Keeping members of the OR/MS community informed of innovation in education
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As a strong advocate of liberal education, I would like to share with you some thoughts on the value of students learning operations research/management science, beyond preparation for professional careers and graduate study. Some academic administrators question the importance of OR/MS courses in some college curricula. My initial response to their questions would include the following statements. First, OR/MS courses promote quantitative literacy, the ability to understand and use numbers and data analyses in everyday life. For instance, health concerns increasingly are immersed in risk analysis and probabilities; government decisions, political arguments, and discussions of environmental issues are steeped in uses and misuses of quantitative data; and consumer issues, sports, and investments are frequently reported in quantitative terms. OR/MS courses not only promote the development of problem-solving and critical thinking skills, but also serve to integrate such disciplines as mathematics, statistics, economics, computer science, management, and engineering fields. The promotion of integrative learning is widely accepted to be a critical role of higher education in the twenty-first century (e.g., see http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/index.cfm). To the extent that students are assigned challenging projects in OR/MS courses, these learning experiences can serve to extend students' project management and time management skills. Moreover, OR/MS students can work to improve their oral and written communication skills through team-based and individual projects or assignments. Furthermore, OR/MS is anchored in real contexts, which often leads to enhanced student motivation and deep learning. It then follows that meaningful service-learning experiences may arise for students of OR/MS. To the extent that OR/MS courses afford students opportunities to learn to address real-world problems which are usually ill-defined and open-ended, OR/MS serves to help prepare students for engaged citizenship, personal and professional decision making, graduate education in a wide variety of disciplines, and professional work. I believe that there are also many faculty development opportunities for those who teach OR/MS. I plan to say more about this in a future newsletter. In the meantime, I welcome your feedback on these thoughts. Also, please share with us your suggestions for enhancing our offerings in the coming year. If you would like to speak with me over the phone about your specific thoughts in this area, I would welcome your call. I can be reached at zappe@bucknell.edu or at my Bucknell office (570-577-3293). I truly want to hear your suggestions for how we can better serve your needs and interests. After all, this organization exists to benefit each of you! In closing, my fellow officers and I look forward to hearing from you if you have suggestions for future editions of this newsletter. Furthermore, I want to express my ongoing gratitude to Matt Drake for his efforts to produce this newsletter. Please feel welcome to submit articles or announcements to Matt for inclusion in the next edition of the newsletter. Best wishes for the spring season, Chris
Zappe |
President:
Chris Zappe (zappe@bucknell.edu)
Treasurer/Secretary:
Mary Beth Kurz (mkurz@clemson.edu)
Vice President - Programs:
Jill Hardin (jrhardin@vcu.edu)
Vice President - Projects:
Mike Racer (mracer@memphis.edu)
Vice
President - Publications:
John Kros (krosj@mail.ecu.edu)
"Issues in Education" Column in OR/MS Today:
Joel
Sokol (jsokol@isye.gatech.edu)
INFORM-ED Website:
Pinar Kaymaz (kaymapi@auburn.edu)
INFORM-ED Newsletter:
Matt Drake (drake987@duq.edu)
Case Competition Chair:
Tasha
Inniss (tinniss@spelman.edu)
Howdy All! Since our last newsletter some exciting changes and improvements
in the publications area have occurred. Please go out and take a look at the
INFORM-ED website. Pinar Kaymaz (kaymapi@auburn.edu)
has done an outstanding job and there is a wealth of information out there.
All our thanks to Pinar.
Thanks to Matt Drake (drake987@duq.edu) for his work on the INFORM-Ed newsletter.
Joel Sokol (jsokol@isye.gatech.edu) is always looking for submission to the Education column in OR/MS Today. Please contact Joel if you have a piece you would like to submit.
If you would like to contribute to the development of these INFORM-ED publications in some way, please do not hesitate to contact these individuals or myself. We welcome your ideas and involvement!
Thanks and I hope everyone has a great Summer.
