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OPERATIONAL RESEARCH AND
ELEMENTS OF LEARNING THEORY
JOHN SCOTT
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE & SYSTEMS
UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO,
HAMILTON
A bstract
This p ap er g i v e s ex po sure to t w o el e m e n t s of L earn in g T he o ry wh ich
h a v e m u ch to offer O R :
th e K olb /L ezvia n L e a r n i n g C y c l e a n d
E x p e rien tia l Lea rn ing.
Each elem en t xvill be defin ed an d i m p lic a tio n s ,
for both the teaching an d practic e of O R , discussed .
1
I n t r o d u c t io n
R ead ers of th e B ritish O R Society N e w sle tte r m ay h av e seen P al
R iv e tt's recen t d esc rip tio n of O R as: “a m ix tu re , in p rac tic e , of
f u m b lin g , m in d c h a n g in g , c h a o s a n d p o litic a l in te rv e n tio n " .
D efenders of the faith low ered face-shield an d lance; b attle-rag ed by
colum n inch. The R ivett in sp ire d co rresp o n d e n c e , fu elled th e idea
th at OR ed u catio n has m uch to learn from tw o elem en ts of le arn in g
theory: th e le arn in g cycle an d e x p e rie n tia l learn in g . T his p a p e r
considers these elem ents an d w h at they h av e to offer o u r discipline.
2
O R a n d th e L e a rn in g C y cle
A stro n g parallel exists betw een any OR m eth o d and the K o lb /L ew ian
L earning Cycle (Kolb [1984]). The learn in g cycle m o d els the w ay w e
learn from experience. It typically cycles th ro u g h the fo u r elem en ts
show n in Figure 1.
52
Figure 1: T he K olb/L ew ian L earning Cycle
T he cycle is n o t u n i-d ire c tio n a l, m ay b e e n te re d a n y w h e re , a n d
o v erlaid w ith an y OR m eth o d o lo g y . For instance, the 'h a rd ' system s
ap p ro ach elem en ts of :
P roblem Id en tificatio n
System D escription
M odel B uilding
T estin g
( w ith "Experience" —> "Reflect"
(
"Reflect"
)
(
"C onceptualize" )
(
"Experim ent"
)
)
Im p le m e n ta tio n
(w ith "E xperim ent" —> "E xperience")
The full cycle is n o w often seen as fu n d a m e n ta l to effective learning,
suggesting, th at if an y OR applicatio n is a learning experience for those
a s s o c ia te d w ith it, th e n th e cycle m ig h t u n d e r p in a n y OR
m eth o d o lo g y . In d eed , it is h ig h ly likely th a t it is the learn in g cycle
th a t h as b een u se d w h e n a n ew , o r re fin e d , OR m eth o d o lo g y is
dev eloped. A refin ed m eth o d o lo g y w o u ld seem to com e through:
w o rk in g w ith OR,
reflecting on th e experience,
m o d ify in g th e m e th o d o lo g y ,
an d ex p erim en tin g w ith it.
("Experience")
("Reflect")
("C onceptualize")
("E xp erim en t")
T he le a rn in g cycle, th erefo re, could be seen as fu n d a m e n tal to OR alm o st th e m eta-m eth odology.
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The lea rn in g c y c le is a ls o th e b a sis for K o lb 's L e a r n in g S ty le In v e n to r y ,
(Kolb [1984, p 6 8 ]). T h e le a r n in g s t y le in v e n to r y m e a s u r e s a p e r s o n 's
relative e m p h a s is o n e a c h o f th e fo u r m o d e s o f th e le a r n in g p r o c e s s
sh o w n in F ig u r e 1. C h a r a c te r is tic s o f p e o p le in e a c h o f th e fo u r
learning m o d e s are as fo llo w s:
An orientation towards Concrete Experience, to being involved in
experiences, shows up in people who enjoy, and are good at, relating to
others. They are often good intuitive decision makers and function well in
unstructured situations.
An orientation towards Reflective Observation, to careful observation and
impartial description, shows up in people who enjoy intuiting the meaning
of situations and ideas, and are good at seeing their implications. They are
gooa at seeing tningi. from different points of view, showing a value for
patience, impartiality and considered, thoughtful judgement.
An orientation towards Abstract Conceptualisation, focuses on using logic,
ideas, and conccpts. It emphasizes thinking, as opposed to feeling, and
shows up in people who are good at systematic planning, manipulation of
abstract symbols, and quantitative analysis.
