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Personalization: Betty Crocker
Egg Decision
Raw
Comments, Speculations from Steven W. Gilbert
How
much/little should faculty members be required/permitted to
adapt a new educational resource when using it?
It is important to balance
two often-conflicting goals for educational resources (e.g.,
Brief Hybrid
Workshops). Can educational resources be both:
1. Easy to adapt,
easy to modify
2. Easy to use as is
Consider the famous
marketing decision to require home bakers to add their own
egg to the new (1952) Betty Crocker cake mix. See the
following paragraphs from: Balmy Duck, The lighter side of
Sour Duck. In "Box cake mix reviews."
http://balmyduck.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_balmyduck_archive.html
[This link was NOT available as of 2007 12 18]
"Box Cake Mix Research"
"I gleaned some interesting trivia from
'Finding Betty
Crocker: the Secret Life of America's First Lady', by Susan
Marks. Betty Crocker rolled out White cake mix in 1952. (The
company also introduced Honey Spice and Chocolate Malt
flavors in 1953 and 1955, respectively.)
"At this time, the company was still refining their approach
to marketing. While they sought to promote a quick and easy
product that still retained a "fresh, 'home-made'" quality,
'the market was slow to mature' (p. 168). The company called
upon the market research of Dr. Burleigh Gardner and Dr. Ernet Dichter, both business psychologists:
"'The problem, according to psychologists, was eggs. Dichter,
in particular, believed that powdered eggs, often used in
cake mixes, should be left out, so women could add a few
fresh eggs into the batter, giving them a sense of creative
contribution.' (emphasis my own)
"As a result, General Mills (who own Betty Crocker) altered
their product, abandoning the powdered egg in their mixes.
The requirement to add eggs at home was marketed as a
benefit, conferring the quality of 'home-made' authenticity
upon the box cake mix. (Whether using fresh eggs instead of
powdered eggs actually enhanced taste was beside the point.)"
See also: "Betty Crocker - 'just add an egg'"
http://cube1986.blogspot.com/2007/04/betty-crocker-just-add-egg.html
[This link was working as of 2007 12 18]
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Raw comments,
speculations from Steven W. Gilbert
1. FACULTY CENTERED/BETTY CROCKER CAKE MIX?: Available for
integration and “incremental” improvement of MyCourse
consistent with my goals? Responsive to unusual aspects of
my goals, my capabilities?
Project needs to be easy to adapt.
2. FACULTY PROOF/CAKE: Available for insertion within
standardized curriculum, standardized course, independent of
special skills or foibles of a faculty member?
Project needs to be easy to use as is.
Learn how to fish vs. buy a Filet-O-Fish
Adaptable project vs. Self-contained, immutable
Project needs to be easy to adapt, easy to modify
vs.
Project needs to be easy to use as is.
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