INFORM-ED
Newsletter
May 27, 2005
Keeping
members of the OR/MS community informed of innovation in education
President's Corner
James Cochran
Hello fellow INFORM-ED
Members,
I hope all of you have enjoyed a productive academic year
and are preparing for a pleasant and fruitful summer. INFORM-ED has made great progress on various initiatives
and activities during this academic year. A short summary of some of these
efforts follows:
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Our forum continues to be very busy organizing various activities
designed to improve ORMS education and assist ORMS educators. Upcoming activities
include:
-
the 6th annual Case Competition
-
the 7th annual Teaching Effectiveness Colloquium
-
a sponsored education track for the 2005 INFORMS Conference in New Orleans
(November 13 - 16)
More details about these and other INFORM-ED activities are provided in the STATUS REPORTS OF ONGOING EDUCATION INITIATIVES
below.
OTHER ACTIVITIES OF INTEREST
TO INFORM-ED MEMBERS
Our officers are helping to coordinate many other activities
that should be of interest to INFORM-ED
members. These activities include:
-
INFORM-ED is working with Harvey
Greenburg (Special Issues Editor for INFORMS Transactions on Education) and
David Woodruff and Stefan Voss (Guest Editors for INFORMS Transactions on Education"s 2005 special issue on "Integrating
OR in the Teaching of Supply Chain Management") to facilitate coordinated
INFORM-ED sponsored sessions. See
http://ite.pubs.informs.org/special/CFPsupply_chain_management.pdf
for more information on the 2005 special issue of INFORMS Transactions on Education.
-
Erhan Erkut (Editor-in-Chief) invites you to visit the INFORMS
Transactions on Education website (http://ite.pubs.informs.org/)
and read a variety of provocative new articles on ORMS education. Erhan also encourages you to submit your article that relates
to any aspect of OR/MS education.
-
Steve Powell, Academic Director of INFORMS Summer Workshop on Teaching
Management Science, is currently organizing the 2005 INFORMS Summer Workshop
on Teaching Management Science. The workshop will be held on July 28-31 at
the Harrison Conference
Center in Lake
Bluff, Illinois. This 2004 INFORMS
Summer Workshop on Teaching Management Science was a tremendous success, offering
great sessions and a tremendous opportunity to interact with colleagues who
are interested in ORMS education (I speak from personal experience - I attended
the 2004 workshop). See Steve"s report in this newsletter and visit the
website (http://www.informs.org/Edu/TMSWorkshop/)
for more information on the 2005 workshop and to access materials from the
2004 workshop. This will be a great event for college instructors at all
levels, so plan to attend!
-
Armann Ingolfsson has organized an education cluster for the 2005
CORS (Canadian Operational Research Society) meeting in Halifax,
Nova Scotia from May 16 to 18. CORS conferences
are typically small (200-400 attendees) but of high quality. Armann encourages you to attend the 2005 CORS meeting and
these education sessions. For more information, visit the 2005 CORS website
(http://myweb.dal.ca/jblake/cors2005/).
-
Erhan Erkut has organized an education cluster for the 2005 IFORS
(International Federation of Operational Research Societies) meeting in Honolulu,
Hawaii from July 11 to 15. Seventeen countries
(over five continents) are represented on the 2005 IFORS conference organizing and program committees; these committee
members are working hard to bring the research, applications and perspectives
of their areas of the world to this truly international forum. Although February
1 was the submission deadline, the conference will continue to accept contributed
abstracts as long as space is available in the program schedule. Erhan
encourages you to attend the 2005 IFORS meeting and these education sessions.
Visit the 2005 IFORS website (http://www.informs.org/Conf/IFORS2005/)
for more information.
-
Ken Chelst is again planning to Chair an INFORMS
Teachers Program: How to Teach the Teachers session at the annual INFORMS
Conference in November. This session, co-sponsored by INFORM-ED
and INFORMS" Public Awareness Committee, will provide you with everything
you need to "Teach the Teachers" at a local or state math teacher
conference near your home. Members of the PAC team that developed the INFORMS
materials (available at http://www.hsor.org)
will demonstrate how to conduct these workshops at this comprehensive briefing.
