Paul Heller is a seasoned management consultant, successful business owner, and now passionate educator who is prepared to offer a wide range of educational consulting and speaking engagement services that include:
Curriculum Development Directed at Effective Approaches and Methods
- Application versus Content focus with assignments and in-class exercises. Class lecture time allocated to minimize Content and focus only on highlights.
- Enhance student problem-solving skills to become more strategic, creative and resourceful through challenging graded assignments and testing application of concepts rather than memorization of terminology.
- Increasing number of assignments to enhance student problem solving skills. Increasing frequency reinforces sill development effectively.
- Importance of incorporating Technology Driven Topics into Marketing and MIS:
- Search Engine Optimization and Marketing
- Social Media/Blogging
- Importance of reinforcing and expanding Excel and Word skills through frequent use in graded assignments.
- Adding Project Management components for all undergraduate students:
- Gantt Charts
- Request For Proposals
- Action Plan
Objective Critique of Existing Faculty and Course Materials
- Evaluate how relevant current textbooks are compared to available offerings by major business publishers including McGraw Hill Irwin and Pearson Prentice Hall. Sometimes faculty continue to use outdated and less effective textbooks because switching to a new book requires a significant effort.
- Evaluate whether course assignments and testing documents are updated and modified frequently enough to minimize students referring to prior semesters for answers.
- Attend lectures of faculty and evaluate effectiveness including: preparedness, student engagement/connection, enthusiasm, class involvement/discussion, and other parameters desired.
Enhancing Student Engagement Inside and Outside the Classroom
Techniques inside and outside the classroom can significantly increase the productive engagement students can have with their professors:
- Coach versus Professor viewpoint: Academic and career advice, networking, and realistic feedback on possible business ideas
- Creating active classroom discussion with both Application focus and random selection on a first-name basis
Achieving High Attendance in the Classroom
Elevated attendance can be accomplished through using a combination of: unannounced quizzes, minimizing the use of posting materials to the school website, taking attendance and having it count small amount in their grade, and bringing real-world relevance to subject materials
Making Testing a Positive Experience and the Importance of Cumulative Finals
Testing can be a positive experience where the student places quality effort into preparation and feels motivated, rewarded and encouraged afterwards. These results can be achieved through:
- Application versus memorization
- Crib Sheet/Cheat Sheet
- Study review session
- Minimizing reliance on multiple choice that students find “tricky” and distasteful
Evaluate Effective Use of Electronic Textbooks versus Traditional Textbooks
Upper-level and technology-driven courses often benefit through using Electronic Textbooks by offering greater flexibility, more up-to-date content, typically more cost effective, and the ability to add materials quickly throughout the semester. Proper use of Electronic Textbooks allow faculty to adhere to Copyright Laws along with total costs for students being less than traditional textbooks.
Effective Syllabus Approaches, Structure and Key Components
- Classroom etiquette/resting
- Late submissions
- Student feedback mechanisms
- Core Purpose and Values
- Back-up responsibility
- Academic Dishonesty
- Learning Disability disclosure policies in conjunction with school requirements
