Global Research in Higher Education 
ISSN 2576-196X (Print) ISSN 2576-1951 (Online) 

Vol. 7, No. 1, 2024 

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24 

 

Original Paper 

Towards the Systematic Development of Marketing Students’ 

Creativity 

Jack A. Lesser
1*

 & Denise E. Williams
2 

1
 Department of Marketing, Supply Chain and International Business, Metropolitan State University, 

Minneapolis, MN, USA  

2
 Department of Entrepreneurship, and Human Resource Management, Metropolitan State University, 

Minneapolis, MN, USA  

*
 Jack A. Lesser, Department of Marketing, Supply Chain and International Business, Metropolitan 

State University, Minneapolis, MN, USA  

 

Received: February 23, 2024    Accepted: February 28, 2024    Online Published: March 11, 2024 

doi:10.22158/grhe.v7n1p24            URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v7n1p24 

 

Abstract 

Many university marketing students feel uncomfortable about developing creative thinking skills during 

college. However, they will soon graduate and face a need to utilize their creative abilities and 

contribute to their organizations. Therefore, this article provides a wide range of strategies to develop 

students’ creative abilities in marketing classes. It uses Gagné’s classical Nine Instructional Events 

(i.e., Gagné et al., 2005) to develop the strategies because Gagné systematically and comprehensively 

examines how to develop effective instructional stages across the entire learning process. The article 

also focuses on developing specific strategies to help students build creative competencies for very 

different teaching modes, such as asynchronous and synchronous online, HyFlex, and conventional 

face-to-face classes. By developing strategies for different modes, the instructor will be able to have 

comparative insight into how to adjust marketing courses to maximally stimulate students’ creativity, 

regardless of the type of course.  

Keywords 

creativity, teaching pedagogy, instructional effectiveness, teaching modes, marketing instruction 

 

 

 

 

 



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1. Introduction 

University business students need to learn how to develop creative thinking skills. The National 

Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) identifies key competencies for effective career 

readiness, that require creative thinking skills, including effective problem-solving, managing rapidly 

changing technology, and navigating diverse perspectives and divergent thinking in the workplace and 

society (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2021). Indeed, the twenty-first-century 

business environment has faced unprecedented changes including a global pandemic, a diverse and 

inclusive workforce, and challenges with innovations that use artificial intelligence, strategies for 

sustainability, drones, free electronic auto charging facilities, and smartphone electrocardiogram 

sensors, to name a few, which demand new competencies in creativity and innovative thinking from 

their future leaders, today’s students.   

These university business students, and future executives and workforce, also need to have a degree of 

comfort and self-efficacy in examining issues, such as the ones above, that are uncertain, ambiguous, 

and complex. University students often feel uncomfortable making decisions that do not have “right or 

wrong” answers. For example, as Aylesworth and Cleary (2020) argue, everyone is born to be creative, 

but students have increasing social pressures at home, school, and in the community, that often 

cultivate more transactional behaviors and coping skills required to navigate through their lives; thus, 

resulting in lower interest in creativity by the time they enter college. Aylesworth and Cleary (2020, p. 

249) explain that college students learn to develop a “fear of failure”, and they avoid taking risks that 

may lead to failure. With a focus on performance, some students believe that they need to have a 

“3.00” GPA; and, they do not want to be involved in classroom activities that lead to barriers or 

potential failure in securing high grades. Aylesworth and Cleary (2020, p. 249) also explain that many 

students do not want classroom experiences that have much tolerance for ambiguity (i.e., they want to 

avoid classroom experiences with outcomes that are uncertain and unpredictable). It is often simpler 

and quicker to solve problems that are straightforward. For example, many students take multiple 

choice exams in early courses, and they do not have practice with experiences that involve ambiguity.  

The development of creativity and innovation competencies in the classroom empowers and 

strengthens students’ decision-making capacity, necessary for mitigating ambiguity and uncertainty. 

Krishen (2021) provides an illustration of running ultramarathon races (races that are over 26.2 miles 

long) which, as she explains, is why it is also important to teach about ambiguity in business courses. 

According to Krishen (2021), a marathon runner who is “fixated” on reasons why s/he cannot finish a 

hundred-mile race will not finish it. Similar to Carol Dweck’s (2006) work on the growth mindset, 

Krishen (2021) emphasizes the need for business leaders to develop their growth perspective of 

achieving a “hundred-mile” race challenge that stretches their firms to win their races. This requires a 

mindset and belief that they can manage changes, reframe failure, and positively triumph, despite 



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potential uncertainty and difficulty. Business students, too, have the opportunity to be empowered by 

learning how to develop creative solutions and not be limited by a fixed mindset about ambiguity.    

In other words, business leaders and business students can have, as Dweck (2006) argues, a fixed or a 

growth mindset. A fixed mindset suggests that a person cannot improve in abilities over time, and a 

growth mindset indicates that a person can learn to make changes in abilities to master his or her 

environment (Dweck, 2006). A business student can and will find value in learning to have a growth 

mindset in courses and show perseverance to make creative business changes that master the 

environment. Therefore, this article will present a variety of suggestions to help students develop a 

creative “growth mindset” in introductory marketing courses. Most of the suggestions apply to other 

business disciplines as well. However, the authors of this article have experience in marketing and 

entrepreneurship, and they apply these best practices to these disciplines.   

Some attention has been given to examining creativity in marketing courses. As discussed earlier, 

Aylesworth and Cleary (2020) conducted research on creativity in marketing. Other investigators have 

also examined creativity in marketing courses, such as Azinheira et al. (2022), Green (2019), McCorkle 

et al. (2007), Ramocki (2014), and Win (2014). Several problems exist with these areas of research, 

though, that lead to the contributions of this article. Except for Ramocki (2014), the investigators have 

not tended to provide specific strategies about how to develop creativity in marketing courses. 

Furthermore, they have viewed creativity as a very general consideration that applies to every aspect of 

a marketing course. Investigators have generally not provided any form of a systematic approach to 

improve a creative mindset, across the different stages of instructional development of a course. 

