“We want to use our resources better in order to increase quality. Although we admit 3,000 students in a wide range of fields, they are being taught almost the same on some topics. Of course, teachers reuse material and use each other’s material, but we want to be more systematic about it,” explains Jakob Ravn, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning and continues:

“So, rather than having individual teachers creating short videos, quizzes or PowerPoints, we want to get together teachers who teach the same and, with help from Teaching and Learning, create some really high-quality materials that even more teachers can use.”

About 14 teachers from the Department of Marketing, led by Associate Professor Antonia Erz, have explored what type of teaching materials would be useful for introduction courses in marketing for bachelor students, and are producing them in collaboration with Teaching and Learning.

“We want to create a pack of very flexible teaching materials that can be personalized or adapted to individual teaching. Teachers can use the entire course, or just bits and pieces and mix them up as they like. We are aware that each teacher has their own style of teaching, and using other people’s material can be a challenge. But with the level of flexibility and high quality, we believe many teachers will find the pack useful,” she says.

The signature course pack includes recorded video lectures, podcasts, teaching cases, and quiz question banks, accompanied by teaching notes and inspiration for teachers for how to use the material. . It is expected to be ready for a small pilot run in spring 2022 and will be used in the introductory Marketing course of HA Almen in the fall 2022

Teaching materials with CBS flair

The idea of the signature course packs is to identify which areas of the course content overlap and then systematically create high-quality teaching materials that more teachers can use. Is there a risk that the courses will become standardized and lack a program’s typical flair if marketing is taught the same regardless of whether you are studying HA Almen or International Business and Politics?

“Yes, there is if we don’t pay attention. The material must be used in line with the profile and structure of the individual programs,” says Jakob Ravn and continues:

“The aim here is not to remove distinctive program features. Rather, we want to create teaching materials with a CBS hallmark, or a Nordic or Northern European hallmark. Something we don’t have much of today.”

He explains that many teaching cases and examples in widely used textbooks are set in a North American context, which may not reflect the issues or contexts prevalent in Europe or the Nordics.

“We can create teaching materials that better reflect the reality where our students live and work. Business cases based in a Danish context open up for different types of dilemmas that we would also like our students to work with,” he says.

Antonia Erz explains that teachers can approach the new teaching materials like they would a textbook.

“We always use teaching material other people have created, such as textbooks. Especially at bachelor’s level, we use textbooks a lot, though there may be things about a textbook that you may find less appealing. For example, some aspects are not deep enough,” she says and continues:

“But as a teacher, you will always use textbook material in a way that it fits your course and learning objectives and your own teaching style. You may add another theoretical perspective or discuss some material more critically. In the same way, you can approach our material. Like a digital and interactive textbook from which you can use the bits and pieces that support your teaching.”

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