The Teachers’ Forum: Six Key Modeling Heuristics

In a recent column I described a course in the art of modeling I have taught for a number of years to MBA students. This is an elective, second-year course. The students typically have a minimal background in the core tools of management science (optimization, decision analysis, and simulation). The purpose of the course is not to deepen their knowledge of MS/OR tools per se but to strengthen their fundamental modeling skills. The course is styled on the art studio, in which students learn to paint by painting under the watchful eye of an instructor. In this course, the students work on a series of practical modeling assignments, each of which is taken from a real situation. The students build and analyze models as they need them to solve the problem at hand, without any cues as to which tools or approach to use.