Student Peer Evaluated Line Balancing Competition

Abstract

Abstract. The Student Peer Evaluated Line Balancing Competition is a 30-minute in-class problem-based learning experiential exercise that challenges student groups to design a feasible and efficient laptop computer assembly line. Each student group's proposed design is publicly peer-reviewed by the rest of the class, enabling students to evaluate various alternatives and realize the key requirements for optimally balancing an assembly line. Evidence of effectiveness is provided, including student survey results and a statistical analysis of exam question performance both before and after the exercise was incorporated into our business undergraduate operations management class. The survey revealed that 96% of students recommended continued usage and 92% believed the competition helped them to be able to determine a feasible solution for line balancing problems. Exam question performance analysis revealed that our initial instructions for the competition actually resulted in lower performance compared to traditional lecture. We subsequently improved the instructions and found that this change has resulted in similar exam question performance as traditional lecture. The result is an exercise that significantly improves student engagement while maintaining student performance previously achieved through traditional lecture.

Teaching Line Balancing through Active and Blended Learning*

“…We note that most activities (except the one described by Gray, 2011) gloss over the initial stages of designing an assembly line. Finally, in the few instances of reported implementations of active and blended learning, student performance is found to be-at best-comparable to traditional classroom learning methods (Scherrer, 2011;Snider et al, 2017).We believe that despite these results, active and blended learning methods can indeed be superior to traditional classroom methods. We also remark that instructors in this area have been slow to adopt blended learning approaches that can more effectively engage students outside of class and reduce the need for extensive materials and classroom space.…”

“…In summary, our review of the literature on OM pedagogy, as it specifically relates to teaching the design of assembly lines and line balancing in particular, has uncovered many examples of hands-on and computer-based activities shown to aid student learning (Fish, 2005;Hsieh & Kim, 2005;Snider et al, 2017;Weiss, 2013). We note that most activities (except the one described by Gray, 2011) gloss over the initial stages of designing an assembly line.…”

“…We note that in Snider et al (2017), students also develop their own approach to balancing an assembly line; however, they are provided with a set of tasks and associated times. When reminding students about the target cycle time and desire to reduce idle time, it makes sense to break ties by assigning the task with the longest duration first (while adhering to precedence constraints).…”

Patio Swings Intermodal Shipping Competition: An Inquiry‐Based Partial Information Exercise

“…Teaching innovations have been created for many topics in operations and supply chain management courses such as forecasting (e.g., Gavirneni, 2008;Snider & Eliasson, 2013), inventory management (e.g., Robb et al, 2010), and line balancing (e.g., Fish, 2005;Snider et al, 2017). Within supply chain management, there is the classic Beer Distribution Game (Sterman, 1989) that enables participants to experience the bullwhip effect.…”

A Case-Based Undergraduate Operations Research Course

“…As a result, many recent instructors have adopted innovative approaches for teaching OR, including games (Chan 2013, Snider et al 2017, interactive tools (Nurre and Weir 2017), and case studies (Penn et al 2016). The latter category builds on the well-known case teaching method that has been particularly successful in business schools (Barnes et al 1994, Bodily 1996, Bell and von Lanzenauer 2000, especially at the graduate level (e.g., Bodily 1996).…”