The University of Alabama OM department has been looking for something that would allow us to teach better in the classroom environment and have something that would allow the students to be able to teach themselves when we were not available. Myomlab was what we chose to hopefully be the answer for us. This is our first semester with myomlab and, although we have had some bumps in the road, I find the more I use it the better I like it and the more I use it, the easier it is to use (Isn’t that what we teach as Learning Curve? We need to practice what we preach!!).
I admitted to my students (one class of 227 and two classes of 75) that we were using a new system and that I wanted input from them on the good, the bad and the ugly!!! I have actually had very few comments, either good or bad, on the text or the homework. In fact, comparing the number of comments from previous semesters, there are less . This of course, combined with less Teaching Assistants being used, has made for a less stressful semester for me and the TAs. Each time I have had any problems, I contact the proper personnel at myomlab and the problem is either solved or worked on. As with anything new, we will perform a “lessons learned” at the end of our first semester and make arrangements to get it right and continue to let myomlab know so we can all benefit. Keep up the good work, Barry & Jay!!
Bill Petty is an Instructor of Operations Management, Information Systems, Statistics, and Management Science in the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama.