Learning Logistics: a case study José Fernando Oliveira Maria Antónia Carravilla Reflectir Bolonha: Reformar o Ensino Superior, 29 Abril 2003 Departamento de Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Summary Motivation Logistics course Some basic assumptions Course organisation Students organisation Classes Assessment Final comments

Motivation “Far from being a place of inspiration, the lecture theatre is often the graveyard of motivation.” Sir Graham Hills and David Tedford. The education of engineers: The uneasy relationship between engineering, science and technology. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 6(3), 2002.

The Logistics course Last semester of the degree in Computers and Electrical Engineering Optional course It runs in parallel with the final seminar One block of 4 hours per week (Friday after lunch), 14 weeks It has been offered in the last 3 years

Some basic assumptions More important than what students learn is how they learn At this stage of the degree soft skills are as important as technical skills Students work very much if they are motivated and if they are correctly rewarded for their work

The course organisation No lectures! (not even one) 1 week for start-up 5 themes are assigned to students (10 weeks) Origins and history of Logistics, Logistics activities, the Logistics chain, Logistics and e-commerce Location and layouts Distribution and transportation Warehouses and materials movement Logistics and Just-in-time

The course organisation For each theme (2 weeks cycle) Bibliography research Study of the theme Presentation preparation Oral presentation in class Invited talks: presentation of real world Logistics problems and solutions by experienced practitioners, e.g. Software ERP JDEdwards, by DoIt company. SOGENAVE – a food distribution company The year 2000 toys campaign of Modelo Continente The launching of Optimus prepaid mobile phones Course evaluation by the students

Students organisation Students are organized in large groups (typically 4 groups with 4 to 5 elements each) Cooperation is promoted Team work is trained and reinforced Each group has a leader that has to Organise and assign tasks to each group element Students within a group are not supposed to work on everything A well-organised work distribution is desired and valued by the teachers Take decisions on what to include in the final presentation Give the presentation in the class

Students organisation Groups change for every theme are not known in advance are defined by the teachers so that arrangements among students are not possible students are trained to work with anyone, the colleagues they like more and the ones they like less All students have the chance/obligation to act as leaders

The 2 weeks cycle for each theme At the end of the class students are informed of: the groups constitution for the next theme who will be the leaders which topics of the theme each group should cover Typical topics are Basic concepts related with that theme Strategic approaches Quantitative approaches – algorithms Real world problems/applications/software 1 st week 2 nd week

The 2 weeks cycle for each theme Students arrange a first meeting of each group In that first meeting they usually agree on a first bibliography research, done by all the elements After having a general perspective of the topic they decide on which aspects should be emphasised, divide tasks and repeat the research 2 nd week 1 st week

The 2 weeks cycle for each theme One week after, the group leaders meet with the teachers – the leaders meeting In this meeting Each leader Explains how tasks were divided among the group members Presents the plan of the presentation of his group The teachers Evaluate if the students have correctly focused on the topic and help them to correct their approach Suggest additional literature if necessary All together Detect overlaps between groups and try to eliminate them Exchange sources of information 1 st week 2 nd week

The 2 weeks cycle for each theme During the second week The leaders organise with their group the last stage of the work The presentation is prepared and rehearsed Teachers keep available to answer questions, suggest alternative bibliography, etc. Finally, in the end of the week the class with all the students and the two teachers present takes place… 1 st week 2 nd week

The class 1 hour for each group 10 minutes for set-up Presentation of 25 minutes by the leader 25 minutes for discussion with the colleagues and the teachers… Students of the other groups ask questions and discuss choices made by each group “I am very curious to see how they have tackled…” “I am looking forward to see what they have valued.” 1 st week 2 nd week

The class 25 minutes for discussion with the colleagues and the teachers… Teachers discuss the subjects, ask the leader and the other members of the group about the presentation and the topic itself in order to: Highlight important aspects of the subjects that had not been properly highlighted Complement the information passed in the presentation Correct mistakes Evaluate the participation of each group member in the work

The class 25 minutes for discussion with the colleagues and the teachers… The performance of the leader while giving the presentation, and the presentation design (e.g. legibility) are commented by the teachers and some advise is given. The slides are corrected and published in the web site of the course. Crucial to have 2 teachers present to moderate, motivate and control this process.

The class All students must be present at the class If a student is absent he will not have a mark for the work that his group presented If a student arrives late and does not attend the presentation of one group he will have to write a resume of that presentation otherwise he will have a 25% penalty for each presentation he did not attend A justified absence can be compensated by an individual written monograph about the theme (all topics) of that class. 100% of attendance!!

Assessment 25.0% Final written examination 25.0% 1 hour Multiple choice + 2 development questions Questions regard only the material (presentation slides) produced by the students (  30 slides x 4 groups x 5 themes) 62.5% Themes presentations 62.5% (12.5% for each theme) Evaluation criteria Focus Completeness Originality in the bibliography / cases / examples used for the presentation (not suggested by the teachers) Technical correctness Quality of the material used in the presentation All students of one group have the same mark Collective responsibility

Assessment The marks regarding each presentation are announced a couple of days after the class, so that students can have a clear and quantitative feedback of their performance and work quality

Assessment 12.5% Leader’s performance and participation during classes12.5% Presentational skills Assessed by the teachers Leadership qualities and behaviour Assessed by the students Students fill-in a questionnaire where they make a pairwise comparison of all their leaders By using a decision aiding tool it is possible, based on all evaluations, to reach a rating for each student The number of levels used in the rating is controlled by the level of confidence of the statistics test used Active participation in classes in which he is not the leader

Results of the last year

Course pedagogical assessment In the Faculty of Engineering a standardised pedagogical course assessment is run every year for each course. Students fill-in an inquiry concerning both the course and the teachers pedagogical performance. difficulty level, required time and effort, student’s interest on the topics, quality and accessibility of bibliography, assessment adequation. In the year 2001/2002 the Logistics course had an average evaluation of 4,92 (in a maximum of 5) was rated within the top 2.5% courses of the Computers and Electrical Engineering degree.

Final comments Each year, students are encouraged to give suggestions regarding the course implementation Changes suggested by the former students and by our own experience, were introduced each year Unexpected for the students Rewarding for the teachers It would not work at all with just one teacher present in class