Assignment
4A:
My
Belief:
As
students adapt to how changing technological times impact their education, one
this remains the same: they only want the grade. Products such as Smokin’ Notes
and Study Edge are great for learning material, but, they are only used to make
sure that they receive the grade they want on the coming exam or assessment. While
I believe the aforementioned current services do an admirable job with exam
prep, I find that students (including myself) have trouble finding what they
need to do to receive certain grades on non-exam assignment. I believe an unmet
need is a service that can show the work of previous students on given assignments
and show all different letter grades on previous attempts on the given assignment.
Directions are often vague, and the amount of time needed to spend on a given assignment
can be confusing and mishandled by students who either put not enough time on
an important assignment or an exorbitant amount of time on a simple task. I believe this has always been a need, but
with the increasing amount of technology present in the classroom and the presence
of online classes skyrocketing, the need is now more present than ever. Opponents
of this opportunity may point to the potential increase of cheating, but
TurnItIn and other services imbedded in Canvas have accelerated to a point where
this is now possible. Currently, there is no method to combat this need unless
you happen to be lucky with an older sibling who has taken the class with the same
professor and the assignments have remained constant over the years.
The
Prototypical Customer #1 (Young Male):
Interview #1:
1.
Have you ever wondered what a previous “A”
on a given assignment looks like?
“Yeah I never know I can best spend
my time to get the grade.”
2.
Have you ever spent way too much time or
not enough time on a paper because the directions were too vague?
“You would think the directions would
be better, but yeah this is a pain I feel.”
3.
If there was a product that gave you
access to different grades of previous assignments, so you could get a better
understanding of what was asked, would you use it?
“That would definitely work for me
and of course I would use it!”
4.
Would you recommend that product to
friends and other students?
“It obviously depends on if the product
lives up to the hype, but I would recommend it if it does what you say!”
5.
Why is a product like that needed, both
for you and potentially the students around you?
“Grades are the basis for why we go
to class, and a head start on knowing how to get the grade would be prime.”
6.
How satisfied would you personally be with
a solution such as the one previously given?
“It would be something I have never
heard before but would definitely be on my radar for things to look out for.”
The
Prototypical Customer #2 (Young Female):
Interview #2:
1.
Have you ever wondered what a previous “A”
on a given assignment looks like?
“Yes! I try and find people who have
taken the class before to see if they can guide me to how best to complete an
assignment.”
2.
Have you ever spent way too much time or
not enough time on a paper because the directions were too vague?
“This is one of my biggest issues;
time management on work is something I have to get better at.”
3.
If there was a product that gave you
access to different grades of previous assignments, so you could get a better
understanding of what was asked, would you use it?
“Absolutely. I think understanding
how to approach a paper or assignment can sometimes be harder than actually
completing it.”
4.
Would you recommend that product to
friends and other students?
“They would be the first people I
would tell, as I think most people struggle finding the balance with time and
the grade they try to receive.”
5.
Why is a product like that needed, both
for you and potentially the students around you?
“Things like Study Edge are great for
exams, but there’s nothing to ease the burden of everyday assignments and how
to best approach them.”
6.
How satisfied would you personally be with
a solution such as the one previously given?
“If it works like you say, I would be
100% satisfied and would be a loyal costumer for sure.”
The
Prototypical Customer #3 (Older Male Graduate Student):
Interview #3:
1.
Have you ever wondered what a previous “A”
on a given assignment looks like?
“I often wonder what an “A” looks
like because my work never seems to get it.”
2.
Have you ever spent way too much time or
not enough time on a paper because the directions were too vague?
“Directions are often vague. So yeah,
I would say I really don’t know how to spend my time sometimes.”
3.
If there was a product that gave you
access to different grades of previous assignments, so you could get a better
understanding of what was asked, would you use it?
“I would say yeah I would probably
use it. The content of the assignment doesn’t seem to be a problem, but the
formatting is something I often struggle with.
4.
Would you recommend that product to
friends and other students?
“If I ultimately found it to be useful,
I would have no problem recommending it.”
5.
Why is a product like that needed, both
for you and potentially the students around you?
“Misunderstandings often come from
not understanding the task at hand. I think this product potentially eliminates
that.”
6.
How satisfied would you personally be with
a solution such as the one previously given?
“I’m
always looking for ways to help cut out unnecessary wasted time, so I would be
very satisfied if that could happen with my everyday classwork.”
Reflection:
After this process, I
learned that this opportunity is mostly a universal thing for college students.
Grades, at the end of the day, are of the utmost priority, and a way to help
cement better grades has mass appeal. I wanted to interview a grad student, as
I wondered if this need extended upon all students, and to my surprise, they
have similar educational needs and wants as everyone else.
Summary:
I
believe, in the end, almost all my original opportunity is intact. At first, I
struggled with wondering if such a niche product had large appeal, but a small
niche of such a large marketplace still eludes strong opportunity. After all the
feedback, I believe that I am better able to understand how individuals would
react to the opportunity, and I can fine tune smaller details to create the
best possible solution. Customer feedback is the basis for successful entrepreneurial
endeavors, as their opinion drives sales. However, new opportunities might have
give customers time to adapt to a new solution before respecting their feedback
completely.
Hey, I have never thought of that, but I have felt the same. Most of the time professors don’t necessarily make their expectations clear on each assignment and showing what a “A” paper should look like. However, I have had one or two professors bring up examples of how it should look. I think if the school makes this a guideline for all professors we can have it in all of our classes.
ReplyDeleteVery good idea. I just took an online class that had very specific directions and I spent hours n the assignment. When I checked my grade, I got a C on it and had no idea what I could different. An example would have helped me tremendoously as once the teacher told me what to change I knew exactly what to change and realized an A was easy to get. We often worry about the big exam, but assignment can ruin your grades just as much. Good idea, good opportunity, good work.
ReplyDeleteThis raises a really interesting question about the consistency of grading assignments and simply vague instruction on assignments. I often find myself doing an over the top job on a project to cover all the bases in case I misunderstood the assignment requirements. I agree with the interviewees that it would help my time management abilities to be 100% certain on what I needed to do for an assignment. Most learning occurs preparing for exams or watching lectures, not doing assignments in my opinion.
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