Tag: Texas Tech

Guest Post: How I Deal With the 1st Day of Class Syndrome at Texas Tech

Phillip Flamm, who is the Core Course Coordinator for OM at Texas Tech U., provides today’s Guest Post–his 6th for us.  Phillip teaches in the ISQS Department at the Rawls College of Business. He can be reached at p.flamm@ttu.edu.

It seems that large classes (>150) tend to have certain challenging characteristics no matter what the course. One of the most maddening issues is the impact of the student syndrome. In short, students feel less engaged in large classes and therefore sometimes start very slowly. I have incorporated several tactics that help motivate students to start course work immediately:

  • I pick a good student from past classes to speak briefly the first day. I leave the room so the class will expect an honest appraisal from the ex-student. They detail exactly what it takes to make a good grade in the course with an emphasis on getting started (purchasing the book, joining a focus group, time management calendar, etc.) immediately.
  • My course, Operations Management, is half lecture and half lab (semester long project requirement). I teach all the lectures and I have 7 or 8 lab instructors who teach 14 labs. The first day, lab instructors show recorded video descriptions of lab project requirements so each student will get the same idea of what is required. 
  • Also in the first day’s lecture I detail exactly what it takes to make a good grade:
    • Join a focus group (7 different times available) to verify their notes.
    • Utilize PRS clickers to answer extra credit questions.
    • Utilize custom notes pages in the back of the text book to record their personal lecture notes.
    • Point out poor grade statistics of students with no text book.
    • And what’s in it for them:
      • Develop skills that recruiters want (work well in teams, verbal and written presentations, developing a business plan)
      • Evidence that students have used their projects as successful talking points in interview situations to get a job.

It is impossible to motivate everyone to start fast, but hitting the students from several angles initially seems to help.

Guest Post: Creating Collaborative Opportunities in Large OM Classes

Phillip Flamm teaches in the ISQS Department at Texas Tech University. This is his 4th Guest Post on tools for teaching OM. His 1st post was on how he handles large sections, 2nd on the use of “clickers”, and most recent on lab components.

Studies suggest that students can comprehend and retain information more quickly when studying in a group environment (collaborative learning). In large class sections (>100) a collaborative learning environment is difficult to create. I have added voluntary “focus groups” to my large sections of Introduction to Operations Management in an effort to create a supplemental collaborative learning environment. Students attend these “focus groups” regularly at a scheduled time after each lecture. Exam grades for members of these groups run 10 to 15 points higher than the average exam score.

At the first of the semester I ask for volunteers to lead the groups. I meet with these students directly after each class and spend 10 to 15 minutes summarizing lecture concepts. Then the group leaders meet later with the members of their respective “focus groups” and guide them through the material (usually one hour). Members are encouraged to ask questions and add comments as needed. This collaborative learning environment allows group leaders as well as group members to increase comprehension of lecture material in a very time effective manner.

I believe in an effort-based grading system and I try to reward students who give extra effort.  Students who are willing to put forth extra effort by attending “focus group” meetings are rewarded with a better understanding of course material and ultimately higher grades. Students that don’t attend meetings generally are pushed farther down the grade pecking order. The lesson here for the group leaders is that teaching a topic is the best way to learn that topic. For students in general the lesson is that the effort required to take advantage of collaborative learning pays off both in comprehension and grade performance.

Guest Post: The OM Course with a Lab Component at Texas Tech

Today’s Guest Post is  from Phillip Flamm, who teaches OM in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. For details, feel free to email him at p.flamm@ttu.edu.

When I first began teaching Introduction to Operations Management 8 years ago the course was designed as a highly quantitative, large section (250 students), lecture-only format. This was a nightmare to teach from a lot of different angles which gave me plenty of motivation to “find a better way.” I split the course into one 1 ½ hour lecture session and one 1 ½ lab session per week. The lab focus is a semester long project where the students go through the complete planning cycle for the start up of a manufacturing company (corporate/business strategy, market analysis, customer requirements, product design phases, demand forecasting, break even analysis, capacity planning, location analysis, supply chain strategy, layout and facility design, and JIT concept utilization).

 Students (in teams of three) present the project in two parts, with a verbal presentation and written requirement for each part. They address the audience as if they were potential investors and the audience is required to ask questions to gauge the presenters’ ability to think on their feet. Lecture topics are presented along the same timeline as the development of the project in the lab. Lab instructors are PhD students who may be teaching for the 1st time. The course design is such that the lab instructors don’t have to do much other than learn the material and help the project groups, which is perfect for 1st time instructors.

Recruiters from Fortune 500 companies consistently have the following requirements at the top of their wish lists for college grads:

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Possess an entrepreneurial spirit
  • Strong problem solving and analytical skills
  • Must thrive and work well in a team environment.

The lab/lecture approach to teaching OM gives the students practice and training in all these areas. In addition, students report utilizing discussion of this project to be very effective during the interviewing process to exemplify the skill level of the student as a potential job candidate.