Operations Research Management Science - Issues In Education

<BODY bgcolor="#ffffff" link="cc0000" vlink="cc0000" text="#000000"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br>   <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=480><tr valign=top> <td width=10><img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 hspace=4 border=0></td> <td width=470> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B><I><A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top">OR/MS Today</A> - June 2002</I></B></font><BR> <hr size="1"> <img src="cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <font face="times new roman, times"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>Issues In Education</B></FONT><br> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <FONT SIZE="+2"><B>MBA Management Science on the Web</B></FONT><BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>By Matthew J. Liberatore and Robert L. Nydick</B></FONT><br> <hr size="1"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=12 border=0><br>    Business schools, especially their part-time graduate and undergraduate programs, are increasingly looking to the Web as a mode for delivering courses. This development has been prompted in part by competition from for-profit universities and other entrepreneurial business schools offering degrees online. Another motivation is the requests made by their students, whose hectic lifestyles make it difficult for them to regularly attend classes. As a result, many universities have already, or are giving strong consideration to, incorporating distance-learning (DL) options within their business curricula.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> In Villanova University's part-time MBA program, course offerings include one DL section of every basic and advanced core course each semester. At Villanova, a DL section is defined as a course that offers either half or all of its classes in a suitable DL format. Currently, Villanova MBA students have the option of taking our course, "Decision Technology for Business Application," as part of the advanced core. For this reason, we were given the charge of creating a DL version of Decision Technology. Given the nature of the material, we believed that a 50 percent DL format was appropriate.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> The Decision Technology course consists of modules in mathematical programming using Lingo and its modeling language, simulation using Extend and Stat::Fit, and decision analysis using Expert Choice. Within each module, modeling fundamentals are discussed and followed by the development of increasingly complex models. Our goal is to empower students to identify, model and solve practical business problems themselves as demonstrated through an applied project. Additional details can be found in Liberatore and Nydick [1998, 1999].<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> Regardless of whether we teach our course in a 50 percent DL/50 percent face-to-face (FTF) or a 100 percent FTF format, we use WebCT to support communication and collaboration among faculty and students using the bulletin board, chat rooms and private messaging features. In addition, WebCT serves as the organizing vehicle for our class materials. Specifically, for each class we provide: a description of the topic and links to the assigned material; PowerPoint files; model files for class examples; solved homework problems, including Word and model files; and video lectures.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> When we decided to develop a DL version of Decision Technology, we believed it was critical to create video lectures. Essentially, we team-taught our entire course in a studio, without the presence of students. The setup included two video cameras, a document camera and a feed from our laptop PC. We recorded more than 25 hours of video that were organized into 35 lectures. These lectures are linked to the appropriate topics within WebCT and can be viewed via video streaming. In addition, we produced a set of CDs that contain all of the video lectures. As one might expect, the videos are more important for the DL version of our course; however, we also make them available for the 100 percent FTF version. Some students find the videos useful if they miss a class or if they need to review a specific topic.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> During each of the 15 weeks of the semester, students are required either to take an online quiz (12) or an online examination (3). We have found that the online quizzes are a crucial component of a student's learning process. To prepare for a quiz, students should review the assigned material as well as the homework problems and their solutions. The quizzes are designed so that the student must first model a problem using appropriate software, and then answer questions about its formulation, solution and interpretation. The three exams are also administered either through WebCT or e-mailed to the students. In either case, students submit their solutions along with the supporting model files.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> During the weeks that the class does not meet FTF, we broadcast live over the Internet. At the appointed time, students open two windows on their computer: a WebCT chat room and a hyperlink to a live video and audio feed of the instructor. Using chat, students can ask questions and communicate with other students and the instructor. In addition to answering questions, the instructor often gives short mini-lectures on specific topics or problems of interest. An operator is able to change the main feed from the video camera to show the instructor's computer screen or the document camera, and then mix the feeds so that the instructor appears in a picture-in-picture format. We find that most students attend at least part of every scheduled broadcast. Each broadcast is also taped and then hyperlinked from WebCT by the following day.