BA 302, MIS 204, And MS&IS 200 Go Through Renewal Process
Three large section courses taught by SC&IS faculty, BA 302 (Supply Chains), MIS 204 (Introduction to Business Information Systems), and MS&IS 200 (Introduction to Statistics for Business), are going through a renewal process in order to become better educational experiences for our students and faculty.
BA 302, a required course in the Junior Core curriculum, is designed to introduce students of various functional disciplines to the issues and decisions that are routinely faced by supply chain managers who are involved in the sourcing, manufacturing, and delivery of goods and services that successfully fulfill customer needs and desires. All Smeal College business students are required to take BA 302. BA 302 has been offered in two large lecture sections of either 375 or 750 students during the Fall and Spring semesters. The course normally serves 850-900 students in the Fall and 550-650 students in the Spring.
The intent of the Smeal College is to reduce the size of its Junior Core courses and to move them to the freshman and sophomore years at all Penn State campuses. BA 302 is slated be the initial Junior Core course offered in the freshman and sophomore years. Its scheduled introduction is the Fall 2006 semester.
Norm Aggon, Frank Chelko, Gary Gittings, and Evelyn Thomchick received a grant from the Smeal Teaching Innovation and Excellence Committee to use to renew BA 302.
This redesign effort will utilize a student-centered learning model that incorporates the following teaching enhancements:
- Multiple class sections with a maximum of 150 students each
- An activity-based learning model emphasizing active learning behavior
- Common assessment
- Multiple faculty (one per section) utilizing standardized content
- Modular organization of the content
- Web-based delivery to non-University Park campuses
MIS 204, a two-credit introduction to the use of information systems in business organizations, is another required course for all Smeal students. Enrollment includes approximately 1,200 students per year. Previously the class was taught in two large sections both in the Fall and Spring. Beginning Fall 2005 these large sections will be replaced by four smaller sections of 150 students each. Ed Glantz and Kitty Baker also received a grant from the Smeal Teaching Innovation and Excellence Committee to use to renew MIS 204. The proposed teaching enhancements include:
- Web-based Delivery: Work with the faculty multimedia center to continue developing multimedia course content and video guides. This content includes streaming media, digital video, and quick time movies.
- Engage Students: Redesign case-based learning through development/ management of fictional web-based pizza shop ("MIS 204 Pizza"). This pizza case is currently used to help train students on the use of Excel and HTML and reinforce business information system concepts such as system justification, data analysis, inventory management and eBusiness.
- Standardize Content: Creation of an Angel group to share course innovations with other MIS 204 instructors at University Park and other Penn State campuses.
MS&IS 200,a four-credit introduction to business statistics course, is also required by all Smeal business students. Enrollment figures are approximately 900 students per year. Previously the class was taught in sections of 375 students. Beginning Fall 2005 the sections will have 150 students each. Marilyn Blanco and David Huff received Shell Grant Awards for the renewal of MS&IS 200. The following changes will help bring MS&IS 200 in line with the other statistical analysis courses taught in the SC&IS Department and make this course more practical to the students.
- Use Excel-based software only when using the computer to solve business problems.
- Incorporate newspaper and/or business publication readership into the course. Students will be finding articles and doing short write-ups on the use of statistics in business as part of their homework assignments.
- Open-ended lab sessions for the students rather than the previously used recitation sections with TAs. Students will now all have computers available to them instead of just the TA having a computer. Students can tailor these lab sessions around their individual needs rather than the previous "one size fits all" approach of the former recitation sections. (August 2005)
