Exhibiting the Benefits of Student Course Packets

Course Packet Offerings for Smeal College of Business Students

Team Happy ValleyDate: April 29, 2015

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Course Packet Offerings for Smeal College of Business Students

Prepared for Charles H. WhitemanDean of Smeal College of Business

210B Business BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802

Prepared by Team Happy Valley103 Rackley Building

University Park, PA 16802

April 29, 2015

Team Happy Valley103 Rackley BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802

April 23, 2015

Charles Whiteman210B Business BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802

Dear Mr. Whiteman:

We are pleased to provide you with the following report, Course Packet Offerings for Smeal College of Business Students, in the hopes of implementing the addition of a useful study tool to Smeal students. As students enrolled in the Smeal College of Business, we understand the struggle of having to print course slides every day for multiple classes. It is a waste of time, effort, and money, and we strongly believe there is a need for change. Therefore, we have delved into the issue of daily printing and researched the benefits of requiring all Smeal professors to offer the option of purchasing course packets to students.

One of the most interesting findings we came across was that a large number of students are printing more than the number of free printing pages offered through ITS printing services and are having to purchase more pages halfway through the semester. This means that within just a few months, students are printing over 100 pages to stay on top of their studies. Educational systems should be rewarding students for putting in the effort to pay attention, not punishing them with extra costs of time or other resources.

Throughout our time researching this subject, we met with four Smeal professors and surveyed a number of students on their opinions of course packets. We would like to take this time to extend our gratitude to the four professors we interviewed - Dr. Duncan Fong, Dr. Dave Brown, Dr. Ron Johnson, and Dr. Dave Winterich - for taking the time to meet with us and share their views, and to each student who made the effort to fill out our survey. We have used all of your inputs as valuable data in this report and we are very grateful for your cooperation.

Mr. Whiteman, please read through the entirety of this report to obtain a better understanding of the various benefits of course packet offerings. Once reading through the report, please reach out to either of us with any outstanding questions or recommendations regarding the issue. You may reach us through email by the following addresses: [email protected] or [email protected]. We appreciate your interest and look forward to speaking with you in the near future.

TABLE OF CONTENTSPage

I. List of Illustrations ...………………………………………………………………………iii

II. Executive Summary ......……………………………………………………………………iv

III. Introduction

A. Statement of Problem ..……..………………………………………………………1

B. Purpose and Scope of Work ..…..…………………………………………………..1

C. Limitations ………………………………………………………………………...1D. Sources and Methods of Data Collection ..…………………………………………

2E. Report Organization ..………………………………………………………………

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IV. Overview of Printing at Penn State

A. Penn State Student Printing Information …………………………………………3-4

B. Penn State Student Bookstore Information ...…………………………………….4-5

C. Penn State Operational Budget ……………………………………………..………5

V. Student Perceptions of Course Packets

A. Survey Description ….……………………………………………………………5-6

B. Analysis of Survey Responses……………………………………………………6-7

VI. Professor Insights on Course Packets

A. Interview Description ………………………………………………………………8

B. Professors Who Offer Course Packets……………………………………………8-9

C. Professors Who Do Not Offer Course Packets ………………………………....9-10

VII. Recommendations …………………………………………………………………………10

VIII. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..10-11

IX. Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………….12

X. Appendix

A. Student Survey Questions ……………………………………………………A1-A2

B. Professor Interview Questions ……………………………………………………B1

C. Professor Interview Responses ….……………………………………………C1-C4

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

1. Figure 1: Penn State Printing Prices……………………………………………..32. Figure 2: 2014 Packet Submission Deadlines…………………………………..43. Figure 3: Should Professors Offer Course Packets?…………………………….64. Figure 4: How Much Would You Be Willing to Pay? …….............................65. Figure 5: Rating of Course Packet Effectiveness……………………………….76. Figure 6: Johnson’s Slides………………………………………………………97. Figure 7: Winterich’s Slides…………………………………………………….9