As a session participant, you will receive the program materials, videos,
software packages (with instructions), and Teacher Instructional Modules you
need to deliver a program at a state, county, or school district conference.
-
POMS (Production & Operations Management Society) is
conducting a three day program on teaching operations management on June 20-22, 2005 at The Ohio State University
Fisher College of Business in Columbus, Ohio. Terry
Hill and William L. Berry will conduct case teaching sessions designed specifically
for educators in introductory operations management courses, using manufacturing
and services operations cases. These sessions will illustrate teaching
methods that apply manufacturing strategy principles and concepts to both
manufacturing and service industries. The cost of the program is $310.00
per participant to cover the cost of the sessions, materials and teaching
notes, and lunches. Hotel accommodations, breakfasts and dinners, and
transportation will be paid separately by the participants. Hotel accommodations
for the evenings of June 20-21 are available at either the Holiday Inn on
the Lane or the Blackwell Hotel at the Fisher College of Business. The
deadline for conference and hotel registrations is May 20, 2005. For more information contact
Jackie McClure at (614) 292-3199.
- The OR/MS Tomorrow staff is pleased to announced that the summer/fall issue
of OR/MS Tomorrow, the INFORMS student online newsletter, is now available
on the OR/MS Tomorrow website (http://ormstomorrow.informs.org).
This issue features:
• A highlight on the University of Texas at Austin INFORMS student chapter
• A spotlight on the INFORMS Decision Analysis Society
• An article on Collaborative Logistics in the Sea Cargo Industry
• A list of Award/Scholarship Opportunities for Students
• An updated list of upcoming conferences and calls for papers
This is an excellent resource for ORMS students and educator
-
Jenny Wagner, VP Meetings for SPRIG (Spreadsheet Productivity Research Interest
Group) is working on sessions for the Fall INFORMS conference in New
Orleans. Contact Jenny at Janet.Wagner@umb.edu
if you have relevant work you would like to present or if you would like to
organize a session for SPRIG.
-
Finally, the deadline for submitting abstracts for the 2005 INFORMS Conference
in New Orleans (November 13-16)
is May 16; abstracts received after May 16 will be accepted and scheduled
if and where space is available,
and conference registration opens in June. The Organizing Committee is working
hard to assemble an exiting and provocative program built around the theme
Ecologies, Economies, and O.R. See the
conference website (http://www.informs.org/Conf/NO2005/)
for more details.
OTHER
NOTES OF INTEREST
-
Barry List has assumed the position of Director of Marketing (in addition
to his duties as Director of Public Relations). Barry"s new title is
Director, Marketing and Public Relations. One of Barry"s new responsibilities
is Board Liaison for INFORM-ED. INFORM-ED looks forward
to working with Barry on our various activities and initiatives.
-
INFORM-ED will hold its biannual
elections at the forums annual reception and business meeting (tentatively
scheduled for Sunday, November 13 during the annual INFORMS conference in
New Orleans).
Terms for all INFORM-ED offices
are two years and begin immediately upon election. Please contact me if you
are interested in running for an INFORM-ED
office.
STATUS REPORTS OF ONGOING EDUCATION
INITIATIVES
-
Julie Swann (VP - External Relations) discusses her progress in developing
INFORM-ED"s speaker program for Local and Student Chapters.
-
Pinar Keskinocak (Vice President
- Programs) gives a progress report on the INFORM-ED track of sponsored sessions she is organizing
for the 2005 INFORMS Conference in New Orleans (November 13 - 16).
-
Joel Sokol (Editor of the "Issues in Education"
Column in ORMS Today) previews the
next few columns and invites you to contribute to the column.
-
Dave Rader reports on his initial efforts to start a support/special interest
group for instructors who are (a) teaching primarily undergraduate students
in technical majors (mathematics, engineering, computer science, etc) and
(b) the only people on our respective campuses that have an OR background.
I encourage you to get involved with INFORM-ED! Please contact the coordinator of any
INFORM-ED project/initiative or
me (at jcochran@cab.latech.edu
or 318/257-3445) if you have any questions or suggestions (or would like to
volunteer!).
