I teach Strategic Management primarily and encourage, though do not
require, both my undergraduate and graduate students to subscribe either
to the Wall Street Journal or Business Week. Students at both levels are
required to present from 2 - 4 "current events" during the semester.
Each of these presentations is to last at least 5 minutes, but no more
than 10, and must consist at least partially of leading some discussion
related to the article and how it relates to course topics to date.
I usually make a certain number of such presentations "required," and
then allow students to do 1 or 2 beyond the required number for bonus points.
The total of the required portion usually comprises about 10% of the
total course grade.
I find doing this type of assignment accomplishes several goals: gets
some or most of the students reading relevant business periodicals, gets
students paying more attention to what's going on in general outside the
classroom, increases student appreciation for the course topics, improves
student comfort level in speaking to groups, and increases their
understanding of somewhat dry, theoretical textbook language...among others.
I have been making the points earned for these presentations an "all or
nothing" proposition, so that simply making any presentation to their
classmates earns the total allowable points for a presentation. This
seems to be good to make the hurdle of getting up in front of everyone
and sharing, especially sharing their personal assessment and not just
reiterating something somebody else said, a lot easier. I find the mere
pressure of not wanting to make a fool of themselves in front of friends
more than enough to motivate doing a decent job. I also find this helps
reinforce the idea that reading and interpreting the news is an ordinary,
everyday activity, and not such a big deal that you don't do it very often.
And, my experience is that about 1/3 of students actually subscribe to
either the WSJ or BW, another 1/3 begin reading someone else's copy of a
business or newspaper/magazine, and the last 1/3 at least watch CNN every
once in awhile instead of just MTV. I consider all of these a step in
the right direction.
Betty Hoge
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BETTY HOGE
Assistant Professor - Management Office: Combs Building, 203-A
Morehead State University e-mail:
b.hoge@morehead-st.edu
UPO 683 Phone: (606) 783-2565
Morehead, KY 40351 Fax: (606) 783-5025