An orientation towards Active Experimentation, focuses on actively
influencing people and changing situations, on a pragmatic concern for what
works. People here enjoy, and are good at, getting things accomplished,
even if that requires taking risks.
Knowledge of probable client learning style, an d h o w to relate to it, is
useful, for instance, in p re p a rin g a re p o rt or p re se n ta tio n , d esig n in g
user interfaces w ith a m odel or MIS system . K n o w led g e of learn in g
styles is in v alu ab le w h en try in g to p u t to g e th e r a b alan c ed project
team; one capable of d iv e rg en t th o u g h t a n d w id e -ran g in g id e as, as
well as convincing o th ers of th eir relevance; one p o ssessin g skills to
cover all stages of the project.
There has been extensive w o rk on learn in g styles a n d th eir use, b oth
in the w o rk p la c e a n d th e cla ssro o m .
A re c e n t (u n p u b lis h e d )
bibliography contained 280 references, covering the last 15 years.
Each sta g e o f th e le a r n in g c y c le re q u ir e s d iffe r e n t te c h n iq u e s (Packham
[1984]). For in s t a n c e :
In m oving from "E xperience" to "Reflect", w e n eed to b u ild a 'rich '
picture of the situation reg ard e d as problem atic, to avoid arriv in g at a
prem ature p ro b lem detm itio n . T herefore d iv erg e n ce tech n iq u es *rn
useful such as:
b ra in sto r m in g , s y n e c tic s , r e str u c tu r in g te c h n iq u e s , la tera l
th in k in g , a c tiv e lis t e n in g , c o n s c io u s n e s s -r a .o m g
as w e ll as th e m o r e fo rm a l s k ills of:
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in terv iew in g , stru ctu red de-briefing, brow sin g literatu re an d
in fo rm a tio n searching.
A t so m e p o in t w e m o v e from "R eflect" to "C o n c e p tu a liz e " an d
analysis of the p ictu re begins. H ere w e need to detach o urselves from
the situ atio n ; to create p a tte rn s a n d linkages w hich begin to p ro v id e
insights into the problem . This requires m eth o d s of a ss im ila tio n ; like:
reflection-in-action, force-field analysis, influence diag ram s,
m in d -m a p p in g , root definitions, conceptual m o d ellin g and
h y p o th esis form ing.
A re these tech n iq u es likely to be useful w ithin OR? To an sw er this,
o n e n eeds to ask h o w m uch an OR project w ishes to offer the client a
creative set of altern ativ es, for m an y of th e m eth o d s listed are closely
allied to creativ e th inking: to offering n ew holes as real altern ativ es
to d ig g in g a sid e tu n n e l to the c u rre n t one. It is a p p a re n t th at
d e lib e ra te a n d in fo rm e d , ra th e r th a n in tu itiv e , u se of c re ativ e
techniques increases th eir expected benefit.
H o w can all th e s e sk ills be d e v e lo p e d w ith in an a lre a d y full
cu rricu lu m ? It is n o t su g g ested th a t they are all sep ara te ly tau g h t,
r a th e r th a t s tu d e n ts a re o ffe re d a le a rn in g e n v iro n m e n t th a t
en c o u ra g e s th e ir d isco v ery , as, a n d w h e n , th ey are re q u ire d . This
req u ires a ch an g e in th e process of learning; to one m ore in tu n e w ith
all the stages of the learning cycle; to Experiential L earning.
3
OR and Experiential Learning (EL)
A su m m ary of th o u g h ts in this area a p p eared in the first N ZO R
N ew sletter of the n ew year. For com pleteness, som e are rep eated
here:
EL is a term com m only reserv ed for learn in g activities w hich involve
th e w h o le p erso n ; w h ich fully engage th e p articip an ts. It is learn in g
w h ich arises from the first h a n d experience of the learner (eg in w ork
place an d w o rk sh o p activities, sim u latio n s an d role plays), in contrast
to second h a n d le arn in g w hich takes place in trad itio n al classroom s
(eg th e le c tu re ).