Vice President -- Publications: John Kros (krosj@mail.ecu.edu)
{back to In This Newsletter}INFORM-ED @ INFORMS 2007, Seattle – Jill Hardin
We would like to invite you to participate in the sessions sponsored by INFORM-ED at the INFORMS 2007 conference in Seattle. If you have an idea for an education-related session, if you would like to organize such a session, or if you would like to make a presentation, please contact me at jrhardin@vcu.edu. We are interested in providing sessions on a wide array of topics that appeal to a variety of OR/MS educators. Abstract submissions are due May 15. For more information about the INFORMS 2007 meeting, visit the conference website http://meetings.informs.org/Seattle07/. Additionally, Jim Cochran has asked me to include information about the upcoming INFORMS International Meeting in Puerto Rico.
I look forward to hearing your ideas for the upcoming meeting in Seattle!
Jill Hardin, VP Programs
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1st ALIO/INFORMS Workshop on OR Education – Jim Cochran
An exciting new initiative - the 1st ALIO/INFORMS Workshop on OR Education - took place on November 27-28, 2006, in conjunction with the 2006 Latin-Ibero-American Conference on Operations Research (XIII CLAIO - http://www.fing.edu.uy/inco/eventos/claio06/eng/) in Montevideo, Uruguay. This workshop was a joint education-oriented initiative of the Latin American Ibero Association on Operations Research (ALIO - http://www.dc.uba.ar/alio/index-en.htm) and INFORMS.
The workshop (http://www.fing.edu.uy/inco/eventos/claio06/WED2006/) was comprised of demonstrations and presentations on effective methods for quantitative education that were organized and given by members of ALIO affiliated organizations and INFORMS. Featured presenters included:
o
Carmen Belderrain (Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica, Brazil) on "Innovative
Approaches for OR Education"
o Cesar Jaramillo (Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira, Colombia) on "Using
Games as a Pedagogical Method for Teaching O.R." and
o Donna Llewellyn (Georgia Tech, USA) on "Establishing and Running a
University Teaching Center" and
I also gave an education-oriented plenary ("Confessions of an Optimistic Cynic - Using Active Learning to Increase Comprehension and Retention in the Quantitative Classroom"). Unfortunately, Steven Powell (Dartmouth College, USA) suffered through numerous flight delays and cancellations and was ultimately unable to attend. Several XIII CLAIO attendees were disappointed to miss his presentation, Teaching Modeling Skills. We hope to bring Professor Powell back to a workshop to speak on this topic very soon.
Topics discussed in the five other workshop sessions (which were comprised of twenty total presentations) were quite varied and included Teaching Complex Systems using EXTEND, Improving Effectiveness of OR Teaching to Graduate Students in Business Schools, and Using Active Learning in Discrete Mathematics.
The attendees of the XIII CLAIO (Latin-Ibero-American Conference on Operations Research) were very enthusiastic participants - the education workshop sessions were consistently among the best attended sessions, generally drawing 25-40 active participants. The discussions were very spirited and lively (though it was sometimes difficult for me to assess what was being said - I do not speak Spanish or Portuguese!). At one point an Audio-Visual technician contributed his thoughts!
The conference organizers did a terrific job planning the XIII CLAIO - the sessions and social activities were great. Program Committee President Héctor Cancela, Organizing Committee President María E. Urquhart, and Carlos Testuri (all of Universidad de la República, Uruguay) also did a tremendous job as local planners of the first ALIO/INFORMS Workshop on OR Education.
Participants from ALIO and INFORMS truly appreciated the opportunity to share our ideas across cultures and learn from each others experiences. It was a tremendous professional and personal experience for me. I made several new friends with whom I hope to collaborate on future research projects and educational initiatives. Of course, I also learned a great deal about teaching from my ALIO colleagues; one presenter suggested that we need to 'teach our students how to read OR textbooks, especially at the introductory level;' this provocative notion had never occurred to me! Several other speakers extolled the virtues of using active learning exercises to engage students. Still others advocated interesting and unique uses of software and technology. I am certainly going to implement some of the things I learned at this workshop in my classes.
While I found our cultural differences to be interesting, I was far more struck by the similarities of our classroom experiences - apparently many of the challenges of working with young adults/undergraduate students are common to most (all?) cultures.
