MagLab – An Intelligent Management Learning Environment

Rallis C. Papademetriou

School of Engineering, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom

Rallis.Papademetriou@port.ac.uk

Keywords: Management Analytics, Education, Intelligent Learning Environment, Tcl/Tk, GUI

Abstract: In this paper, the perceived difficulty for students learning purely through auditory and visual means, such as

via the standard lecture format, is highlighted through a literature review of learning styles and methods, and

a solution based upon interactive computer case-based learning is proposed through a new and continuously

evolving simulation environment called Management Laboratory, or simply MagLab. The software was

developed using the open-source, high-level scripting language Tcl/Tk and it was designed to run under both

Unix/Linux and Windows. An insight into the characteristics of MagLab brings out its many capabilities and

strong points of simplicity, user friendliness, intelligence and extensibility.

1 INTRODUCTION

This paper describes the development of a student-

centred teaching and learning methodology within the

field of Management Science. It is important that

learners acquire knowledge and experience in the

contextualized use of analytical management

techniques since these have a broad specification.

Furthermore, theories to do with different styles of

learning are very well rehearsed in this day and age

and the development of interactive packages to assist

students with their learning is highly relevant when

these are considered. As described by Lepi (2012), it

is important to keep in mind that learners broadly

learn via an auditory, visual or kinaesthetic style of

learning. Whilst it is the case that most learners may

use an amalgamation of all three styles, there is

nevertheless much evidence to suggest that learners

do tend to have a preferred style of learning.

Traditional lectures may capture the interest of an

auditory-based learner, albeit with some limitations

based upon the length of time an individual can

concentrate. The addition of graphics and visual aids

such as ‘Power-point’ can be used to help assist the

visually stimulated learner. However, it is generally

the case that unless an activity is very practical and/or

laboratory based, many learning sessions do not

provide the kinaesthetic learner with many

opportunities. This paper seeks to address the

problem learners have in accessing, understanding

and using material in the field of Management

Science by developing a learner-centred, interactive,

computer-based package. The interactive package

described here integrates different styles of learning

and gives the student every opportunity to progress at

his or her own rate. Allowing students to proceed at

their own rate is highly important (West, 2013).

Learners tend to acquire knowledge and confidence

in material at different rates and the interactive

package described in this paper fully recognizes this

important fact.

2 RELATED WORK

The plethora of management tools currently available

presents an overwhelming choice to users of various

needs. Commonplace is tools developed for specific

markets, like OR/MS (Hillier, 2014) used in academia

and MPSIII (Ketron, 2011) used in the commercial

market.

Both markets present packages that support a

specific group of techniques, for example a package

offering support for Linear Programming (e.g.,

MPSIII) typically will not support Game Theory.

This forces users, who wish to explore a range or

261

C. Papademetriou R.

MagLab - An Intelligent Management Learning Environment.

DOI: 10.5220/0005888002610266

In Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design (BMSD 2015), pages 261-266

ISBN: 978-989-758-111-3

combination of techniques for solving a problem, to

require access to a number of different software

packages and acquire the ability to operate them.

Predominantly, packages are provided by

different vendors and operation is targeted to

audiences with specific needs. This has led to reduced

conformity of operation among packages due to the

varying design criteria used by each vendor. These

criteria could affect elements as the GUI (graphical

user interface), input and control method (files,

mouse and keyboard), operating platform (UNIX,

Windows, MacOS) and the balance of theoretical and

practical focus.

In the area of learning environments, for

academic purposes, the available packages are

commonly linked to specific platforms and support an

accompanying course or book, resulting in limited

tools heavily related to the material covered therein.

Conversely, packages aimed at the commercial

market tend to offer solution tools, neglecting the

provision of theoretical revision or offer exploration

of new techniques through education, preventing the

development of additional skills by the employee.

3 MAGLAB - INNOVATIVE

FEATURES

A contemporary discussion of interactive learning

systems with respect to modern theories of education

(Schank, 2010) lists the following five different

teaching architectures: (i) simulation-based

learning by doing, (ii) incidental learning, (iii)

learning by reflection, (iv) case-based teaching, and

(v) learning by exploring.

In this work, the focus is on the first and fourth of

these teaching architectures. Simulation-based

learning by doing is critical when the subject matter

is experiential at heart. Emphasis is made on learning

by doing and preparing the student for the challenges

that might be faced with real world problems. Case-

based teaching is described as being a useful addition

to that of learning by doing – sometimes students will

realize that in order to progress in their ‘doing’, they

need further knowledge. This can be achieved

through the use of case studies. While isolated facts

may be difficult to remember, if knowledge is

presented in the form of a story or particular case, it

is generally integrated better into memory.

