Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, in practice and teaching. Business Modeling, including Turnaround Management, New Venture Analysis, Project Management and Analytical Modeling
Academic Degrees
MBA, Operations Management and Entrepreneurship, Indiana University
BA, Philosophy, Middlebury College
Electronics, Renton Technical College
Awards, Honors & Certificates
2015 Trustee Teaching Award
Selected Publications
Serex, P. and Blocher J. (2019). Teaching Critical Thinking and Problem Solving in a Business Analysis Course. Operations Management Education Review, 13, 143-172.
Abstract
Teaching critical thinking and problem solving skills is difficult – we are trained to teach our discipline specific content, available from numerous texts so that we can accomplish it efficiently. However, our texts generally do not have skill-focused, unstructured, open-ended problems, but rather problems with specific answers or cases with fairly specific expectations. The challenge of a business school should be to not only teach the fundamental content of each discipline, but also to make sure our students have the skills to be good problem solvers when they face real-world business problems. To address this challenge, we describe how we constructed, and now deliver, an undergraduate course in data analysis and business modeling, with the specific goal of teaching critical thinking and problem solving skills. Two very important parts of this course are i) the open ended operational problems which come from past real consulting engagements; and, ii) an instructor who understands these field problems and can demonstrate the critical thinking and problem solving skills needed to address them. The course is being delivered to eleven sections of 380 business school students this year, showing that such a course can be delivered to a wide audience.
Edited on February 10, 2020
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You are now leaving the Kelley School of Business' official website; the views and opinions expressed in the linked website are those of the author and do not reflect the views, opinions, or official policy or position of Indiana University or the Kelley School of Business.
You are leaving the official Kelley website.
You are now leaving the Kelley School of Business' official website; the views and opinions expressed in the linked website are those of the author and do not reflect the views, opinions, or official policy or position of Indiana University or the Kelley School of Business.
You are leaving the official Kelley website.
You are now leaving the Kelley School of Business' official website; the views and opinions expressed in the linked website are those of the author and do not reflect the views, opinions, or official policy or position of Indiana University or the Kelley School of Business.