MyOMLab teaching tips – The OM Blog by Heizer, Render, & Munson

MyOMLab: Learning How to Use All the Features

Our MyLabOperationsManagement (or MyOMLab for short) has such a wealth of features that sometimes Jay, Chuck, and I need to remind ourselves of the dozens of pieces of content once in a while. So this one and 1/4 hour video presentation by Chuck can help guide you as you prepare for the new semester.

Chuck will discuss how to set up your MyOMLab course for the first time and all of these features:

Multimedia content, including the Instructor’s Resource Manual and all of its suggestions for using our 2,000 PowerPoints, videos, classroom exercises and games, and teaching tips.

The Instructor’s Solution Manual that the three of us created, including answers to all discussion questions, homework problems, case studies, and ethical dilemmas.

Active Models, which are Excel based simulations in most chapters.

MyOMLab contents including:

90 Solved Problem Videos that mimic homework problems to help walk through solutions step-by-step.

46 company videos we created to specifically match chapter content featuring these premier organizations: Hard Rock, Celebrity Cruises, Alaska Airlines, Frito-Lay, Arnold Palmer Hospital, Nautique Boats, Orlando Magic, Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster and Olive Garden) and their related case studies that appear in the text.

850 automatically-graded by MyOMLab homework problems–almost all algorithmic so you may assign homework with each student dealing with a unique data set. Plus the ability to create your own custom questions and problems.

OM in the News readings with multiple choice questions that may be assigned. These are updated every semester so the content is current.

12 recent graduate videos, where these young people talk about their OM jobs–and provide career tips/advise. These too have multiple choice questions that are assignable.

12 “how to create your own spreadsheet” videos to help students develop their own OM Excel spreadsheets.

5 operations management simulations to give students hands-on experience in project management, forecasting, quality, supply chains, and inventory.

And that is just a quick overview. If you find it a bit overwhelming, don’t hesitate to contact us for some personal help.

Barry at ProfRender@gmail.com

Jay at j.h963@yahoo.com

Chuck at Munson@wsu.edu

MyOMLab: Enriching MyOMLab Problem Selection

Readers may have noticed, that in the 14th edition of our OM text, we have continued to add to the rich selection of solved problems and end-of-chapter problems (which now comprise about 1,000 static problems). When the multitude of algorithmic versions are added, the number of problems may exceed 10,000! (We have actually not tried to count them).

In addition to the end-of-chapter problems, MyLabOperationsManagement also includes a number of problem variations noted as ‘brief’, ‘alternate’, and ‘extension’.

‘Brief’ problems are designed to allow faculty to assign problems with a smaller data set (see Problems 4.3, 4.6). These may be especially useful for time-constrained testing situations or with assignments containing a number of other problems. In these situations, students focus a larger percentage of their time on applying the technique a few times rather than generating “busy work” by repeating the same technique over and over. While the problem should take less time to solve, the ‘brief’ problem may have a data set that is smaller than should be used for a reasonable sample in the real world. Faculty may want to note this for students.

‘Alternate’ problems are variations of the text problem(s) (see Problems 15.24, 15,25 and 15.26) to enhance the variety of problems available to assign to students.

Finally, ‘extension’ problems enrich the comprehensiveness of the problem, as in Chapter 15, for example, where the critical ratio option has been added as an ‘extension’ of the scheduling problem (see Problems 15. 25, 15.27)

In all cases these problems can be accessed by the instructor by ‘clicking’ the “Show other custom questions” in the Assignment Manager, under Instructor Tools.

MyOMLab: New MyOMLab Features for Summer and Fall, 2015

Jay and I would like to keep you up-to-date on the latest features being added to MyOMLab, so here are some nice new additions.

Dynamic Study Modules:

1.) A new “Interactive Report” that helps determine learner participation, topics that are difficult and those that are well understood, and provides details on how students are answering specific questions. (Live NOW)

2.) An updated design to the DSM Mobile App, which will provide more consistency between the look and feel of the full web version. (Available for Fall 2015 classes)

Learning Catalytics:

1.) A “Math Palette” that can be used with student responses on mathematical expression type questions.

