A “Novel” Approach to Engaging Gen Y
Thanks to shorter attention spans and “stimulation overload,” today’s Generation Y business students are a tough crowd when it comes to classroom engagement.
A new study in the Journal of Marketing Education (JME) ditches the traditional lecture method for an innovative approach in which marketing students create their own photo novels to generate lively discussion, develop their skills, and enjoy the learning experience.
Kallol Das of the Mudra Institute of Communications published the article, “Using Participatory Photo Novels to Teach Marketing,” in the April 2012 issue of JME. To see more articles in this issue, please click here.
Professor Das explains in the abstract:
Teaching the restless young generation business students of today is not easy. Furthermore, the traditional lecture method has failed miserably to engage the business students and deliver significant learning. The author presents a discussion on the photo novel as an attractive communication medium and the participatory photo novel as an innovative pedagogical tool, in place of the traditional lecture method. In fact, this method puts the onus of learning on the students and empowers them to co-create content and subsequently learn through classroom discussions. This is followed by a brief classroom guide on the process of creating a participatory photo novel. Student evaluation and feedback are discussed. Specifically, the content analysis reveals that students experienced the following learning outcomes: understanding and knowledge, critical thinking, transfer ability, creative thinking, communication skills, and leadership ability. This is followed by an agenda for empirical research. The limitations and implications of using this pedagogy are also discussed in detail. Overall, it is hoped that the use of participatory photo novel as a pedagogical tool can go a long way in augmenting learning resources, popularizing of this genre of literature, and providing the young generation business students with a unique learning experience.
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