MagLab is an intelligent interactive learning

environment,that provides a wide ranging theoretical

content, backed with calculation tools that can be

used as problem solvers, implemented in an

expandable and integrate-able fashion. The

integration framework allows for the masking of the

underlying application and applied theory by a highly

intuitive and usable interface. An example of the

MagLab interface can be seen in figure 1.0, which

demonstrates the use of MagLab as a learning or

reference tool.

Figure 1: MagLab environment providing theoretical

assistance to a user while they are developing a document

in a word processor – in this example relating to a

Replacement decision.

The environment uses common MOTIF

interface

components such as navigational anchor bars (top of

the screen) and icons, which remove language

barriers and facilitate navigation between sections.

Theory content and calculator tools as well as

interactive exercises are provided in independent

windows (“Theory window”, on the left in figure 1)

assembling an interactive learning environment,

where users can study theory, step through methods,

review examples and answer questions through

independent high level scripts. The independent

window environment facilitates the use of other

applications such as word processors or spread-sheets

in conjunction with MagLab, assisting users through

their learning or decision making process; an

innovative convenience against other packages.

MagLab uses the high level scripting language Tcl/Tk

(standing for Tool Command Language/Tool Kit)

(www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk), which provides support

for powerful GUIs (graphical user interfaces). Tcl is

a very simple but powerful and dynamic language

that allows implementation of complex programs and

functions with very few lines of code (Flynt, 2012).

The Tcl scripts call on the Tcl core to provide their

functionality.

The use of Tcl/Tk gives MagLab an advantage

over existing packages by providing true cross

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262

platform compatibility, requiring only a Tcl/Tk

interpreter per platform and removing the need for

code recompilation. The interpreter is royalty free,

which removes licensing issues (traditionally found

with cross-platform applications) and allows MagLab

to be provided in a run-from-disk format with no

installation required. So, a student, for example,

could use the Unix/Linux version of MagLab for

work in the university laboratory and the Windows

version for work at home. Also, desktop Tcl/Tk

programs may run almost unaltered on the Android

Platform (AndroWish, 2014).

Tcl provides network and internet access through

TCP/IP, allowing provision for online content and

updates for collaborative or distance learning, as

figure 2 illustrates.

Figure 2: Software running along with IE in windows.

Online forums and online chat are easily

implemented on a web site and no alterations need to

be made on the software since it already provides a

link to the web. Also perception tests can be

developed on the server’s side for accessing purposes.

Web features can be additionally used for the support

of the software with updates and technical support as

well as providing extra online content.

Other features of Tcl allow third party

applications to be ‘glued’ on to MagLab allowing

integration of powerful third party routines in

Interactive Calculators. These calculators provide

users with real tools to be used in problem solving at

the workplace or experimentation to support learning.

Figure 3: Interactive decision making environment

provides assistance on the selection of theoretical

techniques without the need for prior knowledge, assisting

the learning process.

MagLab implements intelligent learning through

the use of wizards in order to simplify and de-skill the

selection and use of appropriate analytical

management techniques. This simplification

enhances the learning process and reduces the

prerequisite theoretical knowledge required by the

user, making techniques available to a wider audience

and providing a greater understanding in the

application of techniques, as figure 3 illustrates.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The outstanding capabilities of the Tcl/Tk in creating

GUIs were used in order to build a really fine tool for

academic education: MagLab. It can be efficiently

used for educational purposes as part of either an

introductory or a more advanced course in

Management Analytics.

It is very easy to use MagLab

and little time is required

for its learning. The great

variety of functions and options

includes, together

with the detailed help topics

provided directly by the

interface of the tool, promote

extremely the learning

process and make working with

MagLab both

productive and enjoyable. The development of

MagLab continues and more

functions, techniques

and algorithms are included, so that

it becomes a

really professional management tool.

MagLab – An Intelligent Management Learning Environment

263

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank the reviewers for their helpful comments

and suggestions in improving this paper.

REFERENCES

Lepi, K., 2012. The 7 Styles of Learning: Which Works for

You?

(http://www.edudemic.com/styles-of-learning/)

West, D.M., 2013. Mobile Learning: Transforming

Education, Engaging Students, and Improving

Outcomes, Centre for Technology Innovation at

Brookings

(http://www.insidepolitics.org/brookingsreports/Mobil

eLearning.pdf)

Hillier, F.S. & Lieberman, G.J.,2014. Introduction to

Operations Research (incl.OR software), McGraw-Hill

Ketron Optimization, 2011 (http://www.ketronms.com)

Schank, R. et al, 2010. The Future of Decision Making:

How Revolutionary Software Can Improve the Ability

to Decide, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Flynt, C., 2012. Tcl/Tk: A Developer's Guide, The Morgan

Kaufmann Series in Software Engineering and

Programming.

AndroWish – Tcl/Tk on Android (www.androwish.org)

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