Core outcomes
Workers, not students
Outcomes are defined WRT a human working in an organization in a typical business role: accounting, HR, sales, etc.
The ultimate focus is on alums in the workplace, not students at the end of the course. It’s an important difference that affects course design. For example, it is not acceptable to ask students to memorize reams of facts, since they will not recall them when they are in the workplace. (The reasons are discussed later.)
The worker has tasks to perform. For example:
- Organize an event.
- Help employees switch to a new health plan.
- Define a new position, and hire someone to fill it.
- Evaluate parts suppliers.
The worker is embedded in work systems. Work systems are combinations of data, processes, and humans that do tasks.
Workers should understand:
- How their work systems operate.
- How their work systems can be improved.
- How new work systems can be created.
From long term outcomes to course goals
The course helps students understand:
- The components of a typical work system.
- How the components work together to get tasks done.
- How work systems are created.
- How work systems are improved.
- Why some work systems projects fail, and how to reduce the chance of failure.
The course is designed so that students can remember these lessons when they are in the workplace. Some will and some won’t, but at least the course makes it feasible, through its emphasis on deep learning.
Secondary outcomes
Encourage students to:
- Adopt a growth mindset.
- Consider BIS careers.
- Add systems they create in the course to an online portfolio of their work.