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this executive summary is to present the key points of this analytical report. The mission of the report is to highlight the benefits of offering course packets to students. Throughout this report, we analyze several pieces of data that point to the recommendation that all Smeal professors should offer course packets. Through our secondary research, we were able to find the prices of printing sheets, the process of turning course slides into a purchasable course packet, and the possibility of offering course packets to students for free. First, we found that Penn State printing services gives students 110 printing pages each, which is an amount that students surpass within the matter of just a few months. Next, we found that in order to place course packets in the Student Bookstore, professors must prepare all slides for the semester in advance. And lastly, we came to the finding that offering students course packets free of charge is an improbable suggestion due to the fact that the budget for libraries and information technologies has gone up this year. Therefore, we conducted primary research to see whether students would be willing to purchase the course packets themselves. In regards to primary research, the first thing we analyzed was the survey responses we received from fifty Penn State students enrolled in Smeal. When looking at the responses as a whole, we came to a number of findings. We saw that 80% of respondents believe Smeal professors should be required to offer students the option to purchase course packets. In addition, fifteen students said they would be willing to pay between one and ten dollars for a course packet and thirty-three students said they would be willing to pay between twenty to forty dollars. Lastly, we saw that over 80% of our respondents rated the course packets as being a 4 or above on a scale from 1 to 6 in effectiveness for studying for exams. With all of this data, we saw that students do have a preference for course packets and are willing to pay money for them. The next type of primary data we analyzed was the professor interviews. The two professors who do offer purchasable packets prefer this method because it keeps students and professors organized and the course is clearly structured before the semester even begins. Meanwhile, the two professors who do not offer purchasable course packets shared that they either were not aware of the benefits of course packets or were concerned with extra costs for students.

To sum up our report, we recommend that all professors in Smeal be required to offer purchasable course packets to students. These packets allow students to stay organized and actively listen to lectures while having a set of notes to reference for later use. We invite you to look further into the report as it provides a more comprehensive analysis of the information we have gathered. Again, we feel this will be in the best interest of both students and professors.

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INTRODUCTION

Statement of Problem

Ideally, all professors at the Penn State University would offer the option for students to purchase a packet including all course slides at the beginning of the semester. This way, students could have all of their notes in one place. They could go straight to class knowing they had their materials for the day.

However, many professors require their students to print slides out before every class period. Printing slides before every class is inconvenient for students in many ways. It is time-consuming, it is not as organized as a course packet, and students may forget to print slides on a given day, throwing them off from a consistent routine. Some students may have multiple professors in a semester who require this and therefore have to think of every class they may have to print slides for each day.

This problem affects all students at the Penn State University who currently have or will have professors who require daily slide printing. This is an urgent matter because students are being stripped of time and resources and are possibly being hindered in their ability to fully engage in classes.

To better serve this group of students, we must look into the benefits and drawbacks of requiring professors to offer the option for a course packet to students. This way, we can make possible changes to advance and improve Penn State University’s academic system.

Purpose and Scope of Work

The purpose of this report is to examine the benefits of requiring Smeal professors to offer students the option to purchase course slides. We looked into how to implement this requirement at Penn State University and considered the thoughts and beliefs of professors and students in the Smeal College of Business.

Limitations

A limitation to our primary research is that the sample pool may not have been large enough to actually represent all students enrolled in the Smeal College of Business. Students may have rushed through the survey questions, resulting in possible incorrect answers that may have affected our findings. In addition, the professor interviews only represented the views of four professors in the Smeal College of Business. The four professors do not completely represent the whole population of professors in Smeal, and thus, the interview responses may be skewed one way or another.

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Sources and Methods of Data Collection

Primary Research

We administered a survey through a sample of Penn State students enrolled in the Smeal College of Business. This survey asked questions concerning students’ views on course packet offerings.

We also conducted interviews with four Penn State Smeal professors. Two of the professors offer purchasable course packets, while the other two do not. The interviews looked into why each professor does or does not offer the packets and what they believe the benefits are for their decision.

Secondary Research

To collect information about Penn State’s funding resources, we searched through various articles and Penn State websites. We also referred to the Student Bookstore website to find information covering the steps necessary to place course packets in stores.

