Math 319
Homework 02

Problem 1:
Make a list of problems that a school system faces,
and categorize them into operational/tactical/strategic. 
Order them so the small problems appear first and the large problems
appear last.  Each one should be described with about a sentence, rather
than a few words or a few paragraphs.

The problems you mention should be ones that they can, should, or do apply
math modeling to.  That is, they have to be fairly quantifiable, and
things that people could concievably take the time to use math on.  Some
examples to avoid would be: what should our school mascot be?  Should I
send this student to the principal's office for what they just did?

Here are some good examples:
operational:
 should I (the teacher) grade on a curve in this course or not?
tactical:
 should we (the school) switch to block scheduling?
strategic:
 should we (the school board) open a new