A Class Project to Increase Students’ Understanding of Fundamental Operations Management Concepts
Emily Plant and Jason Triche
College of Business, University of Montana, USA
Volume 17: 2023, pp. 83-106; ABSTRACT
This article presents a project-based learning assignment designed to enhance student understanding of fundamental operations management course concepts. The interdisciplinary nature of operations education makes learning difficult for students and challenging for instructors to teach. The project detailed here has been tested over several years of implementation and is presented as a ready-to-use course activity. Included is a complete description of the project, necessary student prerequisites and preparation, and a rubric for how to assess performance. Students choose a product or service and research the production of that good from raw material to the hands of consumers. The final deliverable is in the form of a short video presentation. Data from post-project student surveys show the assignment enhanced student understanding of operations management concepts. Finally, we discuss the key takeaways for instructors and make suggestions for how to successfully integrate the project into an operations management course.
Keywords: project-based learning, class project, supply chain concepts, operations management
.jpg)
