Symposium 2017

Many instructors miss the opportunity provided by the first class of a course to excite and engage students.  Some simply review course outlines and discuss expectations while others start with a lecture.  I have developed a practice of starting all my courses with fun exercises that challenge students and introduces them to many of the important concepts that will be covered during the term.    Student often have little exposure to the topics that will be covered in the subjects that I teach in supply chain management resulting in limited understanding of what to expect (Morris, 1997; Pal & Busing, 2008).  This creates an opportunity to creatively introduce the field.  While it is common in this field to include forms of active learning, such as simulations, games, and case studies, engaging students in such an activity on the first day is not common practice.A colleague and I have published one of these first-class exercises as a teaching brief (Snider & Southin, 2016); 92% of students surveyed enjoyed it. Students indicate that the exercise gives them insight into a topic with which they have little experience. Informal surveys in other courses appear to provide similar satisfaction ratings.While I use this practice in my field of supply chain management to try to get students engaged on the first day in a field to which they have limited exposure, I believe it could be used in many different disciplines to start the term off in a fun and engaging way.