Action Research Cycles
Initial planning of the bake sale activity began by posing the research question, “What
learning activity would satisfy the following course objectives: 1) it would incorporate a real
product to which students could relate, 2) it would provide a method with which to teach the
more abstract and difficult topics in marketing, such as pricing/profit, and 3) it would allow for
the creation of a realistic marketing plan.” In the first iteration, the course syllabus required the
marketing plan to be worked on all semester, which would allow students to apply course terms
and concepts throughout, culminating in a written marketing plan at the end. We began by
examining the various experiential learning activities described in the marketing education
literature and decided the bake sale met the criterion of realism, as previously discussed. In
addition, the product could be easily “manufactured” by students as well as provide straight
forward performance measurements, for example, profitability, units sold, etc, which is similar to
how marketing activities are assessed in “real life.” Finally, this activity could be completed
within the semester time frame and students would be able to see the relationship between their
decisions and actions and the end results that were achieved.