Business prof wins national award for classroom innovation

Contact: Mark Schwerin
Photo of Dr. Ann .

Veeck

KALAMAZOO—A Western Michigan University business professor has been recognized for her innovation in the classroom.

Dr. Ann Veeck, professor of marketing, has received the 2012 Marketing Management Association Teaching Innovation Award. The national award recognizes innovative approaches to classroom instruction.

Veeck was selected from among three finalists during the association's 2012 Fall Educators' Conference for her social media analysis materials and teaching concept "Learning Tools to Effectively Monitor Social Media: A Social Media Marketing Research Project." All three finalists presented their innovations at the conference Sept. 19-21 in Minneapolis.

"Ann's teaching skills in marketing research and the innovations she brings to class are legendary," says Dr. Mushtaq Luqmani, chair of the WMU Department of Marketing in the Haworth College of Business. "Her receipt of this highly distinctive teaching innovation award in a nationwide faculty competition is truly well-deserved and a source of great pride and inspiration."

Social media incorporated

Veeck received her award for developing techniques for incorporating social media analysis into undergraduate market research classes. Veeck says that, while students are expert at using social media for their personal use, they need to develop professional skills to effectively analyze consumer feedback via social websites.

"We want our students to graduate from WMU with leading-edge skills," she says. "Having sophisticated knowledge in social media technology is a valuable asset for students."

Veeck says she implemented the projects to advance students' ability to use social media in marketing research with the goal of teaching them to develop strategic solutions based on empirical data. In an individual assignment, students explore the types of consumer-generated feedback found on three social media sites. In a team project, groups use social media analytical tools to analyze product performance.

"Students were able to integrate primary and secondary data in more sophisticated ways than I had seen in past marketing research projects," Veeck says. "The projects allowed students more creativity in all stages of the research while still providing adequate structure."

Veeck joined the WMU faculty in 1999. Her teaching and research interests include marketing research, food consumption patterns and international marketing. She earned her doctoral degree from Louisiana State University and has worked in marketing research in the United States and in Taiwan.