Professor Priyali Rajagopal’s marketing classes offer real-world applications for textbook concepts.
“I think a teacher should be a great communicator and a very good listener. One has to be able to assess the needs of different students and adapt accordingly. Teaching marketing entails not only textbook concepts and terminologies, but also the utilization or application of these concepts to real-life business problems.
“My goal is to get my students to go beyond course materials and practice critical thinking, to know which tools and concepts are applicable, and to be able to take positions on business problems and defend them.
“The past six years have been a great learning experience. I have grown as a researcher and marketing educator, and my classroom teaching reflects this progress. A key change is a greater use of technology. I now post class slides and announcements on Blackboard, show videos on YouTube and use slide-shows from publications such as BusinessWeek and Fortune. The different media make the classroom experience richer and more interesting for students.”
Priyali Rajagopal, assistant professor of marketing, Cox School of Business, joined SMU in 2004. She has been recognized with the Outstanding Teaching Award in the B.B.A. program and as a 2006-07 HOPE Professor. She conducts research on best marketing practices for multifunctional hybrid products.