The constructivist approach as a concept of active learning and teaching of optimization processes at technical universities

Abstract

As we move toward a more competitive global economy, the demand for highly qualified people to create and manage more efficient logistics systems, such as flows and management of materials or information, human flows, and supply chains, increases. Without logistics, the commercial world would grind to a halt. Businesses depend on logistics professionals to keep production and delivery moving forward which makes logistics education crucial. Companies expect their future employees to gain practical information, and to master what they are learning. Students must know how to apply what they learn. This is a reason why increasing importance is attributed to the constructivist approach to teaching and learning in university education. Through experiments or simulation of processes, and group work based on previous experience and knowledge, students better uncover the laws of phenomena. By actively engaging in the learning process, deeper and long-term applicable knowledge about the studied processes is acquired. The goal of this article is to implement the constructivist approach in the education of operational research and logistics at technical universities.