Report Organization

This report will cover information about the problems students face with having to print course slides daily. We have delved into background information about course packet offerings at Penn State, come to findings through survey responses and interviews, formed recommendations on how to implement this action, and come to conclusions on the issue at hand.

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OVERVIEW OF PRINTING AT PENN STATE

Penn State Student Printing Information

Each semester, Penn State issues every student 110 sheets of free paper to print on. Students can print these sheets in any of the various printing labs and libraries on campus. Penn State’s lab computing website offers information specifically to the costs of printing sheets of paper. Once a student surpasses the maximum of 110 free sheets, they must pay for any additional sheets of paper they’d like to use on their own. Every additional sheet is priced as follows:

Figure 1: Printing Prices at Penn State

Printer Type Paper Size Color Price Per Page Sheet Cost

Black and White Laser Printers

8½" x 11" No $0.05 1

Black and White Laser Printers

11" x 17" No $0.10 2

Color Laser Printers

8½" x 11" Yes $0.15 3

Color Laser Printers

11" x 17" Yes $0.30 6

The issue arises in the fact that one lecture can consist of upwards to 10 pages of slides front and back, as long as three slides are on each page with space for notes. If one multiplies this number by the total number of lectures for the semester and includes assignments that students need to print out for other courses, it becomes evident that a student will need to begin paying to print. For example, let’s say that a student is enrolled in three courses where the professor recommends students print five pages of course slides each class. Two of the courses are three days a week, while the other is twice a week. With fifteen weeks in a semester, excluding the week off for vacation, the calculation would be as follows:

(2 x 5 x 3 x 15) = 450 → 2 courses, 5 pages, 3 times a week, 15 weeks a semester(1 x 5 x 2 x 15) = 150 → 1 course, 5 pages, 2 times a week, 15 weeks a semester450 + 150 = 600 → Pages to print for course slides

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From the calculations above, we can see that if a student printed slides for each day a professor recommended them to, they would quickly surpass the maximum number of free printing pages. This number does not include any pages a student may need to print for homework assignments, projects, or written reports, so we can assume that students would go over the maximum even further with these added in.

However, to go against this issue, Penn State’s Sheets and Pricing website states, “Some instructors may request you print certain course materials; that cost should be viewed the same as the cost of other course materials such as textbooks.” (Sheets) So, we understand that students should take into account this issue of extra costs when signing up for courses at the beginning of the semester. The course packet purchase could possibly end up being more costly than paying for extra printing pages and this is why we have delved into analyzing the benefits of professors offering students the option to purchase course packets instead of the requirement to have students purchase them.

Penn State Student Bookstore Information

Any professor who looks to offer students course packets through Penn State’s Student Bookstore must first go through the Copyright Clearance Office. The Copyright Clearance Office operates within the Multimedia & Print Center and provides high-quality instructional material to students at the best possible price. Packet production includes the following features:

● Black-and-white and color copies● Penn State cover with course information● Custom covers at additional costs● Complimentary three-hole drilling and shrink-wrapping● Additional binding and other production options

Every year, the Copyright Clearance Office asks for professors to provide slides in advance to account for distribution and printing time. The following chart shows the deadlines for the 2014 academic year:

Figure 2: 2014 Packet Submission Deadlines

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This chart exemplifies the fact that the office requires professors to submit any course packet with copyrighted material around three months in advance for the spring semester and one month in advance for the fall semester. Without copyrighted material, this time period is even shorter with professors submitting materials one month before the start of classes for the fall and less than one month for the spring.

Bringing all of this information together, we can see that in order for professors to offer students the option of course packets, they must complete all slides for the semester before the start of it. This may be an issue for some professors, as some may come up with slides throughout the semester. However, this is not an issue that we cannot overcome. In the recommendations section, we will explain what professors could do to work with this setback.

