Classes Taught
Undergraduate
-
Marketing Strategy
-
Integrated Marketing Communications
-
BASE (certificate for non-business majors), Introduction to Marketing
MBA
-
Introduction to Marketing/Strategy
-
Executive Education Simulations
PhD
-
Consumer Behavior
-
Bridge (program for PhD students coming into business from other fields)
Sample Student Comments
-
"Yael is the most engaging professor at UCF. She gets us out of our comfort zones and makes us think. We learn about the real world of business without even using a textbook. I have learned a myriad of business techniques and applications for the real world. I feel like I could launch a company now."
-
"One of the best professors I have had at UCF. She genuinely cares for her students. She wants her students to leave the class every single day with a new form of knowledge. Instead of testing us, she challenged us with tasks and projects."
-
"Dr. Yael truly loves her job and cares about her student's learning and it very much shows. This was by far my favorite class this semester and not because it was easy, rather because I actually learned something that I can take with me into the real Marketing world."
-
"I learned more than I could have hoped to learn in this class! It was a lot of work but it taught me so much and I don't think if the class was structured any other way I would have learned as much. Thank you!!!"
-
"This is the best course I have ever taken at UCF. Instead of exams, she makes you work with real life case studies and…enhance SKILLS, not memorizing stuff. I thought I knew what marketing was until I took this class. This class has taught me so much and I am so thankful."
-
"This class prepared me for real life. I went through interviews and accepted a job because of what I directly learned in this class. This was a Godsend hidden as a marketing class."
-
"I loved this class. It was hard, but it made me think. I actually felt like I learned things in this class and will remember them. Not only that, I feel I will use this information in my future career."
-
"I have always struggled with critical thinking and application type assignments. This class has helped me immensely in those areas and I’ve even used the thought process I’ve gained here in other classes. The organization in this class was amazing and communication was always on point."
-
"Next to capstone this class was one of the hardest classes that I have had to date. But this is because of all the learning… I have learned more in this class than any other in my college career…She is tough but that is for your own good and for your own growth. Yael has become one of my favorite professors here, she has unmatched passion and brilliance…I wish I had more time at UCF so I could take other classes with her."
-
"Out of all the courses I have taken in my 4 years of college, I learned by-far the most in this class. Yael is an incredible teacher and truly has a talent for helping others learn and how to do it effectively. #sustainableprofit"
-
"One of my favorite courses in my entire undergraduate career! Dr. Y is so inspiring and passionate about marketing strategy and it really helped me learn. Her approach to teaching is so helpful and so different from the traditional classroom lecture. I loved it!"
Teaching Philosophy
I apply four teaching principles that ensure that materials learned in class are relevant outside of the classroom and that students are active agents in their own education.
​
Purpose. I believe that every action in the classroom should have a purpose beyond the classroom. When we deliver knowledge students need for their jobs and lives, we shift their focus from finishing the class to learning from the class. Sharing this purpose, and my passion for marketing, significantly improves motivation and engagement in my classroom.
Autonomy. I believe that in order to grow, students must take ownership of their choices. I give my students very clear rules, and then I step back. They learn very quickly that choices are meaningful, and that they are accountable for those choices. This is an important
lesson for their careers and lives in the future.
I also offer my students a variety of activities and allow them to choose. I listen to about what is working and adjust. Of course, I always have a clear plan for deliverables. However, I find that learner-centered teaching, which allows autonomy in learning and which listens to student needs, increases engagement, as evident in my SPI comments.
Collaboration. I embrace the opportunity that the classroom offers students to learn not just from me, but also from each other. Work in my classes often involves complex, real-world problems; these are best addressed with multiple minds. Students collaborate to address these problems. This gives them a chance to learn how to work more effectively in today’s collaborative work environment and enables them to expand their horizons beyond their own viewpoint.
Application and Risk-Taking. I believe that students should be given low-cost opportunities to practice and fail. So many classrooms are singularly focused on students delivering the correct answer and heavily penalize incorrect answers. Yet, so much more can be learned by delivering an answer, having a discussion, fixing one’s work, and talking about what we’ve learned. Learning by applying, and learning from “failure”, is critical outside of the classroom, where students will encounter entirely new problems, not covered in class.
Students are also far more engaged when they can apply rather than merely observe or respond When students are given permission to experiment, they become more open to new methods and ideas. It’s really exciting to step back and watch the beehive that the classroom becomes when we engage in these activities, and the “a-ha” moments that follow.
These four principles allow students to learn in a new, innovative, and relevant way. My classroom is highly rigorous, evident by my GPAs (see evaluation summary report). Students cannot sit back and be passive observers. They have to work. Hard. In return, students receive real-life learning that they can apply outside of the classroom.
Service
Service is an important way to contribute to the field. Since 2018, I have served as an Editorial Review Board Member for the Journal of Consumer Psychology. I also review ad-hoc for the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and various other journals/grants across the marketing and psychology fields. I am also a regular reviewer for both key consumer behavior conferences: Association for Consumer Research and Society for Consumer Psychology.
I also use service activities as another way to bring value to my department, college, and the university. In all of my service activities, I seek to go beyond merely fulfilling my duty, by offering a meaningful contribution. Accordingly, I have initiated and managed two key service projects designed to address the data collection and research needs of faculty and PhD students in the marketing department and to further the opportunities of our undergraduate students to engage in research.
First, I initiated the creation of a secondary subject pool; I have managed this pool since 2015, during which time this pool has generated nearly 9,000 participant research hours.
Second, I initiated the creation of an Independent Undergraduate Research course, in which students work one-on-one with marketing faculty on academic research. This course offers undergraduates unprecedented exposure to research and research-related skills.
​
In addition, I have served on a variety of committees at the department, college, and university level; details can be found in my CV
​