Educational Technologies at Missouri
A division of the Office of the Provost

Faculty Focus: Jim Groves, Hotel and Restaurant Management

Teaching Students Problem-Solving With Movies

One of the challenges that many instructors face is helping younger students learn how to develop problem-solving skills. The earlier we can begin helping students to learn these skills, the better students tend to do in school and eventually in their careers.

I teach HRM 3143: Property Management Systems and Operations, which is composed mainly of sophomore-level students. This class is the students' first introduction to the lodging industry; so much of the material I present is composed of theories and processes that students need to learn. However, I also want the students to begin learning problem-solving processes. When I first began teaching this course, I did this through research papers. While this method was somewhat effective, it led to quite a bit of grading on my part, and a less than enthusiastic reception by the students.

Read the full story in The Innovator