Engaging K-12 Students in OR/MS

Engaging K-12 Students in OR/MS

By: Carmen Haseltine, Mary Ogidigben, Veronica White

 

Introduction (Summary of the Project)

We discovered that the most effective method for sparking student interest in computational sciences involves activities that familiarize them with Operations Research (OR) concepts and algorithms. In line with this, the INFORMS High School Outreach Strategic Initiative has developed the Student Chapter Outreach Guide as part of the 2023 INFORMS DEI Ambassador Project. This guide serves as a dynamic, 'living' document, inviting continuous feedback and suggestions for improvement. Its purpose is twofold: to provide student chapters with the essential tools and knowledge for engaging K-12 students, and to ignite a passion for operations research, management science, and data analytics. By adopting the strategies recommended in this guide, student chapters will not only align with the mission of INFORMS but will also play a pivotal role in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. This endeavor is more than just a guide; it's a collective journey towards empowering future generations and sculpting a more diverse and inclusive future for our field.

How You Can Aid the Project (Getting Involved)

There are various opportunities to participate in the INFORMS Student Chapter Outreach Initiative, suitable for both group and individual involvement. Here’s how you can contribute:

  1. Host an Event: We encourage groups, especially those within INFORMS, to organize events where students can engage with and learn about OR/MS concepts. Hosting these events is a powerful way to directly introduce young minds to the field.

  2. Contribute to the Outreach Resources Folder: Understanding that organizing events can be a significant commitment, individuals are also invited to play a vital role. If you're an INFORMS member, we encourage you to review the Student Chapter Outreach Guide and consider submitting your own completed engagement activities to the Outreach Folder. Your contributions can provide valuable resources for others planning similar events.

  3. Provide Feedback on the Guide: We are actively seeking feedback to enhance the INFORMS Student Chapter Outreach Guide. Your insights are invaluable. Please feel free to leave comments, questions, and/or suggestions on how we can improve this resource.

The guide is available here.

Contributing to the Outreach Resources Folder: Making or Editing an Existing Engagement Activity

The engagement activity is designed as a way to get students involved in OR, and for that, we need their participation. This participation should be continuous throughout the activity since it is meant to break up the “lecture style” type presentation seen in the other parts of the workshop. Studies have found that attentiveness of students begins to decline after about 10-15 minutes of the lecture.

To help you out, we’ve included some steps to follow when making an engagement activity or editing an existing one (e.g. classroom examples or an activity found online):

  1. Know your audience. To have an effective engagement activity, you first need to understand who you’re speaking to, what skillset they do or do not have, and what would be interesting to them. This will ensure that the students will be able to think through the problem and participate in the activity rather than you just showing them an example.

  2. Choose a topic (an OR technique to use). When choosing a topic, keep your audience in mind and pick a topic that would resonate with them. The topic needs to be interesting enough to keep them engaged but simple enough to explain in a short amount of time.

  3. Choose an application. After the general topic is chosen, it’s time to choose an application/example/activity to demonstrate how operations researchers work with the topic to solve real-world, relevant problems. The application should be manageable to explain quickly and thoroughly while still leaving enough time to work it out.

  4. Create or edit the activity.

    1. First, explain the general topic in an easy-to-understand way. This means, do not use technical jargon too often. If you have to use jargon, use it sparingly and explain it in layman terms as you go through the example. This may be a good time to use ChatGPT if you’re unsure how to explain it in a digestible manner.

    2. Next, introduce the activity and explain how it relates to the topic. This is crucial. If the students don’t understand why they are doing something, then we have defeated the purpose of the engagement activity.

    3. Define the goal of the activity. Without a goal, everything will seem confusing and/or pointless to the students.

    4. Finally, begin the activity. Throughout the activity, explain why you are doing each step and refer back to the goal you are trying to achieve. Ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for student interaction. For example, as you go through your activity, look for opportunities for the students to guide you through to the next step. This could be asking them to solve for a value or asking them what they think the next logical step would be, etc.

    5. End the activity. End the activity by restating your primary goal and how it relates to your general topic. Then walk the students through the steps you took to get to your goal and why you performed each step.

    6. Ask if students have any additional questions or comments.

  5. Rehearsing the engagement activity. Rehearse the engagement activity as many times as possible with as many different people as possible and ask for constant feedback. Each time you go over the activity, someone will point out something that needs more explanation, or something that is out of place or doesn’t make sense. This is a great opportunity to work out the kinks before you present it to the students. Repeat the engagement activity until it is reviewed by at least 2-3 people.

  6. Once the engagement activity is completed, add it to the Outreach Resources Folder so others can use it as well! For instructions on how to add it, please refer to the Contribute your OR.MS engagement activity to the INFORMS DEI outreach resources bank blog post [9].

Below are a few “ready-to-use” engagement activities as well as a resource to find additional activities.

Network Science Engagement Activity (30 - 35 minutes)

This activity introduces students to network science basics through a relatable application of “choosing an influencer to represent the company.” Network Science Engagement Activity Folder

Additional Activities at DEI Resources Folder

An Outreach Resources Folder has been created on the INFORMS Diversity Community page under the Resources tab. All the workshop materials that have been created so far are in this folder. Additionally, this folder is open to the INFORMS community to contribute any workshop materials INFORMS members have already created. NOTE: To access this folder, you must be up-to-date with your INFORMS membership and be logged in with your INFORMS account.

Below are some highlighted examples that have been contributed to the Outreach folder:

Concluding remarks

The INFORMS member involvement, whether through hosting events, contributing resources, or providing feedback, is crucial in expanding the reach and impact of OR/MS education. Every contribution brings us closer to creating an inclusive and dynamic learning environment for the next generation of computational scientists.