What next, teacher? From face-to-face to online courses: challenges to enable operational research teaching to Z generation

Abstract

The aim of this research is to present two approaches for Operational Research’s remote teaching and to evaluate its impacts in two aspects: the perception of the students about the difficulty level of learning and the grades effectively achieved with each of the teaching methods used. It is a case study that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire. In addition, at the end of each activity, students should answer questions related to the context presented. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. At the end of the first activity, 10 of the 24 students posted the requested responses. In the second class, this number rose to 23 out of 24. The average grade of students with the first approach was 20%, a figure that rose to 50% with the second. The two approaches proved to be feasible when used remotely. The degree of participation, perception of learning and performance itself were higher in the second class. Regarding the interest and curiosity of students in the subject, there were no substantial differences, considering the first and second classes. It was possible to notice that the closer the approach gets near to reality, the greater the ease of the students and the better their performance in decision making. Thus, reflections on teaching methodologies never cease and tend to contribute to the improvement of the teaching-learning process at all levels of education.