This feature enables instructors to use Greek symbols, PI, Logarithm, Exponent, Trigonometric functions, Absolute value, Square root, Nth square root, and Fractions. (Live July 15th)

2.) A redesigned Question Library that makes it easier for instructors to find questions in certain topic areas, and add multiple questions to a module at once. (Live July 15th)

Reporting Dashboard

Instructors and administrators will now be able to select the portion of the report where they would like to see more detailed information and then see the student results that are included in that portion of the report. They will also be able to sort the results, search for individual students, print or export the detailed results, or email one or more students from within the report. (Live Now)

MyOMLab: Some Enhancement for Spring 2015

We are always working to add more features to MyOMLab. Here are five new items that you may not be aware of.

HTML5 Player Enhancements: Show Work and Printing Options The HTML5 player will include a redesigned Show Work component that lets students enter text either from a keyboard or by using a stylus or finger to draw freehand on different backgrounds (such as a coordinate graph) using multiple fonts and colors. Students can also continue to upload images such as phone-photos of hand-written work. The printing enhancements include improvements to the layout of printed exercises to be more pen-and-paper friendly and the addition of several new printing options for the instructor (only available if HTML5 player is available for all devices in given book) including the ability to add instructions, add an honor statement, print an answer sheet with answers in-line, and more.

Show/Hide Learning Aids at the Question Level New options for learning aids availability let instructors choose whether to show or hide all learning aids for specific questions or to show or hide specific learning aids for specific questions. These options are accessed from the View Question Details/View Assignment Details page on Step 2 of assignment creation.

Study Plan Enhancements Instructors will have a new Gradebook view that lets them easily review and analyze students’ progress on Companion Study Plans, including an Item Analysis view that identifies which objectives the class mastered or had trouble with. Instructors can also set as the default a new interactive view of the course (the former View Progress page) that lets students go directly to the sections or topics that need study. Also, the next-assigned Companion Study Plan will be automatically shown to students, simplifying their navigation in the Study Plan.

Dynamic Study Modules Improvements Improvements to Dynamic Study Modules included a revised progress bar that better visualizes the students progress in a module, a new introduction video familiarizing students with DSMs and popups that replace the “Rose” avatar, a streamlined experience between rounds, and the ability for Pearson to add customized end-of-module messages.

Improved MMND Discussion Board The ND discussion board is getting a new design and layout.

Our 24/7 site for instructor/students for technical support is: http://247pearsoned.custhelp.com/. Or you can Phone 888-433-8435 for Instructors or 800-677-6337 for Students. Our Community site has been updated to include ALL of the MyOMLab training videos, new success stories, best practices and more. http://www.myomlabcommunity.com/

MyOMLab: Three New Types of Homework Assignments

As you start to use MyOMLab in your fall classes, Jay and I want to make sure you are aware of 3 features we have added as homework options. They are: Conceptual Multiple Choice questions, Video questions, and OM in the News questions. To review these, just go to Instructor’s tools, then Assignment manager, and Create assignment. You can check the boxes for these three categories to see what is available.

For example, under Conceptual MC questions, you will find four questions that apply to each major heading throughout the text. These are perfect questions to assign to students the week before you lecture on a particular topic. Jay has been doing this for many years and finds students much better prepared for class than they were before they were encouraged to scan the topics and answer the questions.

The Video questions relate to the 30+ videos we have created for the text, ranging from the Orlando Magic (the latest set) to Frito Lay, Hard Rock, Arnold Palmer Hospital, Regal Marine, Darden, and Wheeled Coach Ambulances. You can ask your students to watch a video and then assign one or more of the four questions (multiple choice) that we have created for that video.

If you like the OM in the News features in this OM Blog, you may find that your students benefit from reading about current news relating to OM as well. There are now 1-3 readings listed in each chapter, with 4 multiple choice questions you may assign for each reading. The readings are short–300 to 400 words–and directly linked to the chapter you are covering.

