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- All Subjects: Business
- All Subjects: Education
- Creators: Department of Marketing
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
The academic environment has historically been somewhat slow to implement and adopt new technologies. However, developments in video games have created an opportunity for students to learn new skills and topics through nontraditional mediums of education. The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the need for flexible learning opportunities. Joystick Education is our approach to addressing this need. Through online, game-based tutoring and a database of video games with high educational value, Joystick Education creates a learning environment that is effective, fun, and engaging for students. We analyzed popular, mainstream video games for educational content and selected nine games that teach concepts like history, biology, or physics while playing the game. Through promotion on social media, we generated buzz around our website which led to 103 unique visitors over our first month online and two customers requesting to book our tutoring service. We are confident that given more time to grow, Joystick Education can generate profit and become a successful business.
A large section of United States citizens live far away from supermarkets and do not have<br/>an easy way to get to one. This portion of the population lives in an area called a food desert.<br/>Food deserts are geographic areas in which access to affordable, healthy food, such as fresh<br/>produce, is limited or completely nonexistent due to the absence of convenient grocery stores.<br/>Individuals living in food deserts are left to rely on convenience store snacks and fast food for<br/>their meals because they do not have access to a grocery store with fresh produce in their area.<br/>Unhealthy foods also lead to health issues, as people living in food deserts are typically at a<br/>higher risk of diet-related conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.<br/>Harvest, a sustainable farming network, is a smartphone application that teaches and guides<br/>people living in small spaces through the process of growing fresh, nutritious produce in their<br/>own homes. The app will guide users through the entire process of gardening, from seed to<br/>harvest. Harvest would give individuals living in food deserts an opportunity to access fresh<br/>produce that they currently can’t access. An overwhelming response based on our user<br/>discussion and market analysis revealed that our platform was in demand. Development of a<br/>target market, brand guide, and full lifecycle were beneficial during the second semester as<br/>Harvest moved forward. Through the development of a website, social media platform, and<br/>smartphone application, Harvest grew traction for our platform. Our social media accounts saw a<br/>1700% growth rate, and this wider audience was able to provide helpful feedback.
The research begins with the history of standards, starting with traditional outcome-based standards. It then delves into the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), which highlights the type of skills 21st century students are expected to develop and master by the time they enter college and careers. Next, it explores the hot topic of Education to this date: Common Core State Standards. In the midst of educational reform, these standards seek to add consistency across the nation in regards to what students should know at each grade level and also encourage teaching of the 21st century skills. This section briefly details the content of Common Core English Language Arts and Mathematics standards.
After summarizing P21 and Common Core, this report shifts into its focused 21st century skill: collaboration. As one of the 4 C’s that P21 and Common Core emphasize in their standards, it is imperative to research critical elements of collaboration as they relate to groups and teams of all ages. Even more specifically, collaboration is a practice that is becoming more and more standard in business across all industries, so it is a skill that is highly in demand for students to acquire. In regards to collaboration, Executive Vice President of Verizon, Bob Mudge, states, “companies are able to innovate much more quickly and even create solutions to problems that may not be prevalent issues yet” (Mudge 1). The standards expect that students will be prepared to collaborate in college and careers, so key elements of collaboration in those settings—in-person or virtual—need apply or be simplified to K-6 collaborative environments. This section also analyzes a case study experiment on young children about how technology functionality and design enables, encourages, or enforces collaboration.
Next, this thesis reviews three case studies that represent evolution in our understanding of technology’s role as a support system in teaching and learning collaboration. The first case study shows how simple handheld devices assisted in correcting weaknesses in a variety of collaborative and organizational skills. The second study utilizes interactive tabletop technology to realize the idea of tracking collaborative ability in real time through synchronized audio and touch recording. Finally, researchers assess the effectiveness of one student to one device (1:1) initiatives by gathering student-reported data before and after the program’s implementation, which largely speak to the direction of many schools’ technology strategies.
To supplement all of the secondary research above, the researcher of this thesis conducted interviews with nine K-6 teachers to gather their insights on collaboration and how they facilitate it. They explain how they use technology in their classroom to enhance the learning environment. Additionally, they give opinions on what could be done to make collaboration more easily taught and facilitated, as well as what would better develop their students’ collaborative skills.
The compilation of this information then leads to implications of what needs to be present, from a technology standpoint, to more effectively teach collaborative skills to our schoolchildren. This includes a brief industry analysis of a program that already exists, as well as recommendations for new technology that considers the research conducted throughout the paper. Another implication addressed centers on the instruction and facilitation of technology and the digital divide that can result from varying competency among teachers, which brings to light the need for proper technology development programs for educators.
The purpose of this report is to analyze the current market position of Scottsdale Ranch Animal Hospital, and make appropriate marketing recommendations and strategies for implementation. Managerial goals include increasing customer retention and growing its customer base in order to generate new revenue.
The analysis conducted includes reviewing the external environment, internal environment, and market opportunities. Notable industry and environmental trends include: laws regarding bans on the sale of commercially bred pets, an overall increase in national pet spending, declining feline veterinary visits over the last few years, a cultural trend emphasizing spending on luxury pet goods and services, and a significant level of local competition that has similar service offerings.
Notable internal strengths include: the prime geographical location of SRAH in a pet-friendly and wealthy community, multiple service offerings available, the quality of veterinary staff, a loyal clientele, and a “blank slate” in terms of marketing. However, internal weaknesses include: outdated equipment and technology, a lack of marketing efforts and a weak online presence, poor management, human resource issues and little employee accountability, and poor financial conditions as a result of high levels of debt between the practice and building.
Partway through this project, SRAH decided to sell its practice to PetVet Care Centers, a company specialized in acquiring animal hospitals in order to grow a national veterinary network. PetVet took over ownership in March of 2014, and has already begun to address the critical managerial and financial problems at SRAH. Thus, the following recommendations are made to the new owners specifically regarding building an integrated marketing campaign. The limitation, however, is that PetVet’s marketing budget is unknown at the time of this report.
Based on SRAH’s precarious position in the marketplace, it is recommended that the practice focus on client retention, capturing first time visits by creating a strong online presence, and capturing first time visits by targeting new customer segments. Client retention strategies are as follows:
• Push email sign ups for online Pet Portal. Goal is to improve the percentage of clients signed up from 36% to 43% by the end of the 2014 fiscal year (approximately 450 new sign ups).
• Specifically create policies regarding behavior in employee-client interactions.
• Include a summary sheet detailing services received and veterinarian recommendations to be given with discharge paperwork.
• Implement callbacks within 24 hours of a patient surgery to be performed by vet techs
• Create specialized goodie bags for surgeries or boarding stay. Example would be a boarding goodie bag that contains treats, toys, and a personalized “thank you for staying with us” card.
• Bundling services to create preventative care packages. Canine Junior and Senior Wellness packages could result in additional $31,000+ in revenue each year.
Strategies centered on capturing first time visits through creating a strong online presence include:
• Hiring CyberMark for its regional SEO services to improve SRAH’s ranking in search engine results.
• Switching to a new website producer to allow for greater flexibility and autonomy in managing SRAH’s website. It is suggested that PetVet consider IDEXX or CyberMark for this service.
Lastly, strategies centered on capturing first time visits by targeting new customer segments are as follow:
• Purchasing a direct mail list from DirectMailTools.com, that specifies Scottsdale homeowners or renters, who own a cat or dog, and have lived in their place of residency for less than a year.
• Consider converting breed specific groups as a long-term goal, though no immediate action is suggested.