Furthermore, investigators have addressed creativity as though it applies in the same manner in all 

forms of marketing courses. Yet, different types of teaching modes exist (such as asynchronous online, 

synchronous online, and conventional on-campus classes). Instructors can benefit from learning how 

they can develop students’ creative mindsets when teaching different types of courses. Therefore, this 

article provides rather detailed strategies about how to develop students’ creativity across different 

stages involved in instructional development. It also considers how to develop a creative mindset for 

different modes of marketing that instructors teach.   

To develop strategies that enhance students’ creativity across different stages of instruction, this article 

adopts Gagné's classical nine instructional events (e.g., Gagné et al., 2005). Gagné’s events are used as 

the article’s theoretical foundation to explain how to stimulate students to develop a creative “growth 

mindset” in a course. Gagné’s instructional events are extremely influential and widely used across 

disciplines for developing effective courses and instructional designs (Dempsey, 2002; Dick, 2003; 

White, 2002). Therefore, Gagné’s events provide a particularly strong theoretical basis for developing 

ideas that can apply to different types of faculty when developing courses that seek to engage creativity 

thinking competency development.    



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This article begins by explaining Gagné’s (e.g., Gagné et al., 2005) nine instructional events. It will 

then discuss some primary general considerations about how marketing students can develop a creative 

mindset for each of the stages in the model. Finally, the article will propose specific teaching strategies 

for marketing that move students through Gagné’s different events. Different modalities of marketing 

courses are often offered, such as on-campus, online asynchronous, online synchronous, and HyFlex 

(instruction that is both online and on-campus); and, different suggestions will focus on these forms of 

course instruction. By including each of these types of teaching modalities, the article provides strong 

comparative insights about how to develop teaching strategies that keep students creatively immersed 

in their marketing classes.   

1.1 Gagné’s Nine Instructional Events 

Robert Gagné’s Nine Instructional Events (i.e., Gagné et al., 2005) have been applied to almost every 

area concerned with improving individuals’ learning. The models have been used to train health 

professionals in patient treatment (Basir et al., 2021; Wong, 2018), to teach the physical sciences 

(Çalışkan, 2014; House, 2002; Smaldino & Thompson, 1990), and to instruct students in creative 

disciplines (Baba et al., 2017; Ludin et al., 2018; Hamizi et al., 2022). Gagné’s Instructional Events 

have been as widely used as any teaching model to develop effective courses and instruction (Fields, 

1996; Martin et al., 2007; Reiser, 2002). These intuitively appealing events are simultaneously 

systematic “stages of instruction” that can be used to teach students. They are shown in Figure 1 below, 

as adapted from Gagné, Briggs, and Wagner (1992).   

1) Gaining attention—capture the students’ attention. 

2) Informing learners of the objectives—inform students of the objectives so that they 

understand what they will learn. 

3) Stimulating recall of prerequisite learning—help students make sense of new Knowledge 

by showing how it relates to previous experiences  

4) Presenting the stimulus material—present the material in a meaningful way, breaking the 

content into chunks and providing helpful examples. 

5) Providing learning guidance—offer guidance, suggestions, and help to students so that they 

learn the material.   

6) Eliciting the performance—provide practice to learn the material.   

7) Providing feedback about performance—have feedback so that students can improve.  

8) Assessing the performance—test students to determine whether they have met learning 

objectives. 

9) Enhancing retention and transfer—help the learner transfer knowledge to later “real world” 

experiences.  

Figure 1. Events of Instruction 

 



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Gagné, Briggs, and Wagner’s (1992) events not only have been widely used in education since the 

1960s, but they are also intuitively simple to understand and apply. Following Figure 1, initially, the 

instructor should gain the attention of students. For example, when teaching the first class of a course, 

the instructor needs to get students to focus on what s/he is about to say. Then, the instructor should 

inform learners about the material’s objectives. By doing this, the instructor keeps students “on target” 

and enables them to appreciate why different areas of coverage are relevant. If the instructor wants 

students to learn how to develop an effective advertisement and states this objective, students can 

understand why different areas of discussion connect to developing an effective advertisement. 

The instructor proactively takes a step further and stimulates the recall of prerequisite learning. Often, 

the best way for students to appreciate a topic is for them to recall and appreciate how it relates to an 

area that has already been relevant. At this point, the instructor should present the material. However, 

the instructor is “more” than a presenter of material. S/he also attempts to provide active guidance so 

that students understand the material being covered. Once the instructor covers the material and 

actively guides students to understand it, the instructor elicits performance or has students practice and 

apply the new knowledge. At this point, the instructor provides feedback that explains how the student 

can improve. The instructor also takes steps to assess students’ performance and evaluate how well 

they comprehend and apply the material. Finally, the instructor helps students appreciate how the 

material applies to their broader lives and career choices.  

1.2 Systematic Development of Students’ Creativity through Gagné’s Events 

Below, different strategies are discussed that the instructor may use to develop students’ interest in 

creatively examining marketing issues when the course begins, throughout the course, and years later, 

when the course is only a memory but applied in their lived experiences. The article uses Gagné’s 

events to develop a systematic framework for developing students through stages. When discussing 

each of the events, some overview considerations are initially examined to ensure the success of the 

event. Then, a few strategies are suggested for these different events when teaching different course 

modalities. For simplicity, the only types of courses considered below are online asynchronous (online 

courses that do not require that students go to classes at a regular time), online synchronous (online 

courses that require that students meet online with the instructor at regularly held times), HyFlex 

(courses offering students the choice of participating in person or online), and conventional on campus 

(classes that have meetings on campus at regular times). 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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2. Event One: Gaining Attention–Some General Considerations for Its Success 

Gagné’s (i.e., Gagné et al., 2005) first stage of instructional design involves “getting attention”. A 

primary theme about how a marketing course can “get attention”, and also inspire students to develop a 

creative mindset, can be understood through Kelman’s (i.e., 1958; 1974) classical social influence 

theory. Kelman’s (1958) social influence stages offer progressive levels of engagement, beginning with 

compliance, then identification, and finally, internalization. Social influence initially begins by having 

individuals “comply” with, or adhere to, a request. In compliance, individuals do not have an internal 

desire to be involved. Later, after individuals “comply” with a request, they may “identify” with the 

appeal of the message. Later yet, they may “internalize”, or accept, the message as though it stems 

from personal values (Kelman, 1958, p. 53).   