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> We offer some lessons learned for teaching in a partial DL format: <OL> <LI> Schedule the most conceptually difficult material for the FTF meetings. <LI> Avoid some aspects of one-on-one tutoring by effective use of bulletin boards. <LI> Insist that students are up-and- running prior to the start of, or at least during the first class. <LI> Bombard students with electronic communication early in the course. <LI> Determine if students need access to the Internet other than from their place of work because of corporate firewall problems. <LI> Design the course workflow to keep students progressing during the weeks when the class does not meet FTF.</OL> Remember that, as an instructor, your objective is to deliver a partial DL course that is at least equal to the one that you deliver in a 100 percent FTF format. Since the students will be learning more of the material on their own, it is important to provide a variety of pedagogical aids and devices to assist them in this process, and to redefine your role from that of "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side."<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> <CENTER><TABLE BORDER="0" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="1" BGCOLOR="#990000" width=440> <TR ALIGN="Center" VALIGN="Middle"> <TD><IMG SRC="art/shim.gif" VSPACE=1 BORDER=0 HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="6" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" width=436> <TR ALIGN="Left" VALIGN="Top"> <TD> <CENTER><font color="#990000" size="3" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"><B>PAC Proposes to Reach Out to Thousands of High School Math Teachers</B></font></CENTER><BR> <font size="2" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"> The Public Awareness Committee of INFORMS plans to introduce thousands of high school math teachers to the history and concepts of operations research through a plan proposed by Kenneth Chelst and Tom Edwards.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> For the past 10 years, PAC has held one-day workshops for high school math teachers at INFORMS conferences, attracting between 20 and 50 teachers at each session. In addition, the PAC, with funding from the National Security Agency, has developed 10 operations research instructional modules that can be brought directly into classrooms.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> The local and state workshops presented by INFORMS volunteers will focus on: <UL> <LI> the history and concepts of operations research; <LI> industries and companies that use OR, and the types of OR problems they encounter; and <LI> the volunteer's own personal interest and experience in OR. </UL> Workshop leaders will also be provided with instructional modules and OR videos to distribute to attendees.<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> The goal: to hold 100 workshops around the country and reach between 2,000 and 4,000 high school math teachers a year by the third year of the program. The PAC plans to conduct (subject to final approval) a two-hour information and training session for potential INFORMS volunteers on Sunday, Nov. 17 during the INFORMS National Meeting in San Jose, Calif. The session will cover: <UL> <LI> a description of the current high school math environment, emphasizing connecting mathematics to other disciplines and to the real world via applications; <LI> a process for making contact with local match conference coordinators; and <LI> an overview of all 10 modules, and a demonstration of two of them (queueing and product mix-LP). </UL> For more information, contact Kenneth Chelst (<A HREF="mailto:chelst@mie.eng.wayne.edu">chelst@mie.eng.wayne.edu</A>), Tom Edwards (teatwsu@aol.com) or Frank Trippi (<A HREF="mailto:ftrippi@email.msn.com">ftrippi@email.msn.com</A>).<BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <IMG SRC="art/shim.gif" VSPACE=1 BORDER=0 HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </CENTER> <br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=3><B>References</B></FONT><BR> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=2 border=0><br> <OL> <font size=1> <LI> Liberatore, Matthew J. and Nydick, Robert L., 1998, <A HREF="http://www.lionhrtpub.com/orms/orms-8-98/education.html">"Modeling Software & the MBA OR/MS Course," <I>OR/MS Today,</I> Vol. 25, No. 4,</A> p. 8. <LI> Liberatore, Matthew J. and Nydick, Robert L., 1999, "The Teachers' Forum: Breaking the Mold  A New Approach to Teaching the First MBA Course in Management Science," <I>Interfaces,</I> Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 99-116. </font> </OL> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=2 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><I>Matthew J. Liberatore is the John F. Connelly Chair in Management and a professor in the Department of Decision and Information Technologies, Villanova University. Robert L. Nydick is associate professor and chairperson, Department of Decision and Information Technologies, Villanova University.</i><BR>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=5 border=0><br>  <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1"> <CENTER><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></CENTER><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <LI> <A HREF="tocfr.html" Target="_top"><I>Table of Contents</I></A><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <LI> <A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top"><I>OR/MS Today</I> Home Page</A><br>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <b><i>OR/MS Today</i></b> copyright © 2002 by <A HREF="http://www.informs.org/" target="_new">the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences</a>. 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