D. Joel Whalen

The personal and academic self-concept inventory : factor structure and gender differences in high school and college samples

The Personal and Academic Self-Concept Inventory (PASCI) measures global, social, physical, and academic components of self-concept, as well as social anxiety. Several competing structural models were tested by confirmatory factor analysis for a sample of high school (N = 222) and college (N = 338) students. Seven oblique factors which included two social factors (Social Acceptance and Social Anxiety) fit the data best, and a second-order model supported the hierarchical structure of the data. Internal-consistency and test-retest measures indicated that the scales were reliable. Girls and women scored lower than the boys and men on Physical Ability and on Math Ability, consistent with other findings. Self-Concept scales were stable across high school grades, but global self-concept was higher in the college group, also consistent with prior research.

Teaching Yes, And … Improv in Sales Classes Enhancing Student Adaptive Selling Skills, Sales Performance, and Teaching Evaluations

In an application of experiential learning, assessment, and career development, this article reports a field experiment of teaching sales students adaptive selling skills via an Improvisational (Improv) Comedy technique: Yes, And. Students learn this well-established theatrical improv method via classroom lecture, demonstration, and role-playing exercises. A control group (no improv training) experienced all aspects of the class with the exception of the improv training. After the classroom instruction, both student groups (improv and no -improv trained) participated in a real-world, 4-week sales project selling tickets for professional sport teams that partner with the class. The study’s findings reveal increased ticket sales performance among the improv group students who learn Yes, And. Also students in the improv group gave higher class evaluations. Methods presented in this article could be utilized as an in-class exercise or as an integral part of a semester-long sales project.

Outside the Box Teaching Moments: Classroom-Tested Innovations

The 2015 Society for Marketing Advances Teaching Moments sessions offered a wide variety of teaching interventions centered on gaining students’ attention, increasing class participation, using lively student-engaging demonstrations, using props during lecture, using sales technology classroom applications, using social media, and many more. Featured in this article are thumbnail descriptions of 25 teaching innovations presented at the Society for Marketing Advances 2015 Annual Conference. Resources associated with these teaching innovations are available for download at Marketing Education Review’s Web site, www.marketingeducationreview.com or http://salesleadershipcenter.com/marketing-education-review-teaching-moments.

Classroom Ready Teaching Moments.

This article features thumbnail descriptions of 26 Teaching Moments presented at the Society for Marketing Advances 2016 Annual Conference. A wide variety of marketing education interventions are presented, from games that teach marketing fundamentals and enhance faculty effectiveness when counseling students, to visualizing data, and improving complex projects. Some Teaching Moments are lecture-enhancers that take less than a minute; others are class projects that span an academic year. All spark student learning. Classroom collateral used to apply teaching innovations are available for download at the Society for Marketing Advances and DePaul Center for Sales Leadership’s web pages.

Selections From the ABC 2013 Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana All That Favorite Assignment Jazz: Message Packaging and Delivery, Job Interviews, and On-the-Job Communication

This article, the second in a two-part series, catalogs teaching innovations presented at the 2013 Association for Business Communication Annual Convention, New Orleans. They were presented during the My Favorite Assignment session. The 11 Favorite Assignments featured here offer the reader a variety of learning experiences, including collaborative teamwork, debate, budgets, cross-cultural communication, report writing, persuasion, not-for-profit organization, client communication, and writing funding proposals. Additional teaching materials—including instructions to students, stimulus materials, slides, grading rubrics, frequently asked questions, and sample student projects—are posted on the Association for Business Communication web page http://businesscommunication.org/assignments.

Selections from the ABC 2012 Annual Convention, Honolulu, Hawaii.

The 13 Favorite Assignments featured here were presented at the 2012 Association for Business Communication (ABC) Annual Convention, Honolulu, Hawaii. A variety of learning objectives are featured, including the following: enhancing resume’s visual impact, interpersonal skills, social media, team building, web design, community service projects, and ethics. The authors share ideas for the classroom, for online instruction, and are taught in a single class or designed to consume an entire semester. Each assignment reflects the individual author’s passion for active learning that stimulates practical skill-building, judgment, and communication skills. Additional teaching materials—including instructions to students, stimulus materials, slides, grading rubrics, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and sample student projects—are posted on http://www.salesleadershipcenter.com/research.html#mfa13. More excellent Favorite Assignment papers can be seen on the above webpage. This year, a bonus five authors have web-published their innovations.

Selections From the ABC 2011 Annual Convention, Montreal, Canada

The 12 Favorite Assignments featured in this article were presented at the 2011 Annual Convention of the Association for Business Communication (ABC), Montreal, Canada. A variety of learning objectives are featured: delivering bad news, handling difficult people, persuasion, reporting financial analysis, electronic media, face-to-face communication, and much more. Some Favorite Assignments take a full semester to complete; others can be done within a single class. Each assignment reflects the individual author’s passion for active learning that stimulates practical skill building, judgment, and communication skills. Additional teaching materials—instructions to students, stimulus materials, slides, grading rubrics, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and sample student projects—are posted on http://www.salesleadershipcenter.com/research.html#mfa12.

My Favorite Assignment: From the ABC 2010 Annual Convention, Chicago, Illinois

The seven Favorite Assignments featured in this article were originally presented at the 2010 ABC Annual Convention, Chicago, Illinois. The reader can consider a variety of learning objectives from team building to persuasion, application of electronic media to face-to-face communication, and much more. Some Favorite Assignments take a full semester to complete; others can be done within a single class. Each assignment reflects the individual author’s passion for active learning that stimulates practical skill-building, judgment, and communication skills.

Teaching Moments: Rapidly Diffusing Pedagogical Advances

Teaching Moments is the Society for Marketing Advances’ catalyst to the more rapid diffusion of teaching innovation. This article introduces the reader to an abundant set of new, classroom-tested, pedagogical methods and links to teaching materials that are offered at these websites: Society for Marketing Advances and DePaul University Center for Sales Leadership.

Selections From the ABC 2017 Annual Conference, Dublin, Ireland: Teaching With Yeats’s Elegance and Wilde’s Wit:

This article, the second of a two-part series, features 13 My Favorite Assignments that were introduced at the Association for Business Communication’s 82nd annual conference held in Dublin, Ireland, in 2017. The pedagogical innovations include assignments that teach students how to conduct primary research, present their findings, package messages for electronic media, and enhance students’ career and personal development. Additional assignment support materials—instructions to students, stimulus materials, slides, grading rubrics, frequently asked questions, and sample student projects—are posted on the Association for Business Communication and DePaul University Center for Sales Leadership websites: http://www.businesscommunication.org/page/assignments and https://salesleadershipcenter.com/research/business-professional-communication-quarterly-my-favorite-assignment