Learning management system‐integrated spreadsheet exercises for facility location modeling

Abstract

Supply chain management students are introduced to a variety of modeling concepts. Yet learning facility location and capacity allocation modeling to the level of application and mastery proves difficult for the typical undergraduate business student. Spreadsheets facilitate the teaching of optimization modeling; however, providing feedback to students on spreadsheet assignments is an onerous and time-consuming task for instructors. In this teaching brief, a set of learning management system (LMS)-integrated spreadsheet exercises is presented which helps students learn spreadsheet modeling for the capacitated plant location problem. These exercises are also designed to reduce the instructor's grading burden while providing timely feedback and assessment of student performance. The effectiveness of the exercises is demonstrated by assessment data gathered from the LMS as well as postmodule student survey results.

Teaching location planning with the center‐of‐gravity method using real cities and distances

“…Within the extant literature, several teaching briefs leverage location planning techniques and/or the center‐of‐gravity method as part of an active learning assignment. Brusco (2022) uses spreadsheets to teach multisource continuous facility location problems, while Strakos and Brazhkin (2021) develop a system‐integrated spreadsheet exercise where students model facility locations within a network. Both exercises use hypothetical locations and service areas.…”

Bridging the gap between supply chain management practice and curriculum: A location analytics exercise

“…For the supply chain analytics course, this teaching brief provides the aforementioned tools as well as a “missing link” to the pedagogy of teaching exact location optimization models. As optimization methods are increasingly accounted for (Strakos & Brazhkin, 2021), properly defined inputs are needed; although, in our experience, these inputs are usually taken as a “given.” For example, implementations of location and routing models in analytics courses focus primarily on model building and interpretation of MP solver outputs, without much regard for the inputs into the models (i.e., taking the inputs as given from some outside source). It is noteworthy that integer‐programming models are usually not part of the curriculum of introductory business analytics courses.…”

Student Preferences for Multiple Attempts and Feedback on Online Quantitative Assessments

“…However, the basic concept remains the same: assessment for learning is meant to serve the purpose of helping students learn rather than to rank them (Wiliam, 2011). The effectiveness of formative assessments has long been recognized (Sullivan et al, 2021;Carney et al, 2023) and is supported by numerous empirical studies such as Pishchukhina and Allen (2021) and Strakos and Brazhkin (2022).…”