OR/MS Today - April 1999 - Issues in Education

April 1999

Experiential Learning in POM

By Salwa Ammar and Ronald Wright

This is a regular column sponsored by INFORMED, the INFORMS Forum on Education. Contact Armann Ingolfsson at armann.ingolfsson@ualberta.ca

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing [1]

Question: What makes an experiential learning exercise effective?
Answer: The ability to swing [2].

We spent the last five years implementing and designing a variety of in-class games and exercises for experiential learning in production and operations management. These games allow students to experience first hand some of the concepts and issues of operations management.

There is no doubt, that when effective, these experiences add value to the classroom presentation and enhance students' understanding of difficult subjects.

Swing dancing [3] is a delightful form of social dance that has withstood the test of time. It is a partner dance requiring a leader and a follower. The terms do not impose a hierarchy in the dance partnership. They merely define the roles of the initiator and the executor of the actions. As many experienced dancers would tell you, the dance's defining feature is the leader-follower connection. This connection facilitates instant communication that translates into smooth and continuous actions. The connection is subtle and natural and should in no way inhibit the freedom of expression of the individual dancers.

A similar connection is also defining of an effective experiential learning exercise. The prehistoric debate of who leads is an easy one to resolve in this case. The participating student is the leader and hence the initiator of the actions. The follower or the executor of the actions is the activity itself. An activity that enhances the learning experience is one in which a constant connection is not just possible but necessary for the exercise to unfold. It is also one that is capable of delivering understandable but not completely predictable consequences without severing the connection with the initiator of the action.

An effective activity enables the instructor to sit this dance out. The role of the instructor is either before (in preparation for) or after (in the discussion of) the in-class activity. The instructor may however need to control the pace of the activity, and hence in this analogy is the disc jockey.

To further illustrate these ideas we will use an example of a team-competitive game that we designed to simulate production planning and inventory control. The activity, called the In-Class Manufacturing Game [4], integrates various levels of production planning, demand forecasting and inventory control. We first designed the game as a physical activity where each team implemented their production plans periodically. The implementation was through actual actions such as ordering parts, securing overtime labor, assembling the products, undergoing setups, counting inventories, meeting demand and balancing checkbooks. The game was lively, eventful and fun — all the elements that are often misunderstood as the ability to swing.

However, in order to establish that ability, we really need to ask three questions: Does the student lead; does the activity follow; and is there a solid leader-follower connection? In this case and as is the case in many physical activities, the students were the leaders and the lead was necessary for the activity to proceed. The consequences of their actions were clearly available and hence the activity did follow. The connection, however, was harder to measure in this setting. The more accomplished students were able to keep up with the hectic pace of the game and still revise the plans as dictated by the changing conditions of the activity. Others, already struggling with the concepts, found it possible to completely sever their connection with the activity and simply go through the many motions. In short, the activity demonstrated the potential, but not yet the ability to swing.

In an attempt to force the play of the game to be more deliberate and to emphasize the leader-follower connection, we set out to slow down the pace of the activity. The second version of the game was a spreadsheet simulation that was designed to focus the students' actions and automatically implement their decisions. Overtime, expedited parts, inventories and such were all calculated in the background. This certainly gave students more time to contemplate their actions, but in the end less clues to help them in this process. The activity was no longer the follower, but in fact the back leader, and hence lacking the ability to swing.

Our third and current version of the game is a multi-screen Visual Basic application. It incorporates aids that maintain the students' role as the leader while keeping them informed of the relevant consequences of their decisions. Students are forced to pay attention to how the game is unfolding by receiving instantaneous feedback in the form of graphs, prompts and what-if tools. For example, students are able to continuously track levels of inventory and demand. They are warned about overtime, part expedite and other cost consequences without attempting to limit their actions. They have every opportunity to focus, revise their plans and learn in the process.

We are continually revising this game, as we become aware of ways to improve the connection without sacrificing the lead and follow. Our awareness of these necessary components that we apply to this activity and others guide us in maintaining the ever so important ability to swing. After all, "it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing."

References

http://cdu2.cduniverse.com, "It Don't Mean a Thing," Duke Ellington.
http://cdu2.cduniverse.com, "Ability To Swing," Patty Austin.
http://www.totalswing.com.
http://web.lemoyne.edu/~wright/learn.htm.

Salwa Ammar and Ronald Wright are associate professors in the Department of Business Administration, LeMoyne College. They can be reached via e-mail at ammars@palm.lemoyne.edu and wright@palm.lemoyne.edu.

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