Penn State Operational Budget

When looking into if there was any way to offer students course packets for free, we came across Penn State’s 2014-15 Operational Budget document. We looked through the budget and noticed a section titled “Libraries and Information Technology”, which includes the annual budget information for the two categories. We figured the cost could be included in this budget. However, we discovered that the budget has already increased for each student by $4 per semester. The information is as follows:

“A total of $640,000 is included in the budget for libraries and information technology. These funds will help the University keep pace with rapidly expanding and changing student computing, telecommunications, and information resource needs. This funding will be provided through a $4 per-semester increase in the student information technology fee at all campuses.” (The Pennsylvania)

As we can see, student information resource needs are expanding rapidly, resulting in the need to raise the library and information technology fee. With an ever-expanding need for resources, it is evident that offering course packets to students for free would be an improbable suggestion. Therefore, we have searched deeper into why students should have the option to purchase course packets for their classes.

STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF COURSE PACKETS

Survey Description

To gain some student perspectives on course packet purchasing, we distributed a ten question survey through social media websites to a total of fifty students enrolled in the Smeal College of Business. It consisted of a number of questions regarding student opinions, such as how beneficial they believe course packets to be when studying, how much they are willing to pay for

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a course packet, and whether they believe all Smeal professors should offer students the option to purchase course packets through the Student Bookstore.

Analysis of Survey Responses

Originally, we had a plan of acquiring thirty responses from Smeal students asking them about their recommendations for course packets. We were able to acquire fifty responses after eliminating the responses that were not of use. First, we wanted to measure the importance of course packets by asking our sample whether or not professors should offer them. The data is represented in the pie chart to the right.

Out of the fifty responses, forty people, or 80% of the students, believed that professors should offer the packets as an additional resource. With 80% being a large majority of the survey respondents, we can assume that there is a good chance that Smeal students find value in the resource. Overall, students show an interest in requiring professors to offer them this option.

We also asked students how much they would be willing to pay for a course packet. The answers ranged from as little as $0 to up to $60. This data is shown in the graph below.

Figure 4: How Much Would You Be Willing to Pay?

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Figure 3: Should Professors Offer Course Packets?

Thirty-three of the fifty respondents indicated that they would feel comfortable with paying within the twenty to forty dollar price range. It is apparent that overall, students are willing to spend extra money on top of the costs of textbooks to be supplied with an organized packet of lecture notes. These students may feel that the financial price or purchasing the resource offsets the effort of printing out slides every day.

One final collection of data we observed was the amount of responses relating to how effective the course packets are for studying for exams. The scale was broken down from 1 to 6 with 1 representing course packets not being helpful at all and 6 being very effective in helping to study. The pie chart below shows the results from the data.

Figure 5: Rating of Course Packet Effectiveness

As you can see from the pie chart, over 80% of our respondents answered that they viewed the course packets as being at least a 4 or above in effectiveness when studying. Therefore, we understand that a majority of Smeal students value the option to use course packets.

The primary focus of the survey was to understand how Smeal students view course packets, how much they are willing to pay for them, and whether they feel course packets are an effective resource for studying. Our survey results have concluded that students value the course packets and do find them to be a very useful study tool. Overall, they would encourage professors to offer them and would be willing to pay anywhere from twenty to forty dollars to obtain them from the Student Bookstore.

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PROFESSOR INSIGHTS ON COURSE PACKETS

Interview Description

To understand another important perspective on this topic, we interviewed four Smeal professors regarding their opinions on offering students course packets. We spoke with two professors who do offer students course packets and two professors who do not to see the conflicting points of view. Included in the interview were questions pertaining to the matter of why they do or do not implement the use of purchasable course packets, why they believe they are beneficial or not, and whether printing course slides or purchasing course packets is required or optional for their students.

Professors Who Offer Course Packets

We came to a number of findings from conducting the interviews with professors who do offer course packets. Ron Johnson was the first of the two professors whom we interviewed. Ron Johnson teaches Management 301 and BA (Business Ethics) 341. In a given year, Ron Johnson teaches more than 3,000 students in the largest lecture rooms on campus. Johnson’s classes are conceptual based, meaning there are no mathematical formulas for students to memorize.

Two years ago, a group of student advisers consulted Johnson to express that the amount of conceptual information may overwhelm students and that a course packet would be a good resource for note organization. Once being confronted with the recommendation, Johnson began implementing the course packets and today estimates that over 90% of his students use them despite the fact that they’re an optional resource. This overwhelming percentage proves the value course packets provide to the students taking his courses.

