Teaching Experience

Designed & built by Laurel

Laurel-Cook.com

Undergraduate Courses

Consumer Behavior Consumer Behavior examines how people think, feel, and behave across individual and social contexts. Rather than relying solely on textbooks, my course emphasizes active learning through in-class social experiments and the application of recently published and in-press academic research. In-class experiments make abstract behavioral theories tangible and memorable. Students analyze real behavioral phenomena, such as judgment, influence, and decision-making, while engaging with contemporary scholarship that reflects our evolving marketing landscape. This course maintains a strong applied and managerial orientation, encouraging students to translate behavioral insights into ethical, practical, and socially relevant marketing decisions across diverse contexts and environments.

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Digital Marketing Digital Marketing (Online Marketing Analytics) is my award- winning course that centers on the design, execution, and evaluation of live digital marketing initiatives across multiple online channels. Students prepare and manage real campaigns, analyze performance data, and make evidence-based adjustments using industry-standard analytics and optimization tools. A distinctive feature of the course is its integration of advanced MarTech and immersive tools, allowing students to engage with new technologies. Using a funded advertising budget, students work directly with brands while earning certifications in platforms such as GA4, Google Ads, HubSpot, Hootsuite, and LinkedIn. Together, these experiences prepare students to manage and evaluate a brand’s online presence and optimize calls-to-action.

My digital marketing course was given a Digital Learning Innovation award by WVU’s Office of the Provost. The purpose of this competitive university-wide award is to recognize innovative approaches in addressing important challenges and barriers, including: improving student outcomes & altering instructional approach and pedagogy. I was among the first faculty recipients of the university’s inaugural Digital Learning Awards. Additionally, I was the Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) ‘Professor of the Year’ award winner in 2016. BGA is the international honor society serving business programs accredited by AACSB International- The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, for all business students. Professors must demonstrate outstanding teaching qualities and follow the BGS mission- to encourage and honor academic achievement in the study of business and to foster personal and professional excellence among its members. With student votes, this yearly award recognizes an outstanding faculty member within the Business school. Distinction in Teaching award: Chambers College of Business, Marketing Department (2024, 2019) Best In Class Professor award in recognition of Teaching Excellence: WebFX (2020) Blue & Golden Globe Awards highlight in the Mountaineer athletic program by Elizabeth Gratz (Rifle team athlete.

Graduate Courses

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Teaching Awards

PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR

Advanced Research Methods Advanced Research Methods is part of the Marketing Ph.D. program for doctoral students. My course provides students with an intensive foundation in multivariate data analysis and research design for publishing empirical work in marketing and related social science disciplines. The course combines conceptual grounding with an application-driven framework, emphasizing how advanced analytical techniques are used to answer theory- driven research questions. Students engage deeply with tools (e.g., PROCESS) and methods such as regression, mediation, moderation, factor and confirmatory factor analysis, experimental design, and multivariate analysis, alongside specialized topics including cluster analysis, conjoint analysis, text analysis, data scraping, and structural equation modeling. A central component of the seminar is the development of a completed manuscript intended for conference submission and journal review, reinforcing both methodological rigor and scholarly independence.

Digitally-Mediated UX As part of the new AI Marketing, M.S. degree program, my Digitally-Mediated User Experience (UX) course examines how consumers experience brands, systems, and services through digital technologies, including AI-enabled platforms. This course adopts a consumer-centric experiential perspective, encouraging students to move beyond technology’s functional utility to consider its psychological, sociological, and ethical dimensions. UX is studied across the customer journey, immersive environments, ethical considerations, and experiential outcomes, with attention to issues such as accessibility, privacy, algorithmic bias, and human-tech connections. Through applied projects, students learn to design, evaluate, and refine digital experiences that balance business objectives with meaningful and responsible user engagement. Students apply UX research methods, heuristics, and metrics to assess how experiential design choices influence engagement, satisfaction, and behavioral outcomes.

Signature Applied Experience: In collaboration with programs like Google’s Nonprofit Marketing Immersion, students in my digital marketing courses may apply course learning to real organizational challenges. After Google Ads certification, students build, launch, and analyze digital advertising strategies that help nonprofits reach their goals, combining analytical frameworks with hands-on execution and iterative optimization. Additional Teaching Experience (Selected): Principles of Marketing | West Virginia University Marketing Research and Intro to Marketing Strategy | University of Arkansas

My teaching, across undergraduate and graduate courses, emphasizes the thoughtful integration of new and emerging technologies in application-based learning. I design courses that move students from conceptual understanding to real-world implementation through hands-on assignments, diverse digital tools, and service-based or community-engaged projects. Several of my courses have been developed entirely from the ground up, including MKTG-389: Online Marketing Analytics (Digital Marketing), introduced nearly a decade ago for undergraduate students, and MKTG-530: Digitally-Mediated UX for graduate students (new for 2026). These courses are intentionally structured to evolve alongside technological change while grounding students in enduring theoretical and methodological frameworks. I am especially motivated by hearing from former students as they apply these skills in professional, academic, and marketplace contexts.

Designed & built by Laurel

Laurel-Cook.com

My teaching emphasizes application-based learning across undergraduate and graduate courses, integrating emerging technologies and hands-on experiences. Students move from concept to real- world implementation through tools-based assignments and service projects. My goal is to equip students with practical frameworks and skills they can carry into professional, academic, and marketplace settings.

Undergrad Courses

Digital Marketing Digital Marketing (Online Marketing Analytics) is an award-winning course focused on designing, executing, and evaluating live digital campaigns across online channels. Students manage real advertising budgets, analyze performance data, and optimize campaigns using industry-standard analytics and MarTech tools, earning certifications such as GA4, Google Ads, HubSpot, Hootsuite, and LinkedIn while working directly with brands.

Advanced Research Methods Advanced Research Methods (Ph.D.) provides doctoral students with a rigorous foundation in research design and multivariate analysis for empirical publishing. Students apply advanced methods to theory-driven questions while developing a complete manuscript for conference submission and journal review.

Consumer Behavior Consumer Behavior examines how people think, feel, and act across individual and social contexts. The course emphasizes active learning through in-class experiments and contemporary research, helping students translate behavioral insights into ethical, practical, and managerially relevant marketing decisions.

Graduate Courses

Digitally-Mediated UX Digitally-Mediated User Experience (UX) examines how consumers experience brands, services, and AI- enabled platforms across the customer journey. Students use applied UX methods to design and evaluate digital experiences, balancing business goals with ethical, accessible, and user-centered engagement.

Teaching Awards

Recipient of WVU’s Digital Learning Innovation Award from the Office of the Provost, recognizing innovative, outcomes- focused pedagogy; I was among the inaugural faculty awardees. I was also named Beta Gamma Sigma Professor of the Year (2016), an honor based on student votes and awarded by Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honor society for AACSB-accredited programs. Additional recognitions include Distinction in Teaching (Chambers College of Business, 2019 & 2024), Best-in- Class Professor (WebFX, 2020), and a Blue & Golden Globe Award highlight within WVU Athletics.