So, you want me to teach Social Media Marketing?
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This post is one I’ve been thinking about for awhile and was prompted by a discussion I had last semester with my Social Media Marketing students at Stony Brook. The lecture for the day was on personal branding. When talking about how to optimize one’s profile on LinkedIn, I recommended that students consider turning on "Creator Mode” and using hashtags to signal their expertise. To illustrate what I was recommending, I shared a screenshot of my own LinkedIn profile and asked students to share what comes to mind about my personal brand after reviewing the hashtags I selected. A student then indicated their surprise that I did not include #socialmediamarketing. I saw this as an opportunity to provide some insight into how I came about teaching Social Media Marketing—both for my students and for the readers of this newsletter.
As an undergraduate student, I didn’t think much about why different faculty taught different courses. As a graduate student, I began to appreciate the relevance of expertise and the politics of course assignment when reasoning about why different faculty taught different courses. As a part of this, I came to understand that instructors could take on courses with topics that they didn’t feel expert in. Then, I experienced this firsthand as a new faculty member at Stony Brook assigned to teach Social Media Marketing. So, in this post, I share how I prepped a course on a topic for which I knew very little about. Just so it’s clear though, I knew when applying to my position at Stony Brook that I would teach this course. I was also clear in my interview that I knew very little about this topic but was very open to learning and developing this new expertise.
BEFORE THE TERM
Prepping a new course is a daunting task, especially when the topic is new to you! I initially experienced a bit of panic once I realized I had to prep a course on a topic I knew very little about. If you find yourself in a similar situation, here are a few things you can do to get yourself started.
Request help. It is completely appropriate to ask your department head and/or area chair to share any resources they may have to get you started. These resources may include prior syllabi, course materials, and/or external resources that you could use to guide your course development. In my case, I received prior syllabi and was directed to an online textbook resource that included sample lectures and activities. I read the textbook prior to the term and was able to organize many of my lectures around materials shared on the textbook’s site. Although the textbook itself wasn’t great and I do not assign it to students, it offered a great starting point for course development.
Lean on other people’s expertise. I’m a firm believer that it’s to students’ benefit to learn about a topic from multiple sources. When prepping my course, I worked to connect with as many social media marketing experts as possible. I joined Facebook group for social media marketing instructors and social media marketing professionals. Within Stony Brook, I reached out to the communications team to connect with their social media director and the Career Center to connect with someone who could discuss employment opportunities in social media marketing. I also leveraged my network and connected with social media marketing strategists, consultants, and even influencers. From these interactions, I was able to recruit guest speakers to join my class to discuss a specific aspect of social media marketing. I was fortunate to also connect with people whose teaching I admire to discuss best practices for developing new courses, particularly those on topics that are less familiar to the instructor.
Be focused on what you want students to learn and not on how much you don’t know. It’s easy to be distracted by the number of things you realize you don’t know. For example, the more I learned about social media advertising the more I realized I really didn’t understand the intricacies of it. I also spent some time feeling paralyzed by the number of different creative opportunities available on some platforms (e.g., TikTok). Although it took some practice, I finally got to a place where I could put my horse blinders back on and focus on my learning goals for students and not the content that fell outside of those goals. I knew I couldn’t teach them everything (even if I wanted to and could!) but I could make sure they left the course with the knowledge and skills necessary to continue their own learning and pursue opportunities in the industry.
DURING THE TERM
I didn’t know what to expect—I just knew that the term would be challenging and require me to grapple with feelings of discomfort (e.g., when fielding unfamiliar questions). Here’s a rundown of several things you can do during the term to help you remain effective in the classroom and begin to iterate for the upcoming term.
Be open to learning from your students. Although this should always be the case, I felt it especially necessary to be open given that many of my students were likely to be savvier social media users than me. As a side note, though, being a savvy social media user doesn’t necessarily translate to being an effective social media marketer. I welcomed students to share their expertise and was honest when I didn’t have an answer to one of their questions (but was clear how I would get that answer to them after class). I also solicited feedback on content and assessments to improve future students’ experiences.
Set expectations. At the outset of the term, I made it clear to students what the Social Media Marketing course was and what it wasn’t. For example, I presented my class as a survey course that would prepare students to continue their learning beyond the term. I reiterated my position on my course several times throughout the term, particularly when highlighting opportunities for continued learning (e.g., Hootsuite certifications, Google Career Certificates).
Be open to revising on the fly. If something isn’t working or if a better idea comes, consider pursuing it. In my case, I narrowed the focus of the final project based on the experiences students were having in the course as the term unfolded. To some degree, a course’s syllabus should be a living document and perhaps especially so when teaching a brand new course. Some topics may require more or less time than anticipated. When deciding whether to make changes, I always returned to my learning goals for my students. In general, I would rather foster a deeper understanding of a topic than risk glossing over too many concepts and leaving students feeling like they haven’t really learned anything. When making any changes, I provided students with a new syllabus and was sure to not change key dates for assessments like quizzes.
Take notes. After each class, take some notes. Even now, I note how a lecture felt to deliver, what seemed to resonate with students and prompt discussion, whether something didn’t work, and even how many students attended. I also create a Word doc “Notes for Next Term” that includes more substantive changes I want to make and not forget. Most recently, I noted that I want to divide students into teams earlier in the term to help students practice being good group members before being a good group member becomes a bit more consequential (as it does for the final project).
Conduct midterm reviews. Since my time as a graduate student instructor, I’ve conducted anonymous midterm reviews separate from those that are required by my institution. These midterm reviews allow me to ask very specific questions that help me understand how students are feeling about the course, its content, their performance, me, etc. As a part of this exercise, I report out results to students in class and identify what will change and what cannot change (and why) based on their feedback.
AFTER THE SEMESTER
Although it’s tempting to immediately step away from a course when the term is over (and maybe you have really good reason do to just that), in general, I think it’s best to debrief to some degree before taking time to rest. Here a few things I did that I think helped me improve my teaching and instruction ahead of my second term.
Reflect and iterate. I took stock of everything that happened over the course of the term and identified those things that worked really well, good enough, and flopped. I then put together a strategy for the upcoming term to address the flops and potentially the things that were good enough but could be better (but with no pressure to change the latter until a longer break from teaching).
Take advantage of internal teaching resources. During my first term, I participated in workshops offered through Stony Brook’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Some were helpful, some were not. I also scheduled a syllabus review from a design expert who provided feedback on different aspects of my course. I didn’t do this after my first term because I didn’t feel like I could act on feedback at that time—I had enough to do to prepare and not much time to do it. However, after my second term, I felt like I could do something with additional feedback and did just that.
Rest. Fortunately, I received positive feedback from students and, because of my notes, was able to identify the few things I wanted to change ahead of my second term. After completing my debrief, I closed my laptop (or at least my folders associated with teaching) and completely stepped away. Ultimately, I felt like I did what I could to the best of abilities. It was great students responded positively; however, even if the term had been a complete disaster, I still would have deserved rest.
Final thought. Students do not know what I envision this course to be, they only see the course I am delivering to them. It’s important to limit comparisons to your “ideal” course. Instead, focus on the great things happening in your class right in front of you.
How to reach me: You are always welcome to email me (letstalkgradschool@gmail.com). You can also find me on Twitter (X) @tweetsbymidge and Bluesky @bskybymidge.
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Wishing you all the best!
Margaret