Johnson shared with us that he must stay much more organized prior to the start of the semester because of his use of course packets. Using course packets means that Johnson has to create all of the content prior to the start of the semester, and therefore he has a set schedule for each chapter he teaches. This prevents Johnson from jumping to random chapters and he knows what he needs to say for each slide.

Johnson believes his ability to stay organized with note packets allows him to better prepare his students for exams by giving them exactly what they need to study. The packets include every slide for the semester along with the course syllabus and several pages of blank sheets for extra notes. His packets are relatively inexpensive; the BA 341 packet costs $30.25 and the management packet costs $32.50.

The second professor we interviewed was Dave Brown, an economics professor who has implemented the use of course packets since his first year of teaching. In opposition to Johnson’s

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course material, Brown’s economics courses are less conceptual based and include more quantitative analysis. He believes the benefit of offering students a course packet is that with longer definitions already written out in slides, students can spend less time writing out definitions and more time running through examples of graphs and charts. In addition, he believes that the use of course packets is beneficial for student because when a student misses a class, it is very clear-cut where you ended last and what information you missed that day. This in turn makes students more willing to help each other with notes and offers less of an issue to borrow notes from a classmate.

Professors Who Do Not Offer Course Packets

While Ron and Dave offer students purchasable course packets to students, some professors post slides online for students to print out. One professor who does this is Duncan Fong, a marketing research professor in Smeal. He posts his lecture notes each day with all of the information included on the slides. The main concern Fong has with offering course packets is the issue of adding extra costs for students. He believes that students already pay enough for the textbook and only offers students the option to read the textbook and to print slides. Before conducting the interview, Fong shared that he had not even considered the option of offering purchasable course packets before and if students requested them, he would look deeper into it.

The last professor we interviewed, Dave Winterich, shared that he has spent much time deliberating the costs and benefits of offering students purchasable course packets. Dave is a marketing professor in Smeal who does not offer course packets and does not let students use laptops in class to take notes on. He believes that the most effective way to have students take notes in class is by posting slides online that have many blank spaces for students to fill in during lectures. His tactic is much like Johnson’s. If we compare Winterich and Johnson’s slides, we can see that both use the same note-taking techniques for students. Below are two photos that represent the course slides for each professor.

Figure 6: Johnson’s Slides Figure 7: Winterich’s Slides

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From the photos, we can see that both professors leave blanks in their slides for students to follow along with. Therefore, we know that regardless of whether a professor required students to purchase the slides or to print the slides, students could learn through the same technique. Like Professor Fong, Winterich’s main concern is of adding extra costs to students by including a purchasable course packet. He feels that he can teach the class without the packets and that students already have to buy enough course materials as it is. In addition, it is extra effort for him to go and submit the slides when he can just submit them online before class. In the next section, we will explain why the issue of extra costs is not applicable for the recommendation we are making.

RECOMMENDATIONS

From all of the information above, we have come up with a number of solutions to some of the issues that come up with our suggestion of offering students purchasable course packets. Below, we have written the main setbacks and how to overcome them.

1) Professors having to submit course slides by the deadlineProfessors could divide the semester into halves and have students buy each course packet when it comes out in stores. That way, professors could offer up-to-date slides while also offering students a convenient note-taking tool. Also, if necessary, professors could be required to have a complete set of slides by the deadline. Although this may take more effort for professors in the short-run, it would greatly benefit them throughout the semester. The course would already be well-organized and professors could clearly focus their time on grading assignments and assisting students with questions or course issues instead of creating daily presentations.

2) Students having to pay even more costs for materialsMany professors may hesitate on the addition of a purchasable course packet for students because of extra costs. This is where we want to emphasize that we do not think professors should add them as a requirement for class but as an option because some particular students may not find value in them or may find the extra purchase to be a burden. There is a need for course packets for many other students who will be willing and happy to pay for the extra resource.