A basic type of compliance is, “getting attention”. Students may comply with an instructor by paying 

attention to an introductory email about the course. What causes compliance that leads to identification, 

or even internalization, from the emails, or in any other manner? It is central that the student, when 

complying, also begins to identify with the message’s “personal relevance” (Kelman, 1958; Kelman, 

1974). The instructor should initially get the student to pay attention to a message, and simultaneously, 

identify with it. For example, a marketing instructor wants students to have a creative mindset. 

Therefore, the instructor should get attention in a manner that enables the student to identify with the 

relevance of having a creative mindset during the course. 

In the next section, a few strategies for focusing attention on assignments are considered that also 

simultaneously assist students to identify with, and later even internalize, a desire to be creative. As a 

brief illustration: an introductory course letter might be used to obtain initial student attention to the 

course. Many instructors write an introductory email letter at the beginning of the course. An 

abbreviated copy of such a letter is shown in Appendix 1. The letter generates attention through humor, 

and it has the broader goal of building a positive attitude about the course’s creativity.  

One added consideration is also important when developing attention in marketing courses: generally, 

students are the same people who take conventional and online classes. Treat asynchronous online 

students (those who do not formally meet for classes) in as similar of a personalized way as on-campus 

and synchronous online students (those who meet formally online for classes) as possible. Three “key 

rules” to be effective when getting initial course attention and in all of the learning stages, are: be 

personalized, be more personalized, and be more personalized, yet. Emphasize the same personalized 

teaching approaches to the extent humanly possible, whether online or offline. Given the challenge of 

self-motivation and self-monitoring required by online courses, it is important for the instructor to 

creatively think of the “equivalent” level of engagement in the online modality as in conventional 

classes. Motivate online students through approaches that focus on personalization and building 

relationships.   

 



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2.1 Event One: Generating Attention–A Few Strategies for Different Teaching Modalities 

 

Table 1. Strategies to Generate Attention 

Asynchronous Online Synchronous Online HyFlex Conventional 

Introduce course: have 

“Owner’s Manual” email. 

 

Offer emotional/ 

relationship-building: 

through introductory video 

that explains importance of 

creativity. 

     

Post first discussion board 

assignment: that explains the 

relevance of creativity. 

 

Socialize: develop ways for 

student inter-engagement 

outside of class, such as 

through an “online café” 

(Bonk & Khoo, 2014, p. 62).  

Reinforce 

accountability: 

Insist that students are 

at first class and require 

that they have their 

video on during Zoom 

meetings. 

  

Presence: require that 

videos are active when 

in Zoom classes.  

 

Advertise: the course, 

and its emphasis on 

creativity. to students 

before they take it. 

 

Engage: ensure 

outreach to online 

audience.  

Provide evidence: 

invite previously 

successful students to 

be guests so they can 

explain the importance 

of a creative mindset 

was important to them. 

 

Only a few illustrations are provided in Table 1 about getting attention. Some can be used for more 

than one teaching mode. Most of the ideas in this article are ones that have been applied in courses in a 

minority-serving Midwest university where innovation is encouraged. The book, TEC-Variety: 100+ 

Activities for Motivating and Retaining Learners Online, by Curtis Bonk and Elaine Khoo (2014), is a 

useful reference for ideas that may help supplement these ideas. Some of the TEC-Variety suggestions 

are directly used in this article.  

The Course Introduction “Owner’s Manual” introductory email for asynchronous online courses 

focuses on generating attention to early assignments and establishing an interest in being creative. It 

was discussed in the previous section, and an abbreviated illustration of the letter is in Appendix I. It 

uses humor, and inspirational quotes, designed to make it different than other introduction emails sent 

to students. It also attempts to extend beyond getting attention to relationship and self-efficacy building. 

The letter is concerned with ensuring that the student has a strong “support system” of help from the 



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instructor. This introductory email can be recorded by the instructor as a Zoom message and uploaded 

into the course. 

Another asynchronous online strategy involves providing a creative online video that goes over the 

course and explains why the course’s creativity will help students understand concepts needed later in 

their lives. For example, an instructor might develop a video of a hypothetical, humorous coffee shop 

for pet owners, and their pets. It might explain the different stages of the course (determine the target 

market, develop the marketing mix, etc.) to reinforce why creativity will help them make decisions 

about the coffee shop and other areas of business that they will likely face in the future. A third 

asynchronous online strategy involves having an online café where students can casually meet with 

others (also discussed by Bonk and Khoo, 2014, p. 62). Asynchronous students may not have 

on-campus “friends”, and an online café may help them to develop social support so that they more 

richly enjoy the course. Encouraging a short reflection paper for points generated after the experience 

documents engagement and invites the student to consider the relevance of the course content. 

The synchronous online course suggestions reinforce the importance of student involvement in Zoom 

classes. For example, students are strongly required to be in attendance during the first class. 

Attendance in each other live online class is mandated. This creates the opportunity for stackable 

learning experiences from one meeting to the next, utilizing small group breakouts for discussion and 

group ideation exercises. In addition, students are asked to have their video cameras on during Zoom 

classes and show verbal involvement in the course discussions. Course points issued for these requests 

help to generate compliance. 

One other synchronous consideration: “advertise” the course to those who will take the course later. 

“Promote” the course and its fun through attractive graphics design, use of prior student testimonials, 

and even statements from corporate leaders about the value of creativity competency development in 

their organizations. By sharing information within the university’s social media and other classes, 

students will take the class with the realization that creativity is a necessary part of marketing. 

For HyFlex courses, the authors advocate that those who do not attend the on-campus meeting be given 

strong personalized attention. It is easy for online students to lose interest, with attention given to 

members of those who attend the class. Focused involvement should be given to them. Consider 

creating online teams in small groups for exercise engagement while the in-person students are 

participating in live experiential learning. Finally, for a conventional class, it is important to take 

advantage of the natural strengths of meeting in person. Consider, for example, inviting students who 

took the course during earlier semesters to share their experiences, explain how the marketing course’s 

creativity was helpful to them, and ask them to lead a discussion with current students about how 

creativity in a marketing course will be necessary for years after the course is over. Additionally, 

consider including guest speakers, such as alumni or community leaders with marketing responsibility, 



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in the course to increase student engagement, provide practical application of key course concepts, and 

be potential mentors. 

