Teaching Note: Fitting a Theoretical Model to a Real Queue
Don McNickle
Management Department, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand, don.mcnickle@canterbury.ac.nz
Abstract
A carefully structured practical queue-modelling assignment improves the understanding of queueing theory and teaches modelling and data-analysis skills. The assignment also demonstrates that it may be better to use models to estimate operating characteristics such as mean waiting times, even in circumstances where the system in question and the characteristics can be directly observed.
Key words
teaching queueing; data analysis; teaching statistics; formative assessment
History
Received: July 2010; accepted: January 2011
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Citation Information
McNickle, D. 2011. Teaching Note—Fitting a theoretical model to a real queue. INFORMS Trans. Ed. 11(3) 111-122. Available online at http://ite.pubs.informs.org/.