading system and I focus primarily on whether you have put a reasonable effort into it more so than on being picky about the precision of a particular answer. Because that is the nature of the evaluation, and because we will have discussed the concepts in class, I may or may not return the papers from the daily work (and if I do it often will not be at the next class).

Since your input to the class is a planned resource (peer feedback, shared experiences, perceptions, values, etc.), absences will affect your class participation grade. Please e-mail if you were absent. Only indicate on this message the day you were absent along with your total number of absences to date.

The class provides an opportunity for you to develop abilities in communicating with others about your ideas and approaches for dealing with marketing management problems. This is important. After graduation you will spend much of your professional career doing just that—regardless of the specific career area you pursue. The potential of this opportunity is only fully realized if you make meaningful contributions to the course in class discussions and debate.

In general, prepared and constructive participation in class is expected. However, I try to weight it as a positive, not as a negative. In other words, effective contributions to class tend to help grades, not hurt them. However, I do "cold call" and there is a difference between not being prepared to respond when called on and simply wishing to be less verbal. Students who show a pattern of not being prepared will be graded down on class participation.

Evaluating the quality of class participation is necessarily subjective. It is based on the direct substantive contribution of the participation, and on the indirect indicators of quality participation.

The significance of substantive ("content") contributions will be evaluated relative to the context of the assignment and class discussion. It is also useful to think about criteria that are used in evaluating process-oriented aspects of class participation. These are summarized by the set of questions listed below:

* Is the participant a good listener?

* Are the points made—or questions raised—relevant to the discussion?

* Are points linked to the comments of others, but not just a restatement of a point that has already been made?

* Do comments show evidence of thorough analysis of the assignment?

* Do comments contribute to our understanding of the situation?

* Is there a willingness to participate?

* Is there a willingness to test new ideas or are all comments "safe" (e.g. repetition of assignment facts without analysis and conclusions)?

* Do comments show an understanding of theories, concepts, and analytical devices presented in class lectures or assigned reading materials?

* Do comments and questions reflect a critical but open-minded weighing of alternative and sometimes conflicting points of view, or are they limited to advocacy of previously held beliefs?

A Final Note on Grades

The "percentages" given earlier for different components of performance are provided to give you a specific and clear idea about how grades are calculated. No one’s final course grade will be lower than the grade calculated based on the straight averages outlined above. At the end of the semester, however, I look carefully at what each individual has accomplished—and at the overall pattern of performance. When the overall pattern of the evidence supports it, I give the student the benefit of the doubt in assigning a final grade. For example, I have sometimes given a student who does an exceptional job on the final exam and game an extra "lift" at the time of the final grade because these are integrative jobs and thus ability demonstrated in these areas is evidence of the type of learning I hope will take place in the course.

You should feel free to discuss your grades (or grade situation) with me along the way during the term. However, no changes will be made in grades at the end of the semester unless I have made a clerical error. Thus, please don’t ask that a grade be changed unless you think that there has been an error of that type.

Please participate. What you put into the class will determine what you get out of it—and what others get out of it.

Please come on time. Late arrivals disturb everyone else. I will not tolerate habitual lateness.

Please raise your hand to contribute. A number of people may be eager to have the floor at any given point, but uncontrolled discussions degenerate into chaos.

I’ll use a seating chart because that will help to speed the process of my getting to know you. So please pick a seat that you like and stick with it—and be certain that you are on the seating chart. (I’ll hand out a copy so you can get to know others in the class, too).

Please keep up with the assignments. It will make the class more interesting, and more valuable to you in the time ahead. There is quite a lot of work—but it is a reasonable amount and manageable if you do it along the way. If you don’t, you may find yourself surprised at test time—or trying to pull yourself out of a hole. No one is well-served by that. Work aggressively in the course from the very beginning.

I want this course to be a good experience for you. But, I can’t read minds and if you don’t tell me what you are thinking there is little way for me to know. If you have criticisms of the course, the material, or my teaching I hope you will let me know.