There is a growing need to expand and strengthen the industrial engineering/operations research workforce. Undergraduate research experiences are an effective way to build in-demand skills and to attract people to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, such as industrial engineering/operations research. However, the traditional apprenticeship model of an undergraduate research experience limits the number of undergraduate students who can access research opportunities. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are learning experiences in which whole classes of students conduct research to address questions or problems without known outcomes. To broaden access to research opportunities within operations research, we designed and piloted a CURE in an introductory statistics course taught by industrial engineering/operations research faculty, taken by non-major students. In our CURE, groups of students formulated and answered research questions related to geographic access to social services in their metro area. This was done through a guided process that included lectures on data collection, facility location modeling, and communication with non-technical stakeholders. We used survey data to assess the CURE’s impact on students’ attitudes and self-reported research skills. We found that this CURE effectively builds in-demand research skills.
Citation
Sapirstein, Abel, Lauren N. Steimle, Tuba Ketenci, Kate Williams, and Laura Williams. "Teaching Statistics Using Facility Location Modeling: A Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience." Preprint: Optimization Online.