Active Learning in an Undergraduate Management Science Course Through the Use of a Mobile Computer Lab

Abstract

Our business school’s undergraduate degree program includes a required spreadsheet management science course taught at the third-year level. Employers, faculty, and students consistently indicated that this course was not successful in teaching management science or even basic spreadsheet modeling skills. To improve students’ understanding and retention of the course content, we purchased and implemented a “mobile computer lab” that could be set up in a regular classroom. We discuss how the lab supported a change to active learning, in which informal student groups would “discover” management science techniques, and we provide some examples of the exercises we have incorporated in the course. For instructors who are interested in implementing a mobile lab, we also provide details on the infrastructure of the lab, costs, software and hardware security, and classroom logistics.