Captivate your students' minds: developing interactive tutorials to support the teaching of spreadsheet modeling skills

Kolb's experiential theory of learning, later modified by McCarthy to develop the 4MAT model, shows that active experimentation is a large part of learning for all types of learners. We use the 4MAT model as the theoretical underpinning to explore and develop some illustrative interactive tutorials to support the teaching of OR/MS spreadsheet modeling. Due to a much shallower learning curve on the new generation of screen capture technology, the design and creation of such spreadsheet support modules can now realistically be done by individual faculty in a reasonable amount of time. Three levels of interactivity are used in the modules to match the learning stages of the 4MAT model. We discuss implementation issues with current screen capture software and the benefits and limitations of this approach for supporting the teaching of spreadsheet modeling in OR/MS.