Consumer Behavior (BUS 3302) at UoPeople

Consumer Behavior (BUS 3302) is another course I took at the UoPeople. One of my siblings has an MBA, and I recall helping them in their Consumer Behavior class by distributing product surveys in my high school. Their class with the professor visited ice cream plants and cookie factories for some type of practical assignments. When I signed up for Consumer Behavior, I thought this class would have some elements similar to that, like creating online surveys, asking questions locally from potential customers about a new product or service, and so on. Alas, the course at the UoPeople is very academic. There are elements of psychology, scientific theory, data research, statistics, learning, memory, motive, attitude, decision-making, ethics, and charts thrown into it. The class also had some terms I had never heard of before.

My instructor had a Doctorate and was from the US or Canada. He had his degrees both from the US and Canada. He taught at a local college in Canada. My class had 26 students, and not many dropped out. It was a civil class, but unfair peer assessment was on the level of 100, especially in Written Assignments. Sadly, the instructor didn’t do anything to fix it.

There is no book for this class. You learn everything from links and weekly PDF notes prepared by the university. The Discussion posts and Written Assignments are worth 15% each or 30% in total. The Learning Journals are worth 10%. The Discussion posts, Written Assignments, and Learning Journals typically want you to discuss the concepts you learn each week and talk about already conducted research in articles that you find. You’ve to write 7 Discussion posts, 6 Written Assignments, and 8 Learning Journals. You even have to write Written Assignments during the weeks of Graded Quizzes. I found that a bit overwhelming with 3 courses full on.

The Discussion posts, Written Assignments, and Learning Journals weren’t difficult at all. In one of the Written Assignments, you have to make an ad. I made a funny but creative video ad, which many of my peers appreciated. It was also the only Written Assignment on which I got a perfect score. If you have an iPhone and a Mac, I encourage you to make a video ad. iMovie on Apple’s ecosystem makes it a piece of cake to create innovative videos with music and animation. So, give it a go. 

The Graded Quizzes are worth 15% each or 30% in total. One of the Graded Quizzes had 29 questions, and the other had 30. You get 30 and 45 minutes to finish your two Graded Quizzes. The Final Exam is worth 30% of your final grade. The Final Exam had 50 questions, and you get an hour to finish it. The Graded Quizzes and Final Exam had questions on psychology, scientific theory, data research, statistics, learning, memory, motive, attitude, decision-making, and ethics. There were some statistical questions on the Final and Quizzes, too. There are no non-Graded Quizzes in this class. So, make study notes to prepare for the Graded Quizzes and the Final. Though there is a practice Final Review Quiz, which somewhat helps you prepare for the Final, the repetition was minimal on the Final. 

It's a reasonably straightforward and moderately lightweight course, if not entirely. I wish I had a better instructor that took unfair peer assessment seriously and fixed the grades. I also wish I had better peers in the class. I didn’t have a good experience in the class because of the said factors. That left a bad taste in my mouth. I hope you’ll have a better experience through more understanding classmates and an instructor in the course. After all, a conscientious instructor and levelheaded peers can change the ambiance of a class.

Good luck!