By the end of the XIII CLAIO, we had all agreed to organize another joint ALIO/ INFORMS Workshop on OR Education very soon. INFORMS and ALIO members look forward to our next opportunity to work together. Finally, on behalf of all organizers of and participants in first ALIO/INFORMS Workshop on OR Education, thanks to ALIO, INFORMS, IFORS for their support and sponsorship of the workshop! We hope to see many of you at the XIV CLAIO!
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o
James J. Cochran (Louisiana Tech University, USA) jcochran@cab.latech.edu;
o Ozias Ncube (University of South Africa, RSA) Ncubeo@unisa.ac.za
o Neil Manson (Monash University, RSA) neil.manson@infotech.monash.edu
o Johan W. Joubert (University of Pretoria, RSA) johan.joubert@up.ac.za
Check this newsletter for more details as planning of this event progresses, or contact me at jcochran@cab.latech.edu or 318-257-3445 with your questions, comments, and suggestions.
We
have also entered into preliminary discussions with the Association of Asian
Pacific Operational Research Societies (APORS - http://www.apors.ms.unimelb.edu.au/)
about organizing the first APORS/ INFORMS Workshop on OR Education in 2008
or 2009. More details on this workshop will appear in this newsletter as planning
for this event progresses (again, please contact me with your questions, comments,
and suggestions).
2007 INFORMS International Meeting in Puerto Rico – Jim Cochran
Donna
Llewellyn and Jim Cochran are co-chairing an invited cluster of sessions for
the INFORMS International Meeting in Puerto Rico on July 8-11, 2007. Session
topics (and chairs) for this cluster include Issues in Modeling and OR Education
(Jeff Camm), Increasing Student Engagement in their OR Educations (Jim Cochran),
Operations Research and Outreach to Middle and High Schools (David Goldsman),
and Using OR Students in Consulting and Cases (Karla Hoffman). These sessions
promise to be lively and engaging, and they will provide a unique opportunity
to share ideas about OR education across cultures.
The conference hotels, Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa (the headquarters
hotel, where most conference events will be held) and the El Conquistador
Resort & Golden Door Spa (a 20-30 minute drive from the Westin) are self-contained
resorts located on the beautiful northeastern shore of Puerto Rico. San Juan,
the capital city, is a 60-90 minute drive from the Westin and nearly two hours
from the El Conquistador. Each hotel offers a full array of services, from
recreational options to multiple restaurants and shops. The Westin is located
in Rio Grande, 19 miles east of San Juan's international airport (a 40-50
minute drive). Set on 500 acres adjacent to El Yunque National Forest, the
resort is secluded with very limited services outside the hotel, such as restaurants
and shops, in the local area.
The El Conquistador is located outside the city of Fajardo, known as the boating capital of Puerto Rico and set on Las Croabas Bay. There is a small selection of restaurants within 2 to 3 mile radius of the hotel, including local seafood restaurants and a few fast-food chains. The El Conquistador is 30 miles from San Juan international airport, just over a one-hour drive. INFORMS will provide a complimentary, continuous shuttle service between the El Conquistador and the Westin.
For
more information about the conference, contact Donna Llewellyn at donna.llewellyn@cetl.gatech.edu
or Jim Cochran at jcochran@cab.latech.edu,
or visit the official conference website at http://meetings.informs.org/Puertorico2007/.
Please note there are a limited number of rooms available at each hotel. We
recommend that you make your reservations early! While the cut-off date for
reservations is in May, the conference organizing committee encourages you
to reserve much earlier in order to secure the hotel and room of your choice.
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INFORM-ED Website – Pinar Kaymaz
During the spring semester, I have been working on cleaning and updating the Teaching Materials section (http://education.forum.informs.org/teaching_materials.htm) of the INFORMED website. This section of the website includes many links to materials related to OR/MS Textbooks, Cases, Software, and Games. The links that are not active anymore have been removed, and the appearance of this section were updated to present an easy to use resource. Please take a look at the Teaching Materials section and let me know if you have any suggestions or related new postings.
As always, if you have announcements related to INFORM-ED activities that you would like to publish on the website or any suggestions, additions, corrections regarding the website please email me.
Have
a great summer!
Pinar
Kaymaz (kaymapi@auburn.edu)
Have a great summer!
Until the fall...
Matt (mdrake@isye.gatech.edu)