Learning Strategies for the Next Generation: Assessing a Computer-Based Module to Teach Break-Even Analysis

The authors designed a self-paced, computer-based module to teach break-even analysis in a Marketing Principles class. This paper assesses the effectiveness of a short lecture plus this computer-based module on student learning compared with (1) lecture only (the control group) and (2) short-lecture-plus-problem-set delivery of the break-even material. This quasi-experiment showed that student learning was facilitated by both the problem-set and the computer-module compared to lecture only. Among the students doing the computer-based break-even module, 75 percent evaluated it positively across several scales and less than 10 percent evaluated it negatively. This paper also identifies issues and directions for further research.