CONCLUSION

Bringing everything into consideration, we believe that all Smeal professors should be required to offer students the option to purchase course packets from the Student Bookstore. There is a considerable level of need for the course packets, as represented by student opinions in our survey responses. Although the option to offer packets for free is not feasible, students who want the course packets will be willing to pay for them. With the Smeal College of Business ranked as

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one of the top ten public business colleges in America by Bloomberg Businessweek, the faculty should be doing everything it can to offer students the most useful resources of studying (Rankings). If a majority of students say there is a preference for purchasable course packets as a studying tool, we should heavily consider implementing its use throughout the college for maximal learning and growth.

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WORKS CITED

Johnson, Ron (Spring 2015). BA 342 Leadership Competencies – Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability & Diversity.

"MPC: Copyright Clearance." MPC: Copyright Clearance. Penn State University, n.d. Web. <http://www.multimediaprint.psu.edu/copyright/>.

"Rankings." Penn State Smeal College of Business. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.smeal.psu.edu/about-smeal/rankings>.

"Sheets and Pricing." Sheets and Pricing. Penn State University, n.d. Web. <http://clc.its.psu.edu/printing/pricing>.

"The Pennsylvania State University 2014-15 Operating Budget." Penn State Budget. N.p., 11 July 2014. Web. <http://www.budget.psu.edu/BOTJuly/JulyBoard.aspx>.

Winterich, Dave. Chapter 1: Introduction to Global Marketing. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PPT.

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APPENDIX

Appendix A: Student Survey QuestionsAre you enrolled in the SMEAL College of Business? *

○ Yes○ No

How many courses you are currently enrolled in require you to print course slides on your own? *

○ 0○ 1○ 2○ 3○ 4○ 5+

How many courses you are currently enrolled in offer purchasable course packets? *○ 0○ 1○ 2○ 3○ 4○ 5+

Have you ever purchased a course packet in the past? *○ Yes○ No

Please rate how helpful you believe course packets are for studying for exams.Please skip this question if it does not apply to you.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Not helpful at all

Very helpful

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How much do you spend a semester on average on printing services (including purchasing extra printing pages on campus, personal printer paper, and printer ink)? *

○ $0○ $1-10○ $10-20○ $20+

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How much would you be willing to pay for a course packet that includes all slides for the semester? *

○ $0○ $1-20○ $20-40○ $40-60○ $60-$80○ $80+

Do you think that all SMEAL professors should offer course packets for students to purchase? *

○ Yes○ No

What is your major? *What year are you in college? *

○ Freshman○ Sophomore○ Junior○ Senior○ Senior+○ Graduate student

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Appendix B: Professor Interview Questions

Interview Questions (Professors who do use the course packets):

1) Name2) Courses they teach3) When did you start using the course packets?4) Why did you decide to start using the course packets?5) Do you require your students to purchase the course packet or is it an option?6) If it’s an option, roughly what percentage of students do you notice actually use them?7) How much do your course packets cost?8) What do you believe are the benefits of using a course packet for students?9) Is there a benefit for you to use the course packet?

Interview Questions (Professors who do not use the course packets):

1) Name2) Courses they teach3) Do you require every student to print slides out before every class period?4) Are students allowed to use laptops in class to take notes on?5) Why did you choose the specific note-taking technique you implement in class?6) Why did you choose to not offer course packets to students?7) What do you believe are some of the benefits of using traditional note-taking over

offering purchasable course packets?8) Would you consider using course packets?

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Appendix C: Professor Interview Responses

Professors who do offer course packets:

INTERVIEW ONE

1) Name: Dave Brown

2) Courses they teach: Econ 102 (Introductory Microeconomic Analysis and Policy ), 302 (Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis), and 315 (Labor Economics)

3) When did you start using the course packets?

Ever since I’ve been here and one semester before I came here as a grad student at Kansas State.

4) Why did you decide to start using the course packets?

Department here has a requirement for 100-330 level courses. There’s a lot of flexibility in what you put into the course packets.

5) Do you require your students to purchase the course packet or is it an option?

