Teaching objectives: the value of using cases in teaching operational research

Please scroll down for article-it is on subsequent pagesWith 12,500 members from nearly 90 countries, INFORMS is the largest international association of operations research (O.R.) and analytics professionals and students. INFORMS provides unique networking and learning opportunities for individual professionals, and organizations of all types and sizes, to better understand and use O.R. and analytics tools and methods to transform strategic visions and achieve better outcomes. For more information on INFORMS, its publications, membership, or meetings visit Abstract. Teaching cases have become a cornerstone of operations research and management science (OR/MS) education since the early 1990s, when the focus of the pedagogy largely shifted to an applied, model-building emphasis. I provide a review of the literature related to the use of teaching cases in general as well as their use specifically within OR/MS courses. I discuss the pedagogical benefits and the challenges in using teaching cases to teach OR/MS methods and their application. I conclude by offering some practical suggestions to assist instructors looking to implement cases in their classrooms for the first time or to improve their effectiveness in using teaching cases.

Section: Case Studies On Using Case Studies In the Or/ms Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Studies On Using Case Studies In the Or/ms Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching OR/MS with Cases: A Review and New Suggestions

Drake

2019

“…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). While there are numerous examples of one or a few cases being used to supplement traditional classroom learning at the undergraduate level, pure case-based undergraduate courses outside of case-exclusive business schools (e.g., Richard Ivey School of Business) are rare.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The case method is based on the principle of "learning by doing" and the Socratic method of inclass discussions (Barnes et al 1994). In the OR literature, the success of the case method has been shown by various authors over the years, predominantly in business schools (Böcker 1987, Bodily 1996, Bell and von Lanzenauer 2000, Cochran 2000, Penn et al 2016. Most business schools now use the case method to teach at least some of their courses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case-Based Undergraduate Operations Research Course

Frances

Terekhov

2019

Abstract. This paper describes a purely case-based undergraduate operations research course that has been successfully run in the industrial engineering program at the University of Toronto for 11 years. We describe the structure of the course, including the process adopted for solving the weekly cases, student assessment methods, and the choice of cases. Student feedback suggests that the course enhances the learning experience through the principle of learning by doing, provides a platform for integration of operations research methods learned in earlier classes, can be conducive to improving communication skills, and addresses the gap between theory and practice through a simulated workplace environment.

“…Undergraduate classroom discussions began to more substantively address model building, interpretation of results, and implementation issues than the mathematics involved (Cochran 2009, Miranda andNagy 2011). The new pedagogical approaches were accompanied by the introduction of case-based (Bell andHaehling Von Lanzenauer 2000, Cochran 2000), problem-based (Goodnough 2006, Perrenet et al 2000 or even project-based (Armacost and Lowe 2003) methodologies.…”

Section: Introduction: Teaching Operations Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Heuristic Methods to Industrial Engineers: A Problem-Based Experience

Muñuzuri

Cortés

Grosso

et al. 2016

Because of its mathematical and computational components, operations research (OR) is not simple to teach or to learn, despite its innumerable industry applications. However, advanced OR is included in many graduate degrees related to industrial engineering, where students need these techniques to solve complex optimization problems. Faced with the problem of teaching heuristic methods to master's students at the University of Seville, we developed a problem-based approach whereby instead of listening to lectures and taking exams on these techniques, one algorithmic technique is randomly assigned to each student, who must apply it to solving a certain optimization problem. Here we discuss our approach to putting our heuristics course into practice, the problems we faced, how we addressed those problems, the positive results obtained, and the lessons learned.