Teaching forest operations planning and operations research: An integrated approach to learning

Abstract

The Forest Engineering program at the University of New Brunswick is the only accredited forest engineering program in Canada, and one of the few in North America. One of the primary learning outcomes of the program includes the ability to design and analyze production systems, especially forest operations. This requires that Forest Engineering students be competent in use of operations research tools and techniques. Experience to date has confirmed that a progressive learning approach that requires students to apply operations research techniques to increasingly complex and realistic problems is essential for achieving these learning outcomes.