 

3. Event Two: Informing Listeners of Objectives—Some General Considerations for Its Success 

Most courses and course text chapters have formal objectives. These objectives serve as a “roadmap” 

and can be designed to assist students in experiencing an inspirational learning journey. However, the 

discussion of teaching objectives can be the least memorable part of a class. While objectives are often 

not internalized well by students, instructors can utilize methods such as short quizzes at the start of the 

semester on facts from the syllabus to encourage attention. Additionally, the instructor can “show” and 

not just “tell” students about why objectives are relevant by using interesting illustrations. Furthermore, 

instructors are encouraged to be creative, themselves, and come up with alternative, engaging, and 

“fun” ways to generate student engagement in the objectives.    

3.1 Event Two: Informing Listeners of Objectives—A Few Strategies for Different Teaching Modalities 

 

Table 2. Inform Listeners of Objectives 

Asynchronous Online Synchronous Online HyFlex Conventional 

Reframe the quiz:  

incorporate a short, fun 

quiz over the syllabus. 

 

Inspire: adopt the 

conventional class 

strategy here. Utilize 

small group breakouts 

for idea-generation 

sessions. Encourage 

students to develop a 

journal that allows 

them to review “lived 

experiences” during the 

week. 

SMART goals: invite 

students to create 

specific, measurable, 

attainable, relevant, 

timely goals for the 

course with a personal 

commitment to achieve 

them (Bonk & Khoo, 

2014, p. 55). Consider 

using a self or team 

contract to create 

accountability. 

Inspire: write class 

objectives in a way that 

answers the question 

“Why take this 

course”. 

 

Personalize: ask 

students to explain how 

the objectives are 

relevant to their “lived 

experiences”. 

 

For asynchronous classes, consider having students take a small, perhaps even humorous, quiz over the 

syllabus. Then, students will be able to develop an initial basis to appreciate the course goals when they 

are unfolded. The strategy for HyFlex classes, about asking students to make personal commitments, 

can be applied to any of the teaching modes. This strategy is suggested in TEC Variety by Bonk and 

Khoo (2014, p. 55), and it can be powerful. In it, students make personal commitments that they wish 

to undertake that are based on different course objectives. For example, a student may wish to develop 

a stronger personal expertise in store design based on a course objective about store design. S/he could 



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explain the desire to develop expertise in the area and discuss why it is an interesting career possibility. 

“Personal commitments” force students to reflect on what they want to have as personal course 

outcomes and how they will attempt to develop personal relevance from these outcomes. The instructor 

may use discussion boards so that others in the class can observe and reflect on the student’s 

anticipated commitments; thus, creating a community of accountability. 

Finally, a conventional class can build on its natural interactivity. The instructor can have students 

prepare before the first class about the relevance of the first-class objectives. For any mode, consider 

working with the students to create SMART goals for themselves throughout the semester related to the 

course. Students may also “journal” how they think that the different objectives will be relevant to 

them across their lives and explain their beliefs in the class. Reflection journals are excellent tools to 

encourage students to use throughout the semester to track their ideas, thoughts, and outcomes. 

 

4. Event Three: Stimulating Recall of Prerequisite Learning—Some General Considerations for 

Success 

Anything that can be done to stimulate students’ earlier positive experiences will make them more 

motivated. By trying to recall earlier experiences of success or reframing initially disappointing events 

to lessons learned, students are starting to integrate their earlier understanding of how to be successful 

in life with new information from the course (i.e., Gagné, 1980; Gagné, 1988). They are attempting to 

develop wisdom about how to be successful (i.e., Smartwood, 2013), and the instructor serves as a key 

catalyst to “stoke” their internal fires by helping them to connect previous experiences with course 

material. 

Indeed, one of the most prolific scholars about “wisdom”, Robert Sternberg, discussed how to be wise 

in a manner that strongly pertains to stimulating students to recall experiences in classes. He explained, 

“Wisdom is not just a way of thinking about things; it is a way of doing things. If people wish to be 

wise, they have to act wisely, not just think wisely (Sternberg, 2003, p. 188)”. Applied to teaching, the 

instructor may invite students to apply earlier experiences that relate to the course because making the 

connection of life, to learning, generates an internal wisdom about how the course material is relevant. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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4.1 Event Three: Stimulating Recall of Prerequisite Learning—A Few Strategies for Different Modes 

 

Table 3. Stimulate Recall of Prerequisite Learning 

Asynchronous Online Synchronous Online HyFlex Conventional 

Enjoy: develop a fun 

“Owner’s Manual” for 

students to answer in 

discussion boards since 

there are no formal 

classes. 

 

 

 

Engage: use small 

group breakouts to 

discuss and document 

learning from the 

“Owner’s Manual” for 

course project. 

Competition: create team 

building exercises where 

On-campus/off-campus 

have friendly 

competition over the 

“Owner’s Manual”; offer 

prizes for incentives such 

as points or popular, 

easy-to-read books/audio 

tapes on creativity. 

Experience: involve 

students using 

“Owner’s Manual” 

with game during 

class. 

 

Again, learning is heavily concerned with connecting previous knowledge to future knowledge. Often, 

students in marketing courses develop comprehensive marketing plans with numerous different stages. 

Other business courses are similar and require that students develop comprehensive plans that have 

numerous stages, too. The “Owner’s Manual” listed for synchronous courses is an approach that has 

proven to be successful in supporting students’ understanding of such complex processes, which are 

often semester-long and become the focus of a course. As an illustration, the instructor might prepare a 

humorous “Owner’s Manual” (or overall set of instructions for a complex project). Years ago, one 

author of this article had students learn relatively complex marketing research processes for a detailed 

marketing research course. The students needed to deeply understand these complex stages because 

they were about to conduct “live projects” for real organizations. An instructor might use the same 

steps below for any complex business project.     

First, the students read a humorous “owner’s manual” or a set of instructions for each of the different 

stages. Then, the students were asked to pretend that they fell asleep after a long day. In “their sleep”, 

students imagined that they met Sam Walton of Walmart. They pretended to follow the different 

(complex) stages of marketing research covered in the project owner’s manual. Furthermore, in “their 

pretend sleep”, they tried to explain, in a written document, to Sam Walton how to improve Walmart’s 

strategies through the different steps discussed in the Owner’s Manual. Of course, they did not meet 

Sam Walton; they pretended that they met him. By meeting with “Sam Walton” about a highly familiar 

firm, they easily applied existing knowledge. By using humor, fantasy, and projection about someone 

else (a “pretend” Sam Walton), they explained how they applied quite complex research stages in a fun 



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manner. Finally, students met online with the Professor/ (alias, “Sam Walton”) and verbally went over 

the different stages. 