Jim Cochran
INFORM-ED President
President:
Jim Cochran (jcochran@cab.latech.edu)
Treasurer/Secretary:
Mary Beth Kurz (mkurz@clemson.edu)
Vice President - Programs:
Pinar Keskinocak
(pinar@isye.gatech.edu)
Vice President - Projects:
William Christian (christwa@jmu.edu)
Vice President - Publications:
Chris Zappe (zappe@bucknell.edu)
"Issues in Education" Column in OR/MS
Today:
Joel Sokol
(jsokol@ISyE.GATech.edu)
INFORM-ED Website:
John Kros (krosj@mail.ecu.edu)
INFORM-ED Newsletter:
Mike Racer (mracer@mocha.memphis.edu)
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
Contacts
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
Issues
in Education - Joel Sokol
You might have noticed that the
"Issues in Education" column in OR/MS Today has covered a lot of
ground over the past two years, with authors writing about topics that range
from specific classroom techniques and application areas to general ideas
about teaching ethics and advertising the profession in the classroom.
The most recent column, written by Chung-Piaw Teo (Sungkyunkwan University, on
leave from the National University of Singapore) and Huei-Lee
Lau (National University of Singapore) added to the diversity of authors and
ideas; they were the first international authors to contribute to the column
in quite a while, and they wrote on yet another important topic: the need
to teach how people"s behavior can affect OR/MS models, and how the output
of our models can affect people.
The next two columns to appear will continue the trend. Dawn Strickland
(Winthrop University)
will write about teaching OR/MS at institutions where one might be the only
faculty member who knows what the field is, and will discuss the importance
of doing so even if it means sacrificing the "comfort zone" of having
colleagues with closely-related research interests. Jeff Day (Schneider
National) will consider teaching from the point of view of the consumer (i.e.,
the employer), and point out how some student behavior we all dislike and
discourage in the classroom can actually be excellent training for the working
world.
As always, new columns (and new columnists) are more than welcome. Send
your 800-1000-word submissions to me (Joel Sokol,
jsokol@isye.gatech.edu); if you prefer
to bounce an idea off me first before sending in your
column, please feel free to do that as well.
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
Cases - Tasha R. Inniss
| Sixth
Annual INFORMS Case Competition |
| INFORMS is pleased to announce
its Sixth Annual Peer-Reviewed Case Competition. This competition
is jointly sponsored by INFORMS Education Committee, INFORMS Case
and Teaching Materials Initiative, and INFORM-ED. It is designed to
encourage the creation, dissemination, and use of new, unpublished
cases in operations research and the management sciences. All submissions
and supporting documentation are due by August 1, 2005. All cases
will be blind reviewed in August and September of 2005 by a panel
of judges familiar with the case method.
Up to four finalists will be selected
and notified by the judging committee by the beginning of October
2005. Finalists will give thirty-minute presentations of their entries
at a special open session of the 2005 INFORMS Annual Meeting in New
Orleans, LA. The panel of judges will select the winning entry from
these finalists based on these presentations. The winner will be announced
at the INFORM-ED Business meeting at the 2005 INFORMS Conference.
Finalists must present their cases at the Fall 2005 INFORMS Meeting
in New Orleans
(November 17th -20th) to be eligible to win.
Guidelines for submitted cases
are:
(1) No more than 10 pages (8.5" x 11.0")
single-spaced (maximum of approx. 3000 words); shorter cases are acceptable.
(2) Exhibits are in addition to page limit.
(3) Teaching Notes of length as necessary to meet
content expected.
(4) A 12-point proportional font (such as Times
New Roman) with 1-inch margins.
(5)
All submitted cases must be previously unpublished. Cases should
be essentially new in their entirety. If the case contains material
drafted originally by individuals or groups other than the author(s)
submitting the case, then the intellectual history and ownership of
these portions should be made absolutely clear. Contestants are responsible
for assuring that this guideline is strictly met.
A
complete submission package will consist of the following:
(1)
Six hard copies and one electronic copy of a short (250 - 500 words)
abstract, the case and teaching notes. The title should appear on
the first page, but the name of the author and other indicators of
authorship should be eliminated in the text of five copies to permit
blind review. The abstract should appear by itself on the second page
and identify the industry, business issues, technical issues, pedagogical
objectives, and suggested uses of the case. The case, any exhibits,
and then the teaching notes should follow.
