Knowledge is by nature dynamic. ISyE faculty regularly struggle to incorporate new ideas in industrial engineering, technology, and education into the School's curriculum. Other factors, such as Georgia Tech's switch to the semester system in 1999, can also be the catalyst for change. Below, Dr. Paul Griffin, associate chair for Undergraduate Studies, discusses recent and potential changes in ISyE undergraduate coursework:

ISyE 2030, Modeling in IE

2030, which Griffin refers to as "an introductory class," was added at the time of semester conversion. According to the Georgia Tech catalog, "Coverage includes projects involving information collection, data acquisition, analysis, and presentation, as well as the motivation and use of analytical algorithmic, conceptual, and computational models." While not an overview of IE, "the whole purpose is to show them these are the kind of problems that they are going to end up solving as an IE," says Griffin. "The focus is on how to start thinking like an IE and start thinking about the kind of topics that you'll see." The two-hour class, with a three-hour lab, requires that students have completed CS 1322 and ISyE 2027, or the math department equivalents.

ISyE 3232, Stochastic Manufacturing and Service Systems

Griffin says 3232 has undergone major changes in the past four years. Expanding from a quarter to a semester is one difference. "They are still covering the same math," he says, "but they've added in this contextual knowledge of the practical side. It is not just a simple, abstract thing that they are manipulating anymore." Students now practice factory physics by playing the Littlefield Game (see article page 6), a simulated factory environment that gives them hands-on, real time experience with stochastic movements of material in manufacturing facilities and the supply chain.

ISyE 4104 and 4105, Senior Design I and II

ISyE's capstone course has faced some challenges now that it is a two-semester requirement. "For some companies that is too long to commit for a project," says Griffin. "Most projects have a shorter life. It has also taken a lot of resources — you need a faculty contact for two semesters per student." Twelve-person groups are the norm, something Griffin calls "ludicrous." This spring semester, faculty conducted a designed experiment, running a one-semester sample of the course with groups of five. "We're looking at the quantifiable benefit of working with smaller groups," Griffin continued, adding that external reviewers will be comparing student's work. Faculty will review the results and vote on whether to change to a one-semester format this summer.

Student Voice Council

This new student organization, organized spring semester, formed to give students a means of expressing concerns. "There are things that can be very simple fixes that the School just doesn't know about," says Griffin. "There are things that we may see as minor, but can be a huge deal. Like the mice in the computer lab. They were always gunked up and you could never use them. So we switched them out to optical mice."

Core Curriculum Review

The Student Voice Council tackles larger challenges as well. "The biggest thing that came out is the issue of flexibility within the curriculum," Griffin continues. "Essentially, every IE student takes the same classes. Students have very different interests — some want to go into logistics, while others want to pursue health systems or manufacturing or consulting. And we don't give them the opportunity to learn more about their particular topics." Students have indicated, through a survey, an interest in establishing topical tracks. "Since all of our courses are required, we have to decide that not everything we teach is core material. This is where the battle is, of course." The goal is to get the core curriculum down to five or six classes (from 12). Each course eliminated can be turned into three electives, allowing for a much broader selection of topics. Griffin frankly states that it is time. "Not only will the students like it, but to be honest, our curriculum is outdated. People bring in new materials, but there are whole new topics that we simply don't have the flexibility to offer. If we have flexibility, that would make it easier to evolve and bring in new classes."

No Ds Allowed

Griffin calls it "a minor thing," but some students probably feel differently. "Now we don't allow Ds in IE — those all have to be made up. To register for Senior Design, all of your IE courses must be C or above," he says.

Class Size

"We're trying some experiments: going large class with recitation compared to multiple offerings of classes," says Griffin. Simulation will be offered as a large class with breakouts this fall semester. Anyone in college 20 years ago may remember this phenomenon, but for this generation, it is a new idea. The School is also looking for the best delivery mechanism to bring classes with multiple sections down to the smallest size possible.

Pre-reqs

ISyE requires two computer classes, more than any other Tech program. "More than two-thirds of our students are transfer students," says Griffin, adding that the computer classes must be completed before enrolling in the introductory IE classes. "They have been skipping over and taking courses out of sequence. We changed the pre-req system to make it easier for the transfer students to naturally work into how we want them to progress."



• Summer 2003 Engineering Enterprise Table of Contents
• Engineering Enterprise Home Page



Web Site © Copyright 2020 by Lionheart Publishing, Inc. and ISyE, Georgia Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher.


Lionheart Publishing, Inc.
34 Hillside Ave
Phone: +44 23 8110 3411 |
E-mail:
Web: www.lionheartpub.com

ISyE / Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0205
|
Web: www.isye.gatech.edu