Conference Program Preview

"Companies Address the Resource Problem, Students Experience the Solution: An 'Active Learning Immersion' Approach to a City Planning Case Study" - One of the special features of the Edinburgh conference will be present the use of the case study method in municipal planning and business school training.

Resource needed to develop and present case studies for the learning environment have sometimes been prohibitive to faculty otherwise motivated to use this methodology. WACRA conferences in the past primarily have focused on writing and delivering case s from a faculty point-of-view only. It is time to bring client (company) and student perspectives into view by allowing them to present their motivations and experiences in collaboration with faculty as sources and consumers of case studies.

A panel will discuss a recent and specific case study experience involving a U.S.A. city (Bridgeport, Connecticut) and how a case study evolved regarding its economic and social problems. An "active learning immersion" model (previously presented by Bo isjoly and DeMichiell at WACRA'94 in Montreal) was used by graduate students studying executive support and group decision-making systems. Their objective was to uncover the issues and problems of a problem city and recommend actions to move it toward a m ore global and competitive stance.

"Surviving the Multimedia Blitz: How to Find Your Path Through the Maze" - The number of media options for faculty to use in learning environments has accelerated in recent years fro two reasons: 1. Availability of easy-to-use and low costs of micro computing presentation software, and 2. The motivation of faculty to learn and use the technology for personal productivity. However, as the number of media options increases, the decision-making process also becomes more complex an d sometimes more risky. The treat of obsolescence is right around the corner with hardware and software. If you wait until everything settles down (less change) you may wait forever and never use the technology. If you buy now, you discover the process of "upgrades" every three months. If you buy almost every new product at these reaso nable prices, you spend more time on the technology than on discipline content.

This workshop provides a self-assessment process leading to a clarification of your personal classroom needs for specific courses and helps to identify what types of media are most appropriate for effective classroom learning. The process is a seven st ate approach: 1. The multimedia blitz: an overview 2. Re-engineering yourself by linking technology to education 3. Looking over the options, quickly 4. Tradeoffs: costs and benefits 5. Detailed analysis and design of your strategies 6. Delivering the presentation 7. More reflection on your return on investment.