Schedule-Based Group Assignment Using Constraint Programming

We discuss the use of two online simulations as a part of our core undergraduate and graduate business operations classes. We have found the games, Littlefield Technologies, to be of pedagogical value, as they can engage students in the material due to the competitive nature of the game, as well as the ability to see consequences of their actions. Students are able to apply what they have learned in the class to a more realistic scenario than textbook problems. Despite the additional work and challenges associated with ensuring all students register on time and engaging everyone, we feel the games are worthwhile. We provide some strategies for facilitating the smooth and successful execution of the simulations. 1 978-1-4673-9743-8/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

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Case Article—Pediatrician Scheduling at British Columbia Women’s Hospital

Shechter

2023

INFORMS Transactions on Education

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This article describes an in-class role-playing exercise, as well as a case study, on the application of mixed integer programming to help a hospital with physician scheduling. The intended audiences are graduate students or advanced undergraduate students taking a first course in optimization who have been introduced to integer programming. The role-playing exercise aims to develop students’ skills in the iterative process of listening to decision makers describe their problem, asking them questions, and developing initial formulations of the problem. The case study provides students the opportunity to spend more time developing a full mathematical formulation, solving it, and writing up their findings. The case assumes students have already been introduced to the “Big-M” method but assumes no prior introduction to the concepts of hard versus soft constraints. There is no natural objective in this problem, such as the usual “maximize profit” or “minimize cost”; instead, students are introduced to the topic of Goal Programming, which also introduces them to the concept of multiobjective optimization.

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Schedule-Based Group Assignment Using Constraint Programming

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

Expanding students’ social networks via optimized team assignments

Expanding students’ social networks via optimized team assignments

Using simulation as a teaching tool in an introductory operations management course

Case Article—Pediatrician Scheduling at British Columbia Women’s Hospital

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