The other illustrations in Table 4 are similar, and they may be used interchangeably for different 

teaching modes. For example, for conventional classes, the same approach as above may be used. 

However, the instructor may make a “game” during class about the class questions over different stages. 

For example, the instructor might select a student to be the class “coach”. When students answer 

questions correctly about the stages of the plan, the instructor might yell “stellar” loudly, and the coach 

would enter on an Excel spreadsheet the “stellar” received by each student. The “stellar” count may 

then represent a certain number of added m/c questions that each student would later get correct on the 

next quiz. For HyFlex courses, instead, the instructor may have those who are in the class compete with 

those at home. Using Zoom, students can collaborate as teams in an attempt to answer questions. For 

asynchronous, or more simplified projects, students might answer owner manual questions in a 

discussion board. 

 

5. Event Four: Presenting the Stimulus Material—Some General Considerations for Success 

The single most important “present the content” consideration may be from Alice Isen’s well-known 

research about problem-solving. She and her investigators (i.e., Isen, Daubman & Nowicki, 1987) had 

students attempt to solve difficult problems. She found that they were much more able to solve the 

problems when they were given “candy”. When students were given candy, they had fun coming up 

with solutions. Isen and others (i.e., Isen, Daubman & Nowicki, 1987; Isen, 1999) often examined the 

roles of using positive emotions and fun to stimulate individuals to come up with complex solutions. 

When presenting material, create a learning environment that works as a catalyst for positive and 

uplifting engagement with their peers. This “positive affect” allows students to use their mental 

resources more deeply. By providing students with experiences that generate a state of “fun” or 

happiness, they can reduce inhibited beliefs and handle difficult forms of learning and analysis 

experiences more effectively. The literature on happiness finds a correlation with productivity, 

achievement, and proclivity toward motivation (Oerlemans & Bakker, 2018; Lyubomirsky et al., 2005; 

Diener et al., 1999).  

Even more broadly, it is important for students to feel “intrinsically motivated” (or want to be involved) 

in their learning. Intrinsic motivation is concerned with being involved for its own sake because the 

individual innately wants to master his or her own destiny (Deci & Ryan, 2013). Encouraging students 

to have a desire for deeper involvement is core to intrinsically motivated learning. Intrinsic motivation 

is broader than “enjoyment” because it is concerned with “why” students enjoy (to master the 

environment).   

 



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Applied to marketing courses: marketing tends to be an “open environment” field that has no “right or 

wrong” answers. An “intrinsic motivation” (getting students excited for its own sake) teaching 

philosophy is particularly important in marketing and other “open environment” courses. It is key to 

excite marketing students for its own sake, as opposed to trying to find “right or wrong” answers.  

How to “present the content”, that stresses “intrinsic motivation” in an open-environment area, such as 

marketing? As background about how to do this, consider a research study conducted by one of the 

authors of this article (Lesser, 2001). The author examined a wide range of different types of motives 

of individuals. Part of the study focused on the following different considerations of intrinsic 

motivation: pure enjoyment, perceived competence, self-determination, curiosity, self-determination, 

curiosity, and a sense of challenge. The research found that none of these dimensions could be 

statistically separated. For example, a desire for perceived competence was statically inseparable from 

having a desire for challenge, or from a desire for pure enjoyment. Applied to presenting content in 

courses: use all of the different intrinsic motivation dimensions when presenting course content. They 

build on each other. Make courses “fun”. Have emails that show humor. The marketing instructor is 

attempting to make a student feel more challenged by using a sense of humor. Reach each student 

individually, as much as possible, and show a sense of self-determination. The student will find the 

material to have personal relevance. Make comments in discussion boards, and through assignments 

that “build up a student’s perceived competence”. Change teaching approaches and always make 

students feel a sense of challenge. Liberally use each of these different forms of intrinsic motivation 

together. 

5.1 Event Four: Presenting the Stimulus Material—A Few Strategies for Different Teaching Modes 

 

Table 4. Present Stimulus Material 

Asynchronous Online Synchronous Online HyFlex Conventional 

Use humor: prepare 

humorous, inspirational 

videos of material each 

week.  

 

Reflect: provide 

students with earlier 

papers. Ask previous 

students who wrote 

them to prepare advice.  

Pop quiz: Prepare a 

humorous “pop quiz” 

over material that 

students need to answer 

before first class. Give 

humorous gifts to 

praise students when 

they answer questions.  

Game: Make a game 

out of having online 

students compete with 

those who come to 

classes.     

Party: Same “pop quiz” 

as for synchronous 

students but focuses 

even more on having a 

special class party.   

 



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When presenting stimulus materials during teaching, it is important to use all of the different 

dimensions of intrinsic motivation. Encourage students to enjoy the material, be curious and challenged, 

feel more competent, and have a sense of self-determination. The different strategies presented across 

the modalities are most effective when the instructor attempts to use all of these intrinsic motivation 

dimensions together. Some strategies in the table involve a humorous “pop quiz”. It is no “pop quiz”, 

but merely a fun chance for students to review areas with the instructor with the title, “pop quiz”. By 

telling students in advance that they have a “hoax” pop quiz for the next class, they paradoxically find 

the experience to be fun and unintimidating. The humorous “pop quiz” should use each of the different 

types of intrinsic motivation. The instructor might give students a pop quiz, couched with obvious 

humor and perhaps written in Jokerman font at the end of a class, to summarize the material. Students 

are asked to answer the questions at the beginning of the next class. The instructor can build on the 

suspense of the “fun quiz” by having joke emails between the two classes about different possible 

answers. During the class period, the instructor may give small “gag gifts” and other minor awards to 

students. The instructor should attempt to “build up” students who get questions correct, as well as 

those who do not, to support their perceived competence. For example, the instructor might yell, 

“Stellar”, after a student gets a “pop quiz” question correct in class. When a student misses or fails to 

answer, the instructor might ask him or her to try (again) and yell, “stellar” when the student indeed 

tries. Another student might record the number of “stellars” that students receive, and the instructor 

would use the “stellar count” to award students with gag gifts and, possibly, add “questions correct” on 

the next quiz (Realize that some instructors are more comfortable than others, about providing humor. 

