EFFECTIVE PEDAGOGICAL TECHNIQUES IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH COURSES INTENT ON IMPROVING ANALYSIS SKILLS AND REPORT-WRITING

摘要

Powerful Operations Research (OR) softwares provide many of the analytical features needed to solve OR problems. However, students lack the skills required for problem formulation, efficient application of software features, and communication of their findings in a report format. An effective pedagogy is developed to assist students with problem formulation while enforcing analytical skills and guiding writing reports. I have utilized pedagogy tools such as handouts with specific guidelines and extensive examples, in-class discussions, homework assignments, and a final project to enforce report writing and analytical thinking. Moreover, I stress the importance of analyzing the software's solutions further to obtain more useful information. Though writing a "Report to a Manager" has been an element of my OR courses since 1999, the new approach has evolved in the last three years. This new approach is aimed at helping students to better understand, utilize, and communicate OR techniques. The pedagogy proved to be very effective, with an overwhelmingly positive feedback from students.