I require it because it consists of the entire semester’s worth of notes. Sometimes instructors will have packets with just problems, but mine consists of the course’s basic outline of notes with practice problems. It hurts them if they don’t get the packet.

6) If it’s an option, roughly what percentage of students do you notice actually use them?

N/A

7) How much do your course packets cost?

I don’t know - I’m guessing between 30 and 40 dollars.

8) What do you believe are the benefits of using a course packet for students?

The benefits are that you can get a lot more covered in class - instead of writing a paragraph of definitions, you can discuss quickly and move on and do math and graphs instead. It allows you to reduce the amount of writing you can do as a student. Especially with a course with qualitative and quantitative analysis. A an advantage that is strictly a

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student advantage is that notes are a lot easier to make up. If you miss a class, it’s very clear cut with where you ended and what you missed and what you should read over. It makes students a lot more willing to help each other with notes. I as a professor won’t give out any notes - students must get them from a classmate. Therefore, course packets offer less of an issue to borrow notes.

INTERVIEW TWO

1) Name: Ron Johnson

2) Courses they teach: BA 342, Mgmt 301 - Teaches over 3000 students a year

3) When did you start using the course packets?

I started using course packets roughly two years ago

4) Why did you decide to start using the course packets?

I have a committee of students who advise me on how to make the class better. This supplements the SRTE’s that I receive from students. They advised me that course packets would be beneficial to the students taking the class

5) Do you require your students to purchase the course packet or is it an option?

Although course packets are highly recommended, they are optional.

6) If it’s an option, roughly what percentage of students do you notice actually use them?

Roughly 90% of students in my class use course packets, we highly stress the importance of them in the beginning of the semester. It’s good to inform the freshmen while they are early in their college careers.

7) How much do your course packets cost?

Ba 341 = 29.95 Mgt 301 = 31.25

8) What do you believe are the benefits of using a course packet for students?

It benefits the student by offering them a detailed set of notes without having to print them out everyday for class. Since technology isn’t permitted in the class, it gives the students access to the slides without having to be on their laptops. It also has a note

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section at the end of each chapter which allows the student to take any additional notes they deem necessary. Since my course are more conceptual and much different from math courses, all the information being put into one packet can help a student in studying for the exams.

9) Is there a benefit for you to use the course packet?

A course packet forces me to be organized and structured from the very beginning. This allows me to figure out what I need to teach to the class, which in turn benefits the students.

Professors who do not offer course packets:

INTERVIEW THREE

1) Name: Duncan Fong

2) Courses they teach: Marketing 342 (Marketing research)

3) Do you require every student to print slides out before every class period?

No, they can print if they want

4) Are students allowed to use laptops in class to take notes on?

Yes they are

5) Why did you choose the specific note-taking technique you implement in class?

I post lecture notes on Angel and I expect students to read the textbook before coming to class.

6) Why did you choose to not offer course packets to students?

It is more costly with the course packet.

7) What do you believe are some of the benefits of using traditional note-taking over offering purchasable course packets?

Instead of asking students to purchase, I give them the choice to read materials or print.

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8) Would you consider using course packets?

Not now, but if there are requests from students I’d consider it. Like I said, it’s just too expensive.

INTERVIEW FOUR

1) Name: Dave Winterich

2) Courses they teach: Marketing 445 (global marketing), 301 (principles of marketing), 330(consumer behavior)

3) Do you require every student to print slides out before every class period?

No

4) Are students allowed to use laptops in class to take notes on?

No, because students can’t fight the urge to use laptops and it takes away from the environment.

5) Why did you choose the specific note-taking technique you implement in class?

Because of the concept of memory from consumer behavior - in the memory chapter, we talk about dual encoding - this is why I leave blanks on slides. As you take notes that way, chances of remembering go up.

6) Why did you choose to not offer course packets to students?

You already have to buy enough stuff and I feel I can teach the class without it.

7) What do you believe are some of the benefits of using traditional note-taking over offering purchasable course packets?

It encourages students to come to class, it saves costs, and research has shown it’s the best way to do things.

8) Would you consider using course packets?

Nope - it takes time to prepare while you could do it for free.

C4