In addition, some diverse faculty may be very concerned about establishing credibility in the classroom. 

They may have a very concrete concern about how humor can reduce their effectiveness if they are not 

careful).   

 

6. Event Five: Providing Learning Guidance—Some General Considerations for Success 

“Presenting content” and “providing learning guidance” are interrelated, “flip sides” of the same 

educational process. “Providing learning guidance” is heavily concerned with being a 24 x 7 

personalized support system to develop strong student engagement with the content. It often means to 

provide a sense of student intrinsic motivation and make students feel excited and challenged, outside 

of the formal class. In marketing courses, having learning guidance also partially means helping 

students develop an increased tolerance for ambiguity about the relatively abstract and 

open-environment areas that are part of marketing courses. How does an instructor develop a “24 x 7” 

student support system to feel excited about courses that require a relatively high tolerance for 

ambiguity?    

 



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In part, think of ways to make tolerance for ambiguity a positive course attribute. In marketing and 

other “open environment” courses that require a tolerance for ambiguity, students need to have a 

creative mindset and self-efficacy in their ability to find solutions. There is no simple solution about 

how to make students develop an open-minded creative mindset when analyzing ambiguous situations. 

However, developing students’ tolerance for ambiguity appears to be critical so that they effectively 

manage the turbulent environments of the future.  

Furthermore, the instructor ought to explain why it is important to have a tolerance for ambiguity. 

Indeed, an instructor might build on the Baden and Higgs (2015) explanation of wisdom as knowing 

“what we do not know”. Specifically, they (Baden & Higgs, 2015) argue that “it is wiser to pursue 

incomplete, messy, contextualized, uncertain knowledge that enriches our understanding of how to 

promote human welfare than to amass lots of clean data that is easy to manipulate and present, but yet 

is based on false assumptions” (p. 541). The instructor needs to explain to students that the 

development of skills that will enable them to manage ambiguity, is key to providing lasting solutions 

and having career success  

In addition, the instructor ought to be very positive about how easy—and “fun”—it is for students to 

become proficient at developing a creative mindset. The instructor can integrate each of the different 

intrinsic motivation dimensions when thinking of creative ways to help students expand creative ideas, 

both inside and outside of actual classes. For example, outside of formal classes, the instructor can help 

students attempt to “self-determine” how concepts relate to their own lived experiences and later lives. 

During actual classes, the instructor might call on students in a personalized manner, such as by using 

their initials or nicknames, being very careful to ensure correct pronunciations, particularly given the 

variety of indigenous pronunciations. Even when emailing students, perhaps the instructor should 

continue using their initials or nicknames. More importantly, the instructor ought to think of ways to 

have positive reinforcement unexpectedly. For example, when one student in a team of members makes 

a nice contribution, write a team email about the thought that was shown. Make an ongoing, 

out-of-class effort to build up students through the interrelated dimensions of enjoyment, perceived 

competence, curiosity, challenge, and self-determination.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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6.1 Event Five: Providing Learning Guidance—A Few Strategies for Different Modes 

 

Table 5. Provide Learning Guidance 

Asynchronous Online Synchronous Online HyFlex Conventional 

Be accessible: provide a 

humorous “Help 

Button” on course 

website. Have Zoom 

meetings to work with 

small groups of 

students. 

Justify creativity: early 

in the course, explain 

the relevance of having 

a tolerance for 

ambiguity in life. 

 

Give unexpected help: 

identify areas early that 

may be difficult for 

students.  Provide 

numerous illustrations 

to help them. Prepare 

work that students do 

not expect from the 

instructor. 

Support students: 

encourage students to 

get help from the 

instructor and others. 

Some students may be 

able to meet each other 

over coffee. 

Support students 

through others: develop 

ongoing help from the 

faculty, and previous 

students, about how to 

deal with ambiguous 

issues. Have a course 

“Board of Directors” 

consisting of earlier 

students who did well. 

They hold brief “office 

hours” with current 

students. 

  

The instructor is a coach, and s/he involves their creative mindsets to generate stimulating, engaging, 

and creative ways to help students help themselves. An “asynchronous online” strategy involves having 

a “Help Button” in different parts of the student’s course web pages. Use it to offer ways to get 

personal help. Several added illustrations are provided for learning guidance in Table 5. Indeed, have a 

“Board of Directors” of previous students or alumni who work with the instructor to assist students. 

They could meet with students one hour per week, in the instructor’s office or online, and be given 

titles for their help. 

 

7. Event Six: Eliciting Performance—Some General Considerations for Success 

Eliciting performance, or inviting students to practice what they have learned, is an important way for 

students to develop a lasting ability to develop strategies for an uncertain environment. The best way to 

get students to practice is to be proactive. Write to students early and ask if they may help with 

assignments. Be “kind but firm” when getting students to practice. Be extremely positive and 

concerned in emails, and in every possible interaction. Think of ways to help students, even before they 

start working on the assignments, too. Nevertheless, be firm about requesting that everyone practices 

and completes assignments.  



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Stress that students initially take small steps to practice course concepts. Write, and talk with, students 

early about helping them and show a sense of humor (For example, possibly write, “Do it today 

because Halloween is not far away”). Be extremely positive when students are late on early 

assignments, but request compliance about completing “small steps”/assignments over time.   

7.1 Event Six: Eliciting Performance—A Few Strategies for Different Modes 

 

Table 6. Elicit Performance 

Asynchronous Online Synchronous Online Hyflex Conventional 

Have role models: in 

TEC Book, Poster 

Sessions, and Gallery 

Tours, “online café” 

from Bonk & Khoo 

(2014, pp. 275-276): 

request that students 

from earlier semesters 

make assignments 

available for current 

students. This “Poster 

Gallery Tour” can be 

kept permanently. 

Develop party: same as 

for Event 4, 

Synchronous Online. 

Prepare “fun” 

assignment answered 

as a “fun party” during 

Zoom class.  

