Using theory of constraints in E-Learning for overcoming internal, external, cultural, and international constraints

Journal of the Academy of Business and Economics, March, 2005 by Myron Hatcher, Matthew Yen

Students will benefit from TOC in several ways including enhanced independent thinking. They will understand how a goal is achieved in this new paradigm of education. Secondly, students can define their own goals and map out a way to visualize and share their own thought process for identification and removal of critical constraints.

The MIS course used TOC to design and communicate the Information System Audit without face to face contact with students. Table 7 represents how the Professor used the TOC tool, the Branch, in designing the Information Systems Audit Project. It clearly depicts the actions taken, knowledge needed, and the obstacles overcome to accomplish the project. Table 8 represents how students used the TOC tool, the Ambitious Target Tree, in clarifying the obstacles and objectives that they had to accomplish to complete the Information Systems Audit Project.

Students in the Structured Programming course used the TOC tool, the Ambitious Target Tree, Table 9, to plan the semester project. The obstacles and objectives were clarified for accomplishing the project.

Table 6, the cloud, depicts how the student assessment conflict is resolved for either course. The main result is that students need to be encouraged to work together on group projects and this requires that students not be graded on a curve and procedures for guaranteeing fair assessment need to be in place.

[TABLE 6 OMITTED]

Myron Hatcher, California State University -Fresno, California, USA

Matthew Yen, California State University -Fresno, California, USA

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