(2) A completed Case Competition Submission Form
(available on the web).
Prizes include:
(1) $500 and plaque to the best case
(2) $100 and plaque for up to three runners-up
For
more information, see http://www.informs.org/Prizes/INFORMEDPrize.html#case
or contact Tasha
R. Inniss at TInniss@spelman.edu |
And for 2005:
INFORMS Case Competition 2005 Submission
Form
Please answer
all questions completely and electronically submit this form and all other
documents simultaneously to Tasha
R. Inniss at:
Tinniss@spelman.edu
or submit physical copies of all documents through
the mail to:
Dr.
Tasha R. Inniss
350 Spelman Lane, SW
Box 320
Atlanta, GA 30314-4399
This completed
form and all other components of your entry must be received by August
1, 2005. Please note that you may answer each of these
questions on separate sheets of paper if necessary.
Case Title
First Author's
Name
Position
Affiliation
Mailing Address
Telephone Number
e-mail
Address
Second Author's
Name
Position
Affiliation
Mailing Address
Telephone Number
e-mail
Address
Third Author's
Name
Position
Affiliation
Mailing Address
Telephone Number
e-mail
Address
Fourth Author's
Name
Position
Affiliation
Mailing Address
Telephone Number
e-mail
Address
1.
What audience(s) could benefit from
this case in terms of program (business, OR/MS, engineering, other - specify)
and in terms of level (undergraduate, masters, doctoral)?
2.
What functional area(s) is (are)
under study in this case? What OR/MS techniques are used?
3.
What skills does the case reinforce?
What do students learn? How does the case accomplish these objectives?
4.
Please summarize the results of your
classroom use of this case.
5.
Is the case entirely the product
of the authors(s)? If not, is its intellectual history clarified in the case?
{back to In This Newsletter}
{back to the top}
Publications - Christopher
J. Zappe
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere
gratitude for the excellent work and ongoing service of three individuals
who currently volunteer their precious time to produce electronic and conventional
publications for the benefit of INFORM-ED
and INFORMS in general:
<
Joel Sokol, Editor of "Issues in Education" Column in OR/MS Today. Joel
has done a wonderful job in finding prospective authors to write interesting
and useful bimonthly one-page columns on educational issues in ORMS Today
and reviewing their contributions before publication.
<
John Kros, Editor of the INFORM-ED Website. John has admirably performed
the important service of maintaining and enhancing the INFORM-ED web presence on the INFORMS On Line (IOL) site.
<
Mike Racer, Editor of the INFORM-ED Newsletter. Mike's fine work for INFORM-ED focuses on the exhausting tasks of collecting
triennial reports from each INFORM-ED officer and editor, assembling reports into a newsletter and posting
on INFORM-ED's
website, and sending notification to members when the newsletter is released.
In addition to performing other particular duties related to the electronic
newsletter, Mike coordinates work with INFORMS to maintain a current INFORM-ED membership e-mail list.
Please know how grateful I am for the important contributions
of these three members of INFORM-ED. 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!
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
Lone Instructors - David Rader
At the recent INFORMS conference
in Denver, there was a cluster,
organized outside of INFORM-ED, on "Undergraduate OR Education".
A majority of the talks were given by people from mathematics departments
of predominantly undergraduate institutions, not the typical location for
INFORMS members. A central theme that emerged in the subsequent discussions
was that more support was needed for those of us who are (a) teaching primarily
undergraduate students in technical majors (mathematics, engineering, computer
science, etc) and (b) the only people on our respective campuses that have
an OR background.
With that in mind, I am interested in starting such a support group.
If you are interested in participating, please contact me at david.rader@rose-hulman.edu.
My hope is that we will be able to meet in New Orleans
(perhaps after the INFORMS-ED meeting) to determine how and where such a group
should proceed.
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
INFORM-ed @ INFORMS,
2005 - Pinar Keskinocak
INFORM-ED (INFORMS Forum on Education)
invites you to organize a session or give an education-related presentation
at the 2005 INFORMS Conference in New Orleans.
