The design of an experimental learning course in operations management for MBA students. The course is called Ops in NYC and leverages NYC as the classroom and we hold class meetings at the site of real businesses.

1. DESIGNING
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
A FIELD EXAMPLE
Professor Kristen Sosulski, Ed.D
New York University Stern School of Business
@sosulski ks123@nyu.edu kristensosulski.com

2. The design of an
experimental learning
course in operations
management for MBA
students.

3. I. Key objective
II. How we designed the course
III. The experiential part of the course
IV. Activities to engage students in experiential learning

4. I. Objective: For students to learn operations management
in an authentic setting in real companies.
To learn about the educational goals, literature review and outcomes refer to Operations Management Outside of the Classroom: An Experiential
Approach to Teaching Enabled by Online Learning: https://www.bankstreet.edu/occasional-paper-series/34/operations-management-outside-of-
the-classroom/

5. II. HOW WE DESIGNED THE COURSE

6. Used NYC as our
classroom.

7. Studied the
business processes
of 6 or more
companies on
location in NYC.

8. Experienced
business operations
in practice through
observation and
interaction.

9. With little time for
classroom lectures,
students learned
foundational
concepts and models
online and through
in-class mini-
lectures.

10. The online content was
comprised of
structured video
lessons with an
introduction, problem
walkthrough, and
assignment guide you
in learning the
foundational concepts.

11. The experiential
part of the course.
WHERE DID
STUDENTS GO?
WHAT DID THEY
LEARN?

12. At Maher Terminal, Port
Elizabeth, NJ students
study logistics and the
global supply chain.

13. At Whole Foods students
study the waiting lines.
They observe and record
customer arrivals, never of
cashiers, and service
times.

14. At the NYC Taxi and
Limousine Commission
students observe the
inspection station to
learn how quality is
measured and ensured.

15. At JetBlue students
analyze boarding and
deplaning processes.

16. At FreshDirect students
analyze the scheduling
of delivery trucks and
routes

17. Students interact and engage
with the urban experience
products produced by
Intersection such as
LinkNYC and MTA on The Go from
the perspective of an operations
consultant.

18. HOW DID WE ENGAGE STUDENTS AS ACTIVE
LEARNERS?

19. Designed key student activities before,
during, and after the site visit.
Pre-Site
Paper
Pre-Site
Presentation
Site Visit
Post Site
Paper
Post-Site
Discussion
Pre-Site Visit Activities
Site Visit
Activities
Post-Site Visit Activities

20. Pre – Site Visit
Activities
1. All students address questions
posed in the pre-site visit
challenge.
2. A select number of students
provide a 5-minute PowerPoint
presentation of their key findings
from the pre-site visit challenge.
They must also list three key
questions for the speaker at the
site visit that are based on the
operations management topics
being studied.

21. Site Visit Activities
1. A handout that guides and
focuses students on what they
should be observing.
2. It is the responsibility of the
student during the site visit to be
active and ask questions related
to operations management of the
speaker. It is the responsibility of
the student to be active and ask
questions related to the
speaker’s operations
management duties during the
site visit.

22. Post – Site Visit
Activities
1. All students will write a reflection
paper about the key takeaways
from the site visit as related to
operations management.
2. Select students will lead a ten
minute discussion about the site
visit that includes a the key
takeaways from the site visit, and
the answers to the questions
posed in the pre-site visit
presentation.
22

23. Have you incorporated field work and/or site visits into
your teachings? Are there techniques and strategies
that have worked well for you? Share your comments
on the blog post that accompanies this presentation:
http://www.kristensosulski.com/2016/02/designing-
experiential-learning
Also feel free to contact me on twitter @sosulski.
Questions? Comments?
Copyright 2016 Kristen Sosulski ks123@nyu.edu @sosulski kristensosulski.com

24. Thank you!
Professor Kristen Sosulski, Ed.D
New York University Stern School of Business
@sosulski ks123@nyu.edu kristensosulski.com