Applying Lean Tools to University Courses

Posted on November 25, 2006 by John Hunter

Take a look at an interesting series of posts on Applying Lean Tools to University Courses by Luke Van Dongen:

We have discovered that creating a common experience in the classroom is absolutely essential. To accomplish this we implemented a modified production simulation exercise and in doing so, bring the opportunity to Go & See to the students. These types of simulations are quite common and are usually done with building blocks or paper airplanes. We chose paper airplanes and created a simulation that we run with the class as part of our very first class session. The exercise takes about 4 hours to run, during which time students build paper airplanes in groups of 4 or 5.

Good stuff. There should be much more simulation in education in my opinion. It is effective, and as mentioned, can be used to tie concepts back to a shared experience. Some worthwhile articles on quality improvement in education: Using Systems Thinking To Improve Education [the broken link was removed] by Maury Cotter, The Trouble With “Back-to-Basics” and “Tougher Standards” by Alfie Kohn, Teaching Quality Improvement by Quality Improvement in Teaching [the broken link was removed] by Ian Hau, Applying Total Quality Management Principles To Secondary Education [the broken link was removed] by Kathleen Cotton, Using QFD to Design a TQM Course by Glenn Mazur.

Related: Suggested books for quality improvement in education – higher education improvement links – primary education improvement directory

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