Karmel Shehadeh (Lehigh), Luis Novoa (JMU), and I are working on a paper about using the
Burrito Optimization Game in classes to introduce students to optimization.
(I collaborated with Gurobi Optimization to develop the game. It's a free resource that anyone can use in learning about or teaching optimization. Players drag and drop burrito trucks onto a city map to serve customers. The goal is to maximize the total profit, and the player's solutions are compared side-by-side with optimal ones. It's a facility location problem -- but a player doesn't need to know anything about that to start playing the game. Rather, the idea is to teach them
why they might want to use optimization. The game is a fun introduction to optimization, a demonstration of how math is applicable to real-world decisions, and evidence that optimization is difficult and that utilizing an algorithm is essential. I wrote a short
article about the game earlier this year in
OR/MS Today. You can play the game at
http://burritooptimizationgame.com/.)Anyway -- working on the paper with Karmel and Luis made me curious to hear from others: What games, apps, or other unconventional educational resources do you use with your students? Or, if you don't teach, do you use anything like this to inform and educate colleagues, clients, or other audiences?
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Larry Snyder
Professor
Lehigh University
Bethlehem PA
lvs2@lehigh.edu------------------------------