Thank You for Being a Friend: A Peer-Learning Approach to Marketing Education

Abstract

Peer learning, a pedagogical approach whereby students are partnered together to have one student actively help another student learn predetermined content or skills, has long been utilized as an effective complement to more traditional instructional methods across a wide range of educational disciplines. This approach has been found to reduce the stress of learning, increase student engagement, and yield benefits to both the tutor and the tutee to a roughly equal degree. Yet, pedagogical research to this point has mostly failed to explore the usefulness of this approach to marketing and sales education. In the present research, we examine the effectiveness of peer-learning applications in a sales context and discuss marketing educators' implications. More specifically, we assess college sales students’ perceptions of peer-learning role-play exercise and further examine whether peer-learning exercises can improve students’ abilities. The results indicate that peer-learning exercises are not only enjoyed by students but are capable of producing objective performance improvement for both introductory and advanced students.

Using Classroom-Run Virtual Startup Incubator to Facilitate Experiential Learning Experiences and Global Marketing Alliances

“…MN2 supports the findings from Lastner et al's (2016) experiential learning study which suggested that experiential learning projects could be enhanced through service-learning projects that offer students opportunities to work on hands-on real-world projects that benefit the local community (Lastner et al, 2016). In our study, students heard directly from Mexican government and community officials, as well as from artisans.…”

“…Experiential learning projects may be service-learning projects that offer students opportunities to work on hands-on real-world projects that benefit the local community (Lastner et al, 2016). Also, a 1-week experiential field immersion activity with emphasis on engaging with customers in the field is effective for acquiring direct knowledge about the customer experience (Klink et al, 2020).…”

“…Gray et al (2012) and Peltier et al (2008) contend experiential activities are critical for preparing students to deal with the challenges of the real-world across different disciplines including business. Examples of commonly used experiential learning activities in business, including marketing and entrepreneurship, include live case studies (Elam & Spotts, 2004), experience simulations (Canhoto & Murphy, 2016), program immersion or immersive projects (Lastner et al, 2016; Viswanathan et al, 2016), retail field trips (Schaller, 2020) and scavenger hunts (Inhofe Rapert & Mukherjee, 2020). The basic dimensions of field-oriented experiential learning include field observations, reflections, and knowledge application (Schaller, 2018).…”

“…Despite the recent popularity of experiential pedagogy among educators in marketing and across different disciplines, a dearth of research exists in the literature in relation to refining and improving the experiential learning process (Lastner et al, 2016). From service learning to capstone projects, innovative educators have implemented a variety of activities (Bobbitt et al, 2000; Daly, 2001; Graeme Duffett and Henry Cromhout, 2022; Metcalf, 2010; Petkus, 2000), but the findings from Schaller (2020) suggested that the literature is scant on case studies of short-term field trip/immersion activities that are readily available to all students in situations where resources are constrained.…”

Innovative Teaching Methods – A Systematic Literature Review

“…Rieger et al (2023) evaluated the potential of using virtual reality (VR) technology for learning content for tenth-grade students in a Germany. The use of peer learning or peer teaching according to Lastner et al (2021), is a method of teaching whereby students are paired to actively help one another acquire a certain skill or subject. In many academic subjects, it has long been employed as a fruitful addition to more traditional teaching methods.…”