The Impact of Collaboration, Empowerment, and Choice: An Empirical Examination of the Collaborative Course Development Method

Abstract

This research empirically tests collaborative course development (CCD)—a pedagogy presented in the 2016 Marketing Education Review Special Issue on Teaching Innovations. A team of researchers taught experimental courses using CCD methods (employing various techniques including syllabus building, “flex-tures,” free-choice assignments, and exam writing). Control sections used traditional classroom techniques (using professor-developed syllabi, lectures, forced-choice assignments, and professor-written exams). Results demonstrated that CCD classes yielded significantly higher levels of student engagement, perceived learning, satisfaction, and professor ratings. These effects were reliable between and within professors. It is interesting to note that the positive effects persisted even for students with high levels of two control variables (i.e., preference for consistency and separateness-connectedness self-schema).