1.
Branding 101
Erasmus Course Evaluation
Lecturer: Ana ADI
Session 2010/2011
Semester 2 – May 2011

2. At the end of the Branding 101 course, the 10 participating students were asked to
take a survey in order to evaluate the course together with the lecturer’s method,
approach and enthusiasm. The evaluation survey was accessible online leaving
students with the option of taking it at their own pace and in the absence of the
lecturer. To avoid bias, students were asked to submit their answers before their
final grades were delivered. All 10 students took the survey, offering responses from
100% of the course participants.
The survey followed the same structure as the New Media Course the lecturer is
teaching at the same institution.
Overall, 70% of the students (7 out of 10 respondents) found the course “very good”
and while 80% of them believe the “overall teaching effectiveness” to have been
“excellent”.
1. Overall course evaluation results
The students were also asked to evaluate specific aspects of the course delivery and
the lecturer’s activity. Most of the answers range within the excellent and very good
range with the lecturer’s answer to the students’ questions and lecturer’s use of
technology being rated at the highest (80% of the students votes). The lecturer’s
ability to present alternative explanations, the lecturer’s enthusiasm, the lecturer’s
availability to offer extra help when asked and the method of inviting guest lecturers
to the talk and work with the class have all been evaluated as excellent by 70% of
the course participants.
The quality of the questions raised during the course received overall good
evaluations with 40% rated as good, 30% as very good and 30% as excellent. Taking
into account that most of the students in the class had a background in business and

3. business administration, it is possible that the concepts covered in this introductory
course were already familiar to the students.
2. Specific course elements evaluation
Among other aspects of the course evaluated were the use of class time (60% very
good), the amount learned in the course (60% very good), the reasonableness of the
assigned work (70% excellent) and the relevance of the topics covered for the
students’ areas of study and future careers (60% excellent). 40% of the participating
students deemed the relevance and usefulness of the course to be excellent while
another 40% found it very good. This suggests that even if the students’ were
exposed to concepts of branding before, the course and its content was still
considered relevant and managed to provide students with new learning points. This
is confirmed by the 60% very good evaluation of the amount the students
considered they learned in the course.

4.
3. Other course dimensions evaluated
With regards to attendance, all responding students attended all classes. Half of the
responding students (5 out of 10) expect to receive an A.
Three qualitative questions were part of the survey as well. They aimed to determine
the areas that students most liked or disliked as well as identify elements that
students would have wanted the course to cover. Although the students would not
change the course, they did have several suggests towards improving it such as
providing examples of both good and bad practice (the course so far concentrated
more on best practices) or including even more guests into the course program.
One suggestion was made to provide an example guideline for the final brand
project. However, taking into account that 70% of the students rated the clarity of
their responsibilities and requirements as excellent and taking into account that the
elements that were required for the final project were included in the syllabus and
extensively explained in class, including an example case at this point would not
support further the students’ knowledge nor provide them with space to express
their creativity and analysis.

5.
4. New course elements wanted
5. Suggested improvements
Finally, among the things the students liked the most were the practical
assignments, the guest lecture and the teaching style.

6.
6. “What did you like more about this course” answers
Observations and Conclusions:
All the answers given to the questions asked are in the higher positive range – from
good to excellent.
The areas marked the students as being excellent (obtaining also the majority vote)
were:
• The overall teaching effectiveness (80%)
• The lecturer’s answer to the students’ questions (80%)
• The lecturer’s use of technology (80%)
• The lecturer’s ability to present alternative explanations (70%)
• The clarity of the students’ responsibilities and requirements (70%)
The practical aspects of the course were mentioned as strong points of the course
and good learning experiences. The course featured a mix of problem‐based
exercises, student‐led learning and lectures including the observation of branding
and purchases behaviours in a general store and the design of a brand starting from
a given product.

7. It is notable that many of the students indicate as an important factor the lecturer’s
enthusiasm and support. This reiterates the potential, if not the need, for courses to
be delivered in a more interactive way where students are constantly given
challenges to solve together with the lecturer. Even if students were exposed to
some of the content before, the way in which the course was delivered kept them
focused and interested in the course.
Recommendations and suggestions:
Taking into account the students’ observations and in an attempt to make a link to
the areas determined in the course evaluation as having a potential for improvement
it is suggested:
• Using several brand cases to follow throughout the course as a way of
reinforcing theoretical concepts
• Increase the number of practical exercises as a means for students to
discover the theoretical concepts
• Provide more opportunities for peer learning.