Tag: student views of OM

Teaching Tip: Why Are Students Disengaged?

Lack of student engagement is one of the biggest challenges OM educators face. And whether you’re teaching in person or online seems to make little difference. As educators, it’s difficult to be sure why students are disengaged unless you ask them directly. To help, Harvard Business Publishing (Aug., 2022) reached out to four students to learn: What is something a professor does that makes you disengage, and what can they do to improve your engagement?

First student (from London): “I disengage in classes where the professors just lecture with no energy or passion for the topic. I would feel more engaged if professors relied less on lectures and leaned into more opportunities that allow students to actually apply the learning to projects or case studies.”

Second student (from India): “Some professors read the content directly from the presentation slides without explaining it further. This can make for a boring lecture. My three ideas are: (1) Make room for breaks during longer lectures so students can refuel.; (2) Crack some jokes to grab students’ attention; (3) Use real-world activities that allow students to apply their knowledge and solve problems.

Third student (from UNC): “Rather than extensive reading assignments and large cumulative tests, professors should consider integrating timely current events or discussions into their material.  Courses can also be taught more effectively through project-based application. Also, provide help sheets, links, online videos, and recommendations for external resources so there are various methods for learning the material. This shows that professors are intentional about wanting students to have opportunities to succeed in their courses.”

Fourth student (from Portland State U.): “I disengage when a professor hasn’t introduced or taught concepts during lectures that are included in homework. I’m more engaged with professors who seem like real people and who have global awareness. The best professors speak to their lives outside of the classroom.”

Based on these responses, it appears that for students to care about what we are covering in our OM class, there needs to be less focus on the grades and more on the learning, as well as ample opportunities for course concepts to be applied to the real world–such as the simulations in MyLab. We will want to stay up to speed on new teaching methodologies and be realistic about what our students value.

Teaching Tip: Five Ideas for Ending Your OM Semester

classIts often been said that first and last class sessions are the bookends that hold a course together. Here are a few ideas from Faculty Focus (April 13, 2016) that might help us finish the semester with the same energy and focus we mustered for the first class.

Integrate the Content—Let the students bring it all together by integrating the major concepts, important ideas, and a few significant supporting details of the OM course. Perhaps they will follow the 10 operations decisions around which we build the text.

Review for the Final—Make the students do the work. Students are often at a loss when it comes to knowing how to study for comprehensive finals. Devote some time to working with them to develop a study game plan. What’s the best way to review notes?

Get and Give Useful Feedback—Although colleges have moved toward online course evaluations, use this last class to get and give a different sort of feedback. For example, create a list of every assignment students completed during the semester. Ask what you should stop, start, or continue doing. Or give students feedback on how you experienced the course. Share 5 things you’ll remember about this class and one thing about teaching you’ve learned from these students.

Bookend Activities—Tie the end to the beginning. Ask students what reasons justify making this a required class. (You don’t have to think they’re good reasons.)

Celebrate—It’s been a long semester. Get everybody walking around, talking, telling stories. Be part of the crowd. Shake hands; pose for selfies. Bring snacks or invite students to contribute snacks. This is a unique collection of individuals who will never again be together with you and the course content. End with applause and say “Thank you” if it’s a class that’s made you thankful.

Teaching Tip: Teaching Your Students How To Read Their OM Textbook

Over the past 4 decades, I have learned a lot about how students learn. Very few students, it turns out, sit down and read the chapters in our OM text from front to back. But after examining Reading Textbooks: Textbooks Are Not Meatloaf, by two psych profs, I would offer 2 pieces of advice to students: (1) read the text, and (2) attend the class lectures.

“No matter what the study method,” write the authors, “students must read the textbook to be successful in the course. While this might seem obvious to some, many students seem to think that just taking notes on lectures will be enough.” Two common mistakes students make are: (1) not bothering to read the book before going to the lecture on that topic, and (2) reading the text the same way they would read a novel–1st page to last. With a text, you have to read slowly, using the SQ3R method. Here it is.

SURVEY Look at the chapter you have been assigned. Read the outline and learning objectives. Then flip through the chapter, read the section headings, and look at the tables and figures. This skimming should take just a few minutes. Surveying the chapter helps form a framework for organizing information in the chapter for when you read it later.

QUESTION Now read the heading for the 1st section–only! Try to think of a question that this section should answer as you read. For example, in Chapter 6, you could ask, “Why is quality so important in a firm?” Now when you are reading, you are reading this section to find an answer.

READ Now read the section, looking for answers to your questions. Take notes by making an outline of the main points. Students who write their own notes score significantly higher on exams than students who merely highlight, which requires no mental effort.

RECITE  It may sound silly, but reciting out loud what you remember from the section forces you to put information in your own words. It gives you auditory memory. Now repeat the QRR for each section, taking a 10 minute break after every 2 or 3 sections. This gives your brain time to absorb the process.

RECALL/REVIEW You have now finished the whole chapter. Take a few minutes to try to remember as much of what you’ve learned as possible. A good way to do this is to take the Self-Test in the Rapid Review and to go to the text website at http://www.pearsonhighered.com/heizer to take the Practice Quizzes.

Perhaps you would like to share these study tips with your students this coming semester!

 

Teaching Tip: What Students Dislike About Their OM Class

Our publisher, Prentice Hall/Pearson, never ceases to amaze us with all the information it collects about our book from students and professors alike. One of the fascinating surveys it sent us was what students liked most about the OM class they were taking–and what they liked least. (Hopefully one of the best parts of the course is the book itself!) We had earlier blogged about the former, hoping to provide you with some views as to what students liked most–what was their favorite day in class.

Today, let’s hear what they liked least. Here are just a few comments that pretty well sum up the findings. (The one about the monotone voice appeared over and over again).

“I could not relate the material she presented to anything in the real world.”

“He did not use any videos or Powerpoints–just lectured the whole hour and a half.”

“Too much lecture without involving the class.”

“He didn’t give us any problems to practice with.”

“He stayed monotone.”

“Her slides had mistakes on them.”

“He hadn’t prepared  his thoughts very well.”

This all comes to mind today because I just returned from Florida Gulf Coast University where I gave a couple of guest lectures in Prof. Julie Yazici’s OM classes. In the blog where students described what they like most, a repeating comment was the use of guest speakers. I hope the students in Fort Meyers appreciated that their prof  found a way to bring me in as her guest.

Videos, class exercises, small group projects, guest speakers, an enthusiastic voice, maybe  an OM news article we mention in this blog–all are necessary ingredients to keep the students involved.