To make this and many other teaching design decisions well, one needs to understand the role in human learning of interference and consolidation. Interference refers to the detrimental effect that new learning has on old learning: try to cram too many topics into one class and the new topics will degrade the students’ retention and understanding of the earlier material. Consolidation refers to the capacity of our brains to synthesize and organize new learning without conscious effort. If you want your students to internalize new concepts well, you should ensure that they have ample breaks (in class and out of class) in which their brains are not engaged in challenging tasks.

These were just a few of the fundamental concepts of human learning that Chris Jernstedt introduced to a group of teachers of management science at the recent INFORMS Summer Workshop on the Teaching of Management Science. Jernstedt is a professor of psychology at Dartmouth College and an expert in cognitive science and learning. He is actively engaged in the rapidly-developing science of the brain, and he expertly translates the latest findings in this field into terms that practicing teachers can understand. Perhaps the most potent concept he introduced at the Workshop was the notion that teachers are not only responsible to choose and deliver the content of their courses, but also to design the learning experiences of their students. To many of us participating in the Workshop, the concept of teacher-as-designer was both new and exciting, especially as Jernstedt provided a range of useful tools for thinking about the teaching design tasks we face.

Richard Felder, a chemical engineering professor from North Carolina State University, was another speaker who had a strong impact on participants. His topic was active learning, and within minutes of the start of his session he had his audience in small groups discussing teaching challenges. Felder described eight specific classroom strategies for promoting active learning:

He described how each of these processes works and gave detailed advice on when and how to implement them. (He also addressed the concerns of faculty who have not used active learning by explaining what can go wrong and how to deal with it.) The highpoint of his presentation was a series of short video clips, taken from one of his courses on thermodynamics, in which we saw his students participating in some of the active learning approaches he had discussed. Active learning was a common theme throughout the Workshop, with Chris Jernstedt explaining why active learning is necessary for human brains, Felder giving specific strategies for implementing it in our classes, and other speakers showing by example during their talks how powerful active learning can be.

The idea for an annual summer workshop on teaching management science originated within INFORMS several years ago. Three workshops were offered between 1999 and 2001 but the effort faltered thereafter. Last year the INFORMS Board renewed its interest in this area and committed itself to developing a permanent workshop. It appointed me to develop the program and committed its staff to handle all of the logistics and planning. The first Workshop was held July 8-11 at The Learning Center in Marlboro, MA. The Learning Center is a first-class corporate training center, set in a wooded area well away from the urban bustle of Boston. It provided an ideal atmosphere for an intense two-and-a-half day conference solely focused on teaching, with comfortable rooms, fine dining, and varied sports facilities.

The Workshop attracted 47 registered participants who, along with a faculty of 12, participated in five plenary and ten parallel sessions. The participants were from around the globe. In addition to the US and Canada, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, and Chile were represented.

The Workshop was designed around three themes:

The first theme, cognition and learning, introduced participants to fundamental knowledge about the brain, memory and learning that is directly relevant to designing and delivering a course. The second theme, general teaching strategies, dealt with approaches to teaching that would apply in any course, such as active learning or setting educational objectives. The final theme of the Workshop dealt with how to teach specific topics within management science, such as optimization, simulation, spreadsheets and Visual Basic.

The Workshop included five plenary sessions and ten parallel sessions. The parallel sessions were given in pairs, so participants could attend half of them.

Frequent meetings in small groups were an integral part of the Workshop. This aspect of the Workshop was based on brain research, which suggests that humans need frequent breaks in the learning process during which they can consolidate what they have learned. In addition, adult learners in professional training need time to process what they have learned and to formulate plans for applying it later when they return to the workplace. Taking this into account, we assigned participants to groups of five at registration. They met with their group after the first dinner to get to know each other and then twice a day to discuss what they had learned and to record their plans. After the first full day of the Workshop we rotated groups so that participants could meet new people. Here are a few of the plans participants made for implementing new ideas in their teaching:

We offered participants an opportunity to evaluate the Workshop as a whole using a five-point scale from Somewhat Dissatisfied (1) to Very Satisfied (5). The average rating was 5.02. This somewhat remarkable outcome was achieved when three participants wrote in a sixth category for Extremely Satisfied. If we give this vote a value of 6, it more than compensates for two participants who only rated the Workshop a 4 (the remaining 42 gave it the highest available rating of 5).

Overall, this year’s Workshop was a big success. The three content streams balanced the interest of participants in acquiring the latest ideas for teaching their subjects with the need to develop a foundation in learning theory and in teaching strategies. The small-group process was widely cited by participants as providing an opportunity to cement their understanding of the sessions as they unfolded and to formulate plans for implementing new approaches. Our intention is to design next year’s Workshop around the same themes and processes, although we have a number of ideas for improvements. Next year’s Workshop will probably be held in July in the Chicago area. Look for an announcement of the specific time and place on the INFORMS website and in email announcements from INFORMS. We hope to see you there!

~ Steve Powell
July 19, 2004