Use Peer coaching: 

Adapted from TEC 

Book, Select a Critical 

Friend, from Bonk & 

Khoo (2014, pp. 

275-276): select a 

“friend” in class, or at 

home, who can 

critically evaluate the 

work of another.   

 

Proofing helps 

learning: in TEC Book, 

Grammar Check, Peer 

Check, Bonk & Khoo 

(2014, pp. 272-273). 

Have students edit 

drafts of other students. 

This editorial process 

helps students 

understand the entire 

logic of an assignment. 

 

Two areas to elicit performance, in Table 7, are simple to appreciate, and practical. First, as discussed 

for the Hyflex mode, have students select a “friend” in the class who can critically evaluate the 

member’s work. Anyone can feel “stuck” when developing assignments, particularly when preparing 

creative work. It can be invaluable to find a “friend” who helps out. The other strategy, for 

conventional classes, is also invaluable. Ask members to “proof” drafts of work from others. 

“Proofing” is extremely educational; a student who proofs considers how to develop the overall flow of 

the work, and understands the logic involved in applying concepts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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8. Events Seven and Eight: Providing Feedback about Performance and Assessing the 

Performance—Some General Considerations for Success 

Gagné (i.e., Gagné et al., 2005) consider Event Seven, providing feedback, to be about formative 

feedback so that students can improve. Event Eight, assessing feedback, is about the student’s final 

assessment of learning. This section gives the most attention to Event Seven or providing formative 

feedback.  

When developing formative feedback, it is important to give timely feedback so that the student can 

learn from it and improve later work. Develop a “progressive strategy” that gives students a chance to 

become better and better at developing their work. This is particularly important for courses that center 

on creative and abstract concepts, such as marketing courses. Attempt to have multiple different 

overlapping assignments that interactively build into each other. Some early assignments can be 

handled in discussion boards and be worth little. Others can be worth more but are still viewed to be 

practice for final papers. Ideally, students should develop final papers that have gone through earlier 

stages of practice and development. Team projects, too, can be evaluated several times during the 

semester, with the first one having only a minimal grade.  

Another consideration about feedback: how “kind” should evaluative comments be, and how detailed? 

For example, an instructor of this article initially tends to write “kind comments” in his evaluations. 

Then, he considers different specific sections of student papers and discusses specific areas that need 

improvement. Most of the time, students appreciate the “up-front” kind, detailed comments. However, 

be aware that some students from structured fields tend to dislike kindness—and detailed suggestions. 

Many of them are from disciplines in which answers tend to be more “right or wrong”. The goal needs 

to be focused on encouragement but also continuous improvement and authentic feedback on the areas 

of development. 

Pintrich and Schunk (1996) argue that, when encouraging learners with praise, to be direct and 

unambiguous and tie comments to positive learning outcomes. Brophy (2010) also suggests, “When 

praise is bland and uniformly presented, and given without regard to performance, it tends to be 

ineffective (p. 262)”. The best approach is to write a polished draft of comments to students. Write 

believable comments of praise that show thought and effort. Explain specific ways that the student 

should improve and how these forms of improvement will help the student in later assignments. When 

the instructor reads the later work, bring up the areas of improvement and how much they are valued.  

 

 

 

 

 



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8.1 Events Seven and Eight: Providing Feedback about Performance and Assessing the 

Performance—A Few Strategies for Different Modes 

 

Table 7. Provide Feedback and Assess Performance 

Asynchronous Online Synchronous Online HyFlex Conventional 

Provide feedback: write a 

polished “basic” draft of 

comments that begin with 

strong praise, to the extent 

possible, and then provide 

detailed suggestions for 

improvement. Make it polished, 

detailed, and to the point.  

 

Provide feedback: include 

online practice reviews and 

practice tests.   

 

Assess performance: administer 

pre-and post-tests to check for 

progression of performance. 

Provide feedback, in 

TEC Book, from Bonk 

& Khoo (2014, pp. 

84-85): Have mentors 

available through mobile 

messaging for help.   

Provide feedback: 

embed formative 

assessment 

opportunities 

throughout course 

website.  

Provide feedback: in TEC 

Book, from Bonk & Khoo 

(2014, pp. 77-78). Have 

students reflect on what is 

working well, and not 

working well. This gives 

students a formative 

chance to give advice.  

 

Assess performance: revise 

20% of each class every 

semester. Usually 

impossible to drastically 

change most courses.   

 

In creative courses, such as marketing, students are encouraged to have as much of a chance to practice 

polishing work, through earlier assignments as possible. Most of the “providing feedback” suggestions, 

in Table 7 are concerned with being progressive in providing feedback. Students in the class, earlier 

students, guest executives, and other professors, can be used to assess students’ performance. It can be 

painful to receive criticism from anyone. Have a healthy amount of humor and authentic kindness when 

others evaluate students. Encourage students to realize that they are developing feedback skills which 

will help them when they seek management positions in the future. Think of ways to make their 

formative evaluations engaging, interactive, and enjoyable, as well as educational. 

Furthermore, develop pre-/post-tests to evaluate performance. Often, instructors’ evaluations can help 

the instructor develop long-term improvement and simultaneously give students a chance to enhance 

their understanding of concepts during the course. For example, as suggested for hybrid classes in 

Table 7, the instructor can incorporate numerous different open-ended oral or written questions to give 

students a chance to reflect on the course and its evaluations.   

 



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9. Event Nine: Enhance Retention and Transfer—Some General Considerations for Success    

The final step here is to help students remember concepts in a more lasting manner by having them 

practice the materials in ways that they will use later in life. By giving a liberal amount of attention to 

“why the student should care”, when going over concepts, the instructor is providing application and 

“the why” for students that encourages their self-motivation to learn. The instructor has a good “real 

world” reason for including most areas in a course; the student, at every turn, needs to know the “good 

reason”.   

9.1 Event Nine: Enhance Retention and Transfer—A Few Strategies for Different Modes 

 

Table 8. Enhance Retention and Transfer 

Asynchronous Online Synchronous Online HyFlex Conventional 

Reward students: give 

students awards for 

course efforts—that they 

can use in their career 

searches.  

 

Remember course 

through an email: at the 

end of the course, ask 

students to write an 

email to their email 

accounts. They should 

explain two abilities that 

the course taught them 

to have that they most 

want to remember in the 

future.   

