Be the Teacher

Description and Grading Rubric

Understanding and Influencing Consumers

Profs. Barasz and Simonsohn

Overview

The best way to know if you really understand something is to try and teach it to someone else.
And not just anyone else—someone else who doesn’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
(Think: teaching your grandma.) To do that effectively, you have to simplify complicated things—
and that’s a life/work skill worth honing.

Therefore, each group will be responsible for preparing one 10-minute presentation on an
academic paper. These presentations will take place during Sessions 3–5 (three presentations per
session). Groups will sign up for their presentation slot and select a paper from a pre-selected list
relevant to each session’s topic.

Presentation Content and Format

After signing up for a presentation slot and paper, every member of the group should read the
paper and be involved in synthesizing and presenting the information. All groups will be given 10
minutes to address three main questions using PowerPoint slides:

• What was the overall premise of the paper?

o What’s the motivation of this paper (i.e., why should we care)?
• Describe *one* experiment in detail:
o What was the independent variable?
o What was the dependent variable?
o How did the authors test their hypothesis?
• What’s the “so what” — i.e., what can we learn about consumer behavior from this paper?
o In what contexts might these findings matter most or be most applicable?
o Based on these findings, what concrete recommendations might you make to a
business owner or manager?

*Email slides to kate.barasz@esade.edu at least one hour prior to the presentation session.*

Useful tips for reading the paper: Typically, these papers will have an introduction, followed by
several experiments (where the design is discussed and the results are presented), and a general
discussion at the end. Focus on the introduction, the study methods, and the general discussion;
you are not (yet) expected to read and understand the results sections (i.e., all the stats).
Remember that each group only has to choose ONE study to present this to the class; choose one
that you find particularly interesting or insightful or cool. Skim the parts that get too technical; just
try to get a sense for what the authors were testing—both substantively (i.e., the “so what?” of the
paper) and technically (i.e., the methods they used).

Grading rubric

Section Expectations Points

Clearly understood and articulated the motivation for

Substantive Description
the paper; came up with novel, interesting and useful 5
(The “so what?”)
applications for the findings

Demonstrated a deep understanding of how (and

Technical Description
why) the experiment worked; correctly described the 5
(The methods used)
experimental design and its critical elements

Taught us well; did an excellent job simplifying a

Presentation Style challenging topic; clear slides; professional and 5
lively presentation; “brought the research to life”