Summary: "Principles of Marketing, by Julie Pirsch, Ph.D. is a challenging
college level introductory Marketing course similar in content to the
first marketing course taken by all students in university and college
schools of business across the country. Principles of Marketing is also
known as Basic Marketing, Introduction to Marketing, Fundamentals of
Marketing, Marketing, or Marketing Principles. Any high school level
student with basic reading and math skills can handle this course.
This course was created as an elective for high school students
interested in pursuing a career in business and for students interested
in taking the CLEP Principles of Marketing Exam. On a more formal
level, this course provides students with a description and evaluation
of the ways in which goods and services are developed to meet customer
and consumer needs, and how they are distributed for domestic and
international consumption. It examines the economic, government, social,
and other environmental forces in relation to the marketing function,
placing emphasis on relevant social problems and responsibilities."
My Thoughts: My oldest son reads books like Guerrilla Marketing for fun and is currently planning to pursue Business & Marketing in the spring. My husband brainstorms various marketing ideas in his spare time. We often discuss good marketing and bad as we watch TV or surf the Internet. It's a definite interest in our family (and one I could better pursue with this blog but I blame lack of time!) and so when the opportunity arose to try Professor in a Box: Principles in Marketing, I jumped at it. My sixteen year old high school junior made the perfect guinea pig student to give it a go.
The first thing we noticed when it arrived was the lack of box. Not that we needed a box, in fact less trash is a plus, but it did strike us as humorous. No box, no professor, but a CD instead. Good thing, as I wasn't ready for company anyway (I know, I know, groooooooaaaaan).
The course consists of a CD meant to be viewed on your computer. The student works completely independently, listening to the professor while viewing slides which reinforce the lecture. Imagine you are in a large classroom where your view of the professor is obscured and so you focus on the Power Point presentation on the screen as she speaks. My focus would be better if I could see her at times, but I believe it's a learning style issue as my son has no problem with listening and viewing the slides.
Her voice is pleasant and the information interesting, although the presentation is somewhat dry for someone who prefers the bells and whistles. My son is more academic oriented and is enjoying the course. This is a great fit for him (his only complaint was the chapter where she appeared to attribute XBox to Sony, the reaction to that was actually rather humorous!) and he will continue with this until completion. I'm not so sure it will be a good fit for my hands-on fourteen year old, unless his interest in the topic is suddenly sparked enough to work through a program that doesn't fit his learning style (high interest tends to make this easier).
Interactive quizzes are included and will auto correct for you. Online resources are available, as well as a sample chapter. I would highly recommend checking out the sample chapter to see if this is a good fit for you. If you have an academically oriented student, one who's interested in marketing, or simply wish to have your student "get their feet wet" with this type of learning, I would recommend this program. It is available for $119.99 from Professor in a Box.
*Disclosure: I received this product at no cost for review purposes. A positive review was not required, merely an honest one. For more reviews on this and other products, please check out the TOS Crew!*
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