Role play: pretend, at the 

end of the course, that 

students select a 

well-known business 

pioneer (i.e., Steve Jobs) 

to discuss their projects.  

Ask them what this 

person would likely have 

considered the projects’ 

contributions.  

Diversity value: take 

advantage of differences in 

backgrounds of students by 

asking them to explain how 

the course, now, allows them 

to handle issues differently in 

their lives. 

Support from others: 

Have final student 

presentations open to 

faculty, executives, and 

parents.  Guests discuss 

the contributions of the 

student’s work in class. 

 

The illustrations in Table 8 are designed for students to “internalize” the abstract abilities that they have 

developed in the course and recognize the importance of these abilities later. Consider, for example, the 

second illustration for asynchronous classes, in Table 8. Near the end of the course, students are asked 

to send themselves an email to different email accounts and write in the subject area of the email, open 

in (five years from the date written). In the body of the email, they ought to list two abilities that the 

course has taught them to develop, and conclude the email with the phrase, “Believe in yourself”. Some 

students will forget about the email for a couple of years. Yet, most students, several years after 



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graduation, will find the emails, and realize that they have important creative abilities stimulated 

partially by the course.   

The other illustrations in Table 8 are also concerned with stimulating an appreciation of “later life” 

abilities developed from the course. For example, as discussed in Table 8 for synchronous courses, 

students might pretend that a well-known business pioneer was in the final class, such as Steve Jobs. 

What, according to the students, might the pioneer argue are contributions of the projects? Furthermore, 

invite relatives, work colleagues, industry leaders, faculty members, and other guests to attend student 

presentations and discuss the relevance of their presentations for later in the students’ lives. 

 

10. Summary: Towards the Systematic Development of Students’ Creativity 

The introduction of this article explained that many students feel uncomfortable about developing 

creative abilities in their business courses. Some students have a fear of failure and worry that 

creativity in courses can impact their GPA. Others do not have much tolerance for ambiguity. They 

have had multiple choice quizzes, and highly structured early courses, and find creative business 

courses to be intimidating. However, these students’ eventual careers, and lives, depend on developing 

creative problem-solving abilities.   

This article provides some suggestions to develop students’ creative abilities in introductory marketing 

courses. It uses Gagné’s nine “instructional events” (i.e., Gagné et al., 2005) because the events provide 

a systematic set of stages to improve any form of instruction. Furthermore, this article attempts to “go 

beyond” Gagné’s events and offers best practices and new ideas that directly assist students to be more 

creative. For example, the article is initially concerned about getting students’ attention so that they 

come to classes and read course materials. However, it also focuses on ways to change the student’s 

“mindset” for appreciating creativity throughout the course, with humorous “course manual” emails 

(see Appendix 1), and an online cafe’ so that class members develop a foundation of social support. 

The article also attempts to inspire students to build on their earlier experiences by requesting that they 

read a humorous “owner’s manual” of the course, and applying complex concepts by pretending that 

they were responding to “Sam Walton”. This approach attempts to use humor, fantasy, peer 

engagement, and projection to get students to relax and use their creativity. 

Additionally, the article focuses on engaging students through all of the types of intrinsic motivation. 

When attempting to “stretch” students by using all dimensions, such as pure enjoyment, curiosity, 

challenge, improved perceptions of competence, and self-determination, sequentially, the receptivity of 

the student for creativity is enhanced. Finally, evaluations, and all instructor teaching, are concerned 

with ensuring that students develop abilities for five or ten years in the future, and not just for today. 

The illustrations in this article are limited. Of course, instructors ought to first consider their own 

teaching styles and develop strategies that best fit their styles, goals, and time considerations.  

Hopefully, the illustrations will stimulate instructors to expand on these ideas and come up with new, 



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inspirational strategies that represent their styles and constraints. The illustrations in this article are 

about “how” and “why” to teach students to be creative. In combination with Gagne’s events, they 

provide a systematic road map about “what” can be considered to develop creative minds and “when”.    

 

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Appendix 

Appendix 1: Inspirational Introductory Email 

 

“Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success”.—Swami 

Sivananda 

 

If you hear a voice within you say, “you cannot paint”, then by all means paint and that voice will be 

silenced.—Vincent Van Gogh 

 

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have”.—Maya Angelou 

 

“Laughter is the fireworks of the soul”.—Josh Billings 

 

Dear Marketing Students, 

 

I have always had a strong sense of humor. It has helped me “break the ice” and make people 

comfortable about trying new things! I will likely continue to show a sense of humor in almost 

everything I do! Understand, though, that I want you to have fun in this course—and it begins by 

developing a good initial foundation. Your new Mktg. xxx course is now open, and I want you to take 

it for a spin! 

 

Your New Owner’s Manual: What to Do When You Sit in The Driver’s Seat? 

 

When you sit into the “car seat”, check the controls before you put the course into drive. Race to my 

introductory Welcome Announcement! Then, drive through the different comments and assignments in 

week one. Take a spin through them now! They will take little gas or require any need to use your car’s 

map navigation. 

 

Now, put the course into drive! Rev up your engine and realize that you are going to enjoy the 

experience! What can stop you? Going into reverse by waiting a bit too long to read any chapters of the 

book? Or getting an older edition of the book? This will be similar to putting the wrong gasoline in 

your tank! In addition, realize that I am the “back seat driver” who wants to help you! I cannot do my 

job and help you unless you write me for help. 

 



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Take a brief spin through the book! Few chapters are due before you take your first driving quiz during 

the third week. You should not need to get out and “kick your tires”. If you think that you will, honk at 

xxx@xxx.edu. 

 

Take a spin around the block now! Know that I have a sense of humor—and always will—and that I 

take your experience this semester seriously, too! There are no “secrets” to driving this vehicle other 

than to start a little bit early—and keeping in touch if I may do anything. You are “required” to have a 

most exhilarating semester!! Some of you have had a long drive this last year, with the Pandemic, and 

other terrible events! Believe in the inspirational quotes at the top of this letter—and they will drive 

you to go through any spooky road!! I am going to love having you in this course! 

 

The best!!, 

 

 

Dr. xxx  

 

 

 

mailto:xxx@xxx.edu