William Swart is Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management at East Carolina University. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering with Honors from Clemson University, a M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Swart has reached top management positions in both industry and academia. He served as Corporate Vice President of Operations Systems at Burger King Corporation. He is credited for pioneering the use of industrial engineering in the restaurant industry and his work received a finalist award in the prestigious INFORMS Franz Edelman Competition for the best application of management science in the world. He also served as a Technical Cooperation Expert with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Turkey and took part in the development of the tourism sector input to that country’s first five-year economic development plan.

In academia, he served as Dean of Engineering and Technology at both the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Old Dominion University (Virginia) as well as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at East Carolina University. His research and consulting activities included the development of methodologies to improve the ground processing NASA’s Space Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center, the development of Taco Bell’s Labor Management System, and research on affordable energy efficient housing sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy. These activities have led to a second Franz Edelman finalist award, the Achievement Medal in Operations Research and Management Science from INFORMS, the IIE Operations Practice award, and a NASA/JFK Group Achievement Award. His many real-world experiences have given Dr. Swart a clear insight into what students should learn. His current research is focused on how students can most effectively learn it.

In this workshop, you will learn how to blend a course to systematically and purposefully improve student learning AND simultaneously develop their leadership abilities. It presents the emerging research results from a multi-year research effort that has demonstrably improved student leadership abilities which have resulted in more effective teamwork yielding better learning outcomes.

In part 1 of the workshop, the ingredients that are required to develop a blended course will be presented within the context of a continual course improvement process based on Deming's Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. The Plan step consists of developing the blended course syllabus, the DO step consists of teaching the blended course according to the syllabus, the Study step consists of measuring the results, and the Act step consists of incorporating improvements suggested by the measurements into the next syllabus. Dr. Michael G. Moore's Theory of Transactional Distance is the basis for the use of a Revised Scale of Transactional Distance that will be used on the Study step of the cycle.

In part 2 of the workshop, we will focus on the interactive group learning activities that are an inherent part of blended learning. Effective (or high performance) teams cannot be assumed or mandated. You will learn how they can be developed as a part of any course. The role of coaching and consulting in team development will be discussed. You will also learn how increased team effectiveness will lead to better learning and how better learning will lead to enhanced teaming abilities.

In part 3 of the workshop, some unintended consequences on student psychometrics will be discussed all their implications for both individual and team performance.