This text contextualises study skills within the specific discipline of marketing. As a companion to marketing programmes, the text provides access to a wide range of resources that enable students to develop the skills and competences they need to succeed in their studies, and beyond into a career in marketing. This text is designed to be accessible to students of marketing, whether that is a single module within a broader programme of business studies, or masters in marketing. It is intended to be a companion text on marketing programmes primarily for those students studying the marketing discipline in the UK and Europe the first time. Content is then built around the learning journey of typical students of marketing, starting with the first weeks of study in marketing, then initial assignments on to completion of a final year thesis and the marketing career search.This title identifies the learning journey of typical students of marketing, starting with the first weeks of study in marketing, then initial assignments on to completion of a final year thesis and the marketing career search. It presents a range of views on how key skills and study competences can be developed as they are typically faced by marketing students. It explains the academic processes used in developing learners in order to assist in presenting the suggestions for personal development. It shares typical learner's voices so that readers may understand the issues they are dealing with are (probably) not unique to them.
Dr Tracy Harwood, Principal Lecturer in Marketing and National Teacher Fellow, De Montfort University, Leicester. Tracy has worked extensively with first year marketing students to develop their skills, focussing on reading and working with complex information in order to generate a sound footing for future years of study. The range of support activities, including elearning and computer aided assessment (CAA), and subsequent development of research into reflective competences of undergraduate students, has resulted in the award of a National Teacher Fellowship in 2004. Tony Garry, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, De Montfort University, Leicester. Tony, who is a programme leader for the Diploma level of the Chartered Institute of Marketing programme, has gained considerable experience in assimilating marketing information for mature learners with practical experience of the discipline but often less competence in study skills. Dr Ashley Carreras, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, De Montfort University, Leicester. Ashley's economics background has developed into a strong field of statistical data analysis and problem-solving for the marketing discipline within the University. Numeracy is a skill and competence which has been seen to decline in recent years among students, resulting in considerable efforts to develop a more student oriented approach to teaching and learning. Jo Webb, Principal Lecturer in Marketing and National Teacher Fellow, De Montfort University, Leicester. Jo has worked with undergraduate, postgraduate and professional marketing students for over 15 years, developing information literacy and supporting research through formal course input and informal tutorials. Her well-received book on learning and teaching for librarians (Webb and Powis, 2004) has just been reprinted. Her work in learner support has been recognised in the award of a National Teaching Fellowship in June 2005 and she is embarking on a research project on reading development in universities. Our collective experience for producing this text is based upon our research, teaching, support and professional practice in the marketing discipline. Our interest in the text has grown out of our various contacts with undergraduate and postgraduate students of marketing and is, therefore, based upon our work as educationalists and as marketing professionals and practitioners.