More and more options for keeping your students engaged, current, and graded without any effort on your part. Let us know what you think.

MyOMLab: Updates for Fall, 2014

The new MyOMLab release was just installed, and includes a number of new features:

Grade Sync Enhancements for Third-Party LMS Integrations Courses in all standard integrations (formerly kiosk integrations) with Canvas, D2L, and Moodle are now automatically send grades and assignments information. These default settings are now also applied when copying courses.

Learning Catalytics™ Instructors and students now have Single-Sign-On to Learning Catalytics™, “bring your own device” student engagement, assessment, and classroom intelligence system. From a pre–built announcement on the Course Home, instructors now have access to Pearson-created content questions or they can create their own questions.

Assignable Dynamic Study Modules Instructors now have the ability to assign Dynamic Study Modules as homework, choosing which modules to assign, how many points they are worth, and when they are due. All student work for the assigned modules is now feed directly to the gradebook.

HTML5 Mobile Player The MyOMLab Exercise Player has a new streamlined mobile friendly design, allowing access from iPads and Android tablets.

Reporting Dashboard A new Reporting Dashboard presents student performance data at the class, section, and program levels. This is designed to give you the information you need to keep your students on track throughout the course, and demonstrate learning outcomes clearly and easily.

Notify Lab Administrators Note that MyOMLab require the use of the Adobe Flash Player version 10.2 or higher. The recommended version is Flash Player 11.9.

If your campus labs are running Windows 8.0 or 8.1, please make sure your computer lab administrator downloads and installs the LockDown Browser executable file before classes begin. (The latest Windows version of the LockDown Browser is 1.0.6.01, dated March 28, 2014.) The latest Mac version is 1.0.6.00, also dated March 28, 2014. This version contains the basic and scientific calculators that match Windows 7’s calculator layout.

Our 24/7 site for instructor/students for technical support is: http://247pearsoned.custhelp.com/. Or you can Phone 888-433-8435 for Instructors or 800-677-6337 for Students. Our Community site has been updated to include ALL of the MyOMLab training videos, new success stories, best practices and more. http://www.myomlabcommunity.com/

MyOMLab: Need Help With MyOMLab for Fall?

Jay and I want to thank you for adopting MyOMLab for your course this Fall semester. About half the students in the country using one of our OM texts have now adopted this assessment/learning system–and the percent is growing exponentially. Whether you are an experienced user or brand new to the program, our team has created many resources and tools to help you get the most out of MyOMLab.

Getting Started:

Adopting a new technology component is rewarding and exciting but takes time and training. Pearson has recently published a new MyLab/Mastering Training 2013 catalog which details the various training opportunities and offerings currently available. These include self-paced training courses complete with a certification option, Faculty-Advisor-led live online training sessions, Video Playlists, an Interactive Training Guide and more. Please visit: http://www.pageturnpro.com/Pearson-Education/52147-Professional-and-Career-Course-Catalog/index.html#1 and navigate to the MyOMLab section on page 22 to choose the training option that works best with your schedule and needs.

Interactive User Guide:

Located on the MyOMLab home page under the Tours and Training tab, this searchable user guide offers step-by-step instructions and links to our tutorial videos throughout. (Click here).

Virtual Classroom Training Sessions – If you prefer a personal touch, we offer virtual training sessions led by experienced users. Click here to view the schedule. (Be sure to click “Show all meetings.”)

First Day of Class:

Here you will find both a step-by-step student registration document as well as a Getting Started First Day of Class PowerPoint deck. Students will also benefit from the Student MyOMLab playlist found here.

Technical Support:

We also have a newly redesigned 24/7 site for instructor/students for technical support: http://247pearsoned.custhelp.com/ or Phone 888-433-8435 for Instructors or 800-677-6337 for students.

The MyOMLab Community Site:

Our Community site has been updated to include ALL of the MyOMLab training videos, new success stories, best practices and more. http://www.myomlabcommunity.com/