MCA: Problem-Based Learning for Warehousing and Order Fulfillment

这个中期职业发展项目旨在通过提高学生在仓储和订单履行行业的能力来服务于国家利益。大型电商公司在旺季每分钟可以销售超过10万件商品，并在内部研究和实施人员的支持下，在有限的时间内交付这些商品。然而，电子商务领域的许多公司没有大公司雇用的专业知识。这些公司中的许多可能能够识别仓库和订单履行操作改进的潜在领域，但没有内部专业知识来满足这些需求。此外，即使是在这些领域受过培训的学生和他们的导师也可能没有丰富的经验来培养学生和从业者在这一领域的能力。因此，在行业需求和教育经验和材料之间存在差距，以支持学生在这一主题领域的能力发展。该项目将为工业工程的高级本科和硕士研究生开发、完善和分发基于行业的案例研究和基于问题的学习场景。这些教学材料将通过材料处理教育支持小组和网站分发。该项目的总体目标是开发教学材料和实践活动，使用基于问题的学习方法，根据行业中可观察到的需求，为工业工程本科和硕士学生提供仓储和订单履行教育。本项目将解决以下研究问题：(1)实施基于问题的学习（PBL）方法对仓储和订单履行的影响是什么？(2)如果基于问题的学习不是学生学习仓储和订单履行的最佳选择，那么基于案例的学习方法是否有效？(3)基于问题的学习材料是否可以通过与当地公司的仓储和订单履行活动的互动来开发，而不是基于行业研究项目？项目目标将通过四套活动来实现：首席研究员将(a)通过广泛的实地考察，发展当地仓储和订单履行组织的实地专门知识；(b)在西门子Tecnomatix Plant Simulation和FactoryFLOW中开发技术专长；(c)为本科生和硕士生开发和评估案例和PBL模块；(d)将结果传播给研究和教学团体。学生的学习将通过直接和间接的方法进行评估，包括访谈和学生观察。项目成果将通过工程教育会议和期刊机制以及专业协会网站传播。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会IUSE: EDU项目资助，该项目支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Mid-Career Advancement project aims to serve the national interest by increasing student competence in the warehousing and order fulfillment industries. Large ecommerce companies can sell over 100,000 items per minute in their busy seasons and deliver those in a tight window, supported by an in-house research and implementation staff. However, many firms in the ecommerce space operate without the expertise employed by larger companies. Many of these firms may be able to identify potential areas of warehouse and order fulfillment operational improvement, but not have the in-house expertise to address these needs. Moreover, even students trained in these areas and their instructors may not have the breadth of experience to develop student, and therefore practitioner, competence in this area. Thus, there is a gap between the industry needs and the educational experience and materials available to support student competence-development in this topical area. This project will develop, refine and distribute industry-based case studies and problem-based learning scenarios for advanced undergraduate and master’s level graduate students in industrial engineering. These instructional materials will be distributed through material handling educational support groups and websites. The overall goal of this project is to develop instructional materials and hands-on activities, using a problem-based learning approach, for warehousing and order fulfillment education for undergraduate and masters Industrial Engineering students based on observable needs in the industry. This project will address the following research questions: (1) What is the impact of implementing a problem-based learning (PBL) approach for warehousing and order fulfillment? (2) If problem-based learning is not the best choice for students to learn warehousing and order fulfillment, is a case-based approach valid? (3) Can problem-based learning materials be developed based on interactions with local companies with warehousing and order fulfillment activities that are not based on industry-based research projects? Project goals will be achieved through four sets of activities: The principal investigator will (a) develop place-based expertise in local warehousing and order fulfillment organizations through extensive site visits; (b) develop technical expertise in Siemens Tecnomatix Plant Simulation and FactoryFLOW; (c) develop and assess cases and PBL modules for undergraduates and master’s students; and (d) disseminate results to the research and teaching communities. Student learning will be assessed using direct and indirect measures, including interviews and student observations. Project results and outcomes will be disseminated through engineering education conference and journal mechanisms and professional society websites. This MCA award is funded through NSF's IUSE: EDU Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.