For more information about the conference, please see http://www.informs.org/Conf/NO2005/. FOr more information about INFORM-Ed, please see http://education.forum.informs.org//. If
you are interested in presenting or organizing an education-related session,
please contact Pinar Keskinocak (pinar@isye.gatech.edu)
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
Update on Outreach
- Julie Swann
INFORM-ED has recently created a Local/Student Chapters Outreach program.
The program is designed to increase the awareness of INFORM-ED activities
and how the forum can benefit the chapters, as well as to increase the future
participation in INFORM-ED.
The program will match an INFORM-ED member with a chapter that has expressed
interest in knowing more about INFORM-ED. The member will attend the
meeting and talk about what INFORM-ED is, what we do, and what the forum has
to offer members. A presentation will be provided to the member in advance,
along with guidance on its content if desired.
So far we have had several requests and several volunteers, and we look forward
to increasing participation. If you wish to request a visit from INFORM-ED
to your chapter or volunteer your services for this external outreach, please
contact Julie Swann at jswann@isye.gatech.edu. Let's spread the
good word about the Teaching of Better!
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
Exemplary Courseware - Joe Tront
Call for Submissions
2005 Premier Award for Excellence
in Engineering Education Courseware
(see
http://www.needs.org/needs/public/premier/
)
NEEDS, John Wiley & Sons, Microsoft Research, The Mathworks,
and Autodesk are pleased to announce the 2005 Premier Award competition. The
Premier Award recognizes high-quality, non-commercial courseware designed
to enhance engineering education. Beyond just recognizing outstanding courseware,
the Premier Award evaluates and acknowledges exceptional learning experiences.
Since 1997, seventeen outstanding courseware packages and learning experiences
have been rewarded. If you or someone you know has developed non-commercial
courseware or web sites designed to enhance engineering education, please
consider submitting for the Premier Award.
Please visit our website for information regarding submissions, prizes, past
winners, sponsors, etc. http://www.needs.org/needs/public/premier/ The winner(s) will be announced and prizes awarded at the 2005
Frontiers in Education Conference on October 19-22, Indianapolis,
IN.
Important Dates:
July 15, 2005 - Submissions Due by 5 PM PT
October 19-22, 2005 - Winner(s) Presented at the FIE 2005
Conference
For More Information:
Please contact, Joe Tront, jgtront@vt.edu, (540) 231-5067 or Brandon Muramatsu, premier@needs.org, (435) 797-2703.
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
WebFlash
- John F. Kros
The INFORM-ED website has
new information posted so go out and take a look at http://education.forum.informs.org/.
The site has averaged around 160 hits a month for January to April. Traffic
was higher in January and February then tapered off. Please email me if you
have any suggestions, additions, corrections, and/or comments regarding the
website. See you at the Fall INFORMS meeting in New Orleans, John F. Kros,
krosj@mail.ecu.edu.
Award Winners - Mike Racer
Starting with this issue, we'd
like to recognize some folks that have been recognized for their excellence
in teaching. In each case, we'll also include the criteria -if your institution
starts its own award, this might be helpful.
In this issue, we recognize the
following:
Susan Palocsay, JMU,
College
of Business
Pinar Keskinocak, GA
Tech, Center for Enhancement of Teaching & Learning
James Lowe, USAFA
v
Susan Palocsay
Professor of Computer Information Systems & Management Science
James Madison University College of Business
JMU College of Business Distinguished
Teacher Award
Criteria:
"The College of Business Distinguished
Teacher will be chosen by a committee consisting of the past three
award recipients and several Program Directors. An announcement of each
college recipient will be made by the Provost at the Madison Day Ceremony
in the spring.
Candidate Requirements and Procedures
To be eligible for the College Of Business Distinguished
Teacher Award, one must:
1)
Currently teach undergraduate and/or graduate students,
2) Currently have full-time (non-retired or non-emeritus) status,
3)
Be actively involved in pedagogical activities such as curriculum
development and/or course and program assessment,
4) Have taught at JMU for a minimum of six years, and
5)
Not have received the Distinguished Teacher Award in the preceding
five years.
