Marijane Hancock
2005
ABSTRACT
I have taught Operations 26 times in 5 years. For the first three years, I taught one large lecture section with 150-200 students and 2 small sections with approximately 35 in each. Now, I teach five large lecture sections per year with class size ranging from 100-175. I selected this course for portfolio development because the topic is better suited for delivery in a smaller classroom setting where factory visits could be incorporated, and the focus of the course would be group discussion and problem solving. As I approached the Peer Review Project in the fall, I had the goal of redesigning the course so I could give the students a learning experience similar to what I would hope to achieve in a smaller classroom setting. I found, however, that this was far too great a task to accomplish. I spent the first semester in the Peer Review Project critically examining my syllabus and course objectives. I spent the second semester focusing on how I might engage the students more actively in the learning process and how I was assessing student learning. Three significant outcomes of the Review process this semester are described in this portfolio: 1) A new set of clearer, more measurable, learning objectives and a revised syllabus. 2) Rethinking existing course activities intended to engage the student in direct interaction with topics and concepts. Some ideas are for activities based on student feedback. 3) An evaluation of the multiple choice exams used for assessment in terms of Bloom's taxonomy.