E x p e rie n tia l e d u c a tio n h as th re e im p o rta n t
am bitions, or d im ensions; Boud [1988]:
the in v o lv em e n t of the w hole s tu d e n t
th e co rresp o n d en ce of a good learn in g en v iro n m en t w ith a real
e n v ir o n m e n t
learn er control over the learn in g experience
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EL is n o t an end in itself. The th ree d im en sio n s su g g est altern ativ es
to T ra d itio n a l T eaching M e th o d s, b u ilt a ro u n d m o re activ e, less
passive stu d e n t involvem ent. It n e e d n o t be a case of o n e or the
other; the o p p o rtu n ity exists to mix a n d m atch EL w ith m o re d idactic
m ethods, to suit the course objectives.
To ru n a course along EL lines m ean s p lacin g m o re of th e o w n e rsh ip
for the course w ith the stu d en ts. D eciding co n ten t is a joint decision.
A ssessm ent is agreed to in co njunction w ith decisions on p ro g ram m e
content a n d often includes a c o m p o n en t of self-assessm ent. Lectures
and form al presentation m ay be given if th e class w ish it, b u t inform al
and spontaneous m eetings are m o re th e norm . C o n tin u o u s atten tio n
is given to process, w ith reflection on th e process bein g stan d ard . The
te a c h e r's role is not o n e of o p tin g o u t, b u t ra th e r o f c o n sta n t
facilitation.
4 Conclusions
In conclusion, w hat do the L earning Cycle, a n d EL, have to offer OR?
The L earning C ycle offers OR a p o ssib le m e ta -m e th o d o lo g y ; o n e
w hich u n d e rp in s any OR m eth o d o lo g y . T he allied skills en co u rag e
creative pro blem solving. A cco m p an y in g th e L earn in g C ycle is the
L earning Stvle Invento ry . K n o w le d g e o f le a rn in g sty les h elp s an
academ ic p lan a course m ore su ited to the sLudents u n d e r th eir care;
an OR p ractitio n er to b u ild a n d p re s e n t sy stem s m o re in h arm o n y
w ith client personality traits.
EL offers OR at least three things: Firstly, it offers a refresh in g set of
w ell-fo u n d ed concepts an d id e a s fo r in jec tin g m o re e n e rg y an d
relevance in to o u r courses. The refe re n c e d lite ra tu re offers u seful
advice on all of the following:
autonom ous, or self-directed, learn in g m eth o d s
collaborative learning
counselling skills
g ro u p processes and in terd ep en d en ce
in te r d is c ip lin a r y s tu d y
learning contracts
learning styles
the learning cycle
paired, or one-to-one, learning
peer su p p o rt and peer assessm ent
problem -based learning
self-assessm ent.
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S econdly, th e in creasin g ra te of change in, an d a ro u n d th e O R /M S
discipline, an d th e fact th at m ost of u s now change career p ath s (not
just jobs) th ree tim es in a w o rk in g lifetim e, is fu rth e r justification for
co n sid erin g EL, for w ith EL com es increacpd en co u rag em en t to le a rn
h o w to learn . If w e do no t have th at ability, h o w d o w e efficiently
learn n ew form s of k n o w led g e or how to use th at k now ledge; h o w do
w e 'k eep u p '?
Finally, EL offers ideas on how the op eratin g skills (eg co m m unication
skills) re q u ire d of a p ractitio n er can be in tro d u ced into the classroom .
T hese skills, w h ich m u st accom pany any O R /M S process, are seen as
fu n d a m e n ta l to su cc e ssfu l p rac tic e, b u t are o fte n g iv en c u rso ry
u c a u n e n t b ecau se of the d ifficulty in teaching them . It is m y belief
th a t th e fu n d a m e n ta l co n te n t of o u r courses is n ear e n o u g h for the
m o m en t, b u t th e process w e u se to teach the content sh o u ld change.
This sh o u ld b etter reflect n o t only learning theory, b u t also the process
of O R /M S . T herefore w h y no t explain the process to the stu d en ts and
then w o rk w ith th at to tackle the tasks of build in g an d carrying o u t the
course together.
References
[1]
B oud D (1988) W h at is Experiential Learning, Ch 1 in H iggs J (ed)
Experience-based Learning, A u stralian C onsortium on
E xperiential E ducation, Sydney.
[2]
Kolb D (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of
Learning and Development, Prentice-H all, N ew Jersey.
[3]
P ackham R, R oberts R a n d B aw den R (1989) O u r faculty goes
experien tial, in W eil S W and McGill I Making Sense of
Experiential Learning, O pen U niversity Press: England.