Nominations may be made by Program Directors or colleagues,
i.e., no self-nominations. All nominees wishing to be considered for
this award should submit:
1)
a dossier that consists of a maximum two pages expressing educational
philosophy,
2)
a two or three page resume
3)
a list of courses taught in the last five years along with class
sizes and grade distributions,
4) a brief indication of the role played in the development and/or
modification of any course,
5)
a file of sample materials, e.g., syllabus, exams, innovative
materials, used during one course, and
6)
other supporting material, e.g., Program Director's evaluation of
teaching, student evaluations from one course, names/contact information for
two prior students that can be contacted, list of any teaching awards received,
etc.
Based on a review of materials submitted, the Selection Committee
will develop a list of finalists and conduct short interviews with those individuals.
Visits to selected classes may also be made."
v
Pinar Keskinocak
Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
BP Junior Teaching Excellence Award
Criteria for
the BP Junior Teaching Excellence Award
This award is open to any nominated full time tenure-track faculty member
who does not yet have tenure. Self-nominations are permitted.
Candidates should have completed at least three semesters of teaching at Georgia
Tech, and at least one academic year on the
tenure-track at Georgia Tech. First time nominations are preferred.
We anticipate granting between one and three awards depending on the number
and quality of nominations. However, no more than one faculty member
from any academic unit will be chosen.
Please note that for funding reasons, we need to know which of our candidates
have had an impact on engineering undergraduate students.
The nomination packet should include the following items:
1.
A letter of nomination.
2.
A table of contents for the packet.
3.
Letters of support from the following individuals:
a)
The candidates department head or chair.
If this person is the nominator, then the nomination letter will suffice for
this requirement.
b)
One or two other colleagues, at least one of whom has observed the candidate
in the classroom.
c)
Three to five students, at least one of whom must be a current student, and
at least two of whom should be undergraduate students.
4.
Illustrations of the candidate"s teaching excellence
and impact on student learning.
5.
If it is applicable, evidence of impact on engineering undergraduate students
(this can be included in the other elements). This will help determine
the source of funding for the awards.
6.
In the past, the committees that have judged the candidates for this award
have stressed the following characteristics. While there is no guarantee
that future committees will look at the packets in the same way, these are
some of the basic properties and activities that are considered:
a)
Educational innovations.
b)
Connections between research and teaching.
c)
Educational outreach beyond the classroom and laboratory
d)
Teaching excellence in core classes, required classes, and large classes.
e)
Accessibility to all students, even those who were not performing well in
the class.
f)
Impact on students" lives, beyond the classroom
g)
Passion about teaching and learning.
h)
Good Georgia Tech citizenship.
v
Jim Lowe
Associate Professor of Management
& Operations Research
US Air
Force Academy
Theodore Helmer
Award for Teaching Excellence, Spring 2003
Criteria:
The award is
made, based on course summaries, course critiques, and faculty review.
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
Just a Thought - Passion - Mike Racer
Without a doubt, "passion"
would have to be one of my favorite words. When I hear someone speak passionately
on a subject, it catches my attention. When I see someone act with passion,
it makes an impact on me. It tells me something so much more.
How many of us can use that word
in describing ourselves in the classroom? Do your students see your love for
OR/MS? Do they recognize in you that this material is more than just a subject
to be taught?
As for me, I spent the last year
in my first year as a faculty member in the Business
School. I taught the basic Business
Statistics course. In two semesters, I had over 400 students who simply desired
to pass my class. Here, as many other places, statistics is not the favorite
course of business students. So, being new to this side of campus, I set out
to teach the course differently. Rather than laying all the material out there,
and hoping some of it would be absorbed, I approached the entire course from
their angle. That is, "why the heck do I need to know statistics anyway?"We
covered examples in management, finance, accounting, real estate, hotel and
restaurant management, supply chain, marketing, and MIS. I tried to meet them
with what they were familiar.
And it made such a difference.
The students saw how fervently I wanted them to know this material. They saw
how applicable the material was to their own interests. We might not
have covered as much material during the semester, but, as one student put
it, they learned "to think", and how the statistics benefit them.
I can't ask for much more than
that.
Mike
(mracer@memphis.edu)
Ph: 901-678-3285(work)
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}
Helpful Links
< INFORMS
< INFORMed
<
Science of Better
{back to In
This Newsletter}
{back to the
top}