Friday, April 17, 2026
Carrying out Pennsylvania College of Technology’s mission to equip its students with real-world knowledge, students in a Marketing Research class recently gathered insights for a pair of local businesses.
“MKT 320 is a project-based learning course that challenges student groups to essentially function as a small market research firm over the course of a semester,” explained Summer L. Bukeavich, associate professor of business administration: management and marketing. “In addition to learning about how to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research to solve management decision-making problems, they actually head out into the community to carry out everything they’re learning.”
Groups searched for a small- or medium-sized business or nonprofit willing to work with them throughout the semester to determine how marketing research could help them with a decision, then create objectives and specific research questions.
Pennsylvania College of Technology business administration students present their marketing research. Standing, from left, are students Calistra S. Mahoney, of Williamsport; Jade A. Adams, of Bernville; Khairiya M. Wells, of Williamsport; and Isabella M. Lyon, of Warren. The students partnered with local businesses to conduct the research.
Jade A. Adams, a business administration student from Bernville, was part of a group that worked with Kitchen Repose, a local meal delivery service and downtown café, to determine the community’s perception of online food delivery.
“In order to complete the marketing research, we had to learn ethical guidelines, best practices, how to design a focus group, and how to design a survey so individuals respond and participate,” Adams said.
After learning survey software and best practices, and gaining context by researching the Williamsport area, their clients’ target market and academic literature, the students practiced in class, then designed their studies, Bukeavich explained.
“They have to figure out who should participate, how to recruit participants and what types of questions will gather the data that they truly need for their client,” she said.
“The wording of the questions in our focus group and questionnaire was very important,” said Ryan M. Sawyer, a business administration student from Honey Brook, whose group worked with Horizon Federal Credit Union to gain insight on young adults and checking accounts. “Participants could be influenced to answer a certain way or could be confused by a question if it was not asked correctly. This could impact the quality or validity of the information we collected.”
Horizon has hired Penn College students for summer internships and was approached by a past intern about participating in the project, Michael F. Patterson, the credit union’s chief branding officer, explained.
“We appreciate our partnership with Penn College and find the students to be engaging and professional,” he said. “Agreeing to be part of the project was an easy choice. We appreciated learning about our credit union from a student’s perspective. We are consistently looking to attract new young adults as members, and it is important to understand what they are looking for with a financial institution.”
Carnie Datres, owner of Kitchen Repose, said she was happy to help support students’ hands-on learning.
“While their findings largely reinforced insights we were already aware of, it was valuable to see our business through a different lens and to better understand how our current customers interact with our ordering platforms,” she said. “More importantly, we loved providing students with an opportunity to work with a local business to help bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world application. We’re always up for collaborating with students, and we see these partnerships as an investment in both our community and the next generation of professionals.”
As her transition from student to professional quickly approaches, Adams said she learned a great deal about how to work as a team and be responsible for her own time management.
“Even though this course provides direct instruction on marketing and marketing research, students end up learning a lot about how to manage big projects independently. While I act as a mentor, consultant and guide, it’s ultimately up to them to carry out their own primary research,” Bukeavich said.
The students closed the project by presenting their findings to their clients.
“Overall, I learned a lot about marketing research and was glad there was actual application, as we were working with Horizon instead of just learning the concepts in a regular classroom setting,” Sawyer said.
He said he gained good practice in communication and planning that he will take forward after he graduates in May.
After she graduates, Adams plans to work as a real estate agent in or near Delaware County. “I can use what I learned from this class to help clients determine what they should be looking for in a property and look at marketing research to help identify their max investment, so they can leave happy when they purchase a property.”
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