Peer reviewed
ERIC Number: EJ698518
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar-22
Pages: 9
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1172
EISSN: N/A
A Class Exercise to Teach Practical Considerations in Use of Mathematical Models.
Mukherjee, Arup
Education, v124 n3 p481 Spr 2004
Students majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS) are required to take a course in Decision Support Systems (DSS) as part of their information systems core at this university. In a typical course on DSS, students are taught about use of mathematical models for solving large complex problems. They learn about the power, efficiency, robustness, and effectiveness of such models. While it is easy to teach about the theory of models, it has been this instructor's experience that it is considerably harder to help students understand practical issues surrounding model use. Many different kinds of issues need to be brought to student attention if they are to get a balanced view of model use in solving real problems. A class exercise has been developed and used successfully to provide students with a balanced view of model use. Students learned about reasons why sometimes the optimal solution may not be the best strategy, how heuristics may be devised to help algorithmic approaches, and why it was necessary to investigate the outcomes under different kinds of scenarios. The class exercise appears to be quite effective in increasing student understanding of practical considerations that impact model use for solving real problems.
Descriptors: Decision Support Systems, Mathematical Models
Project Innovation, Inc., P.O. Box 8508, Spring Hill Station, Mobile, AL 36689-0508. Web site: http://journals825.home.mindspring.com/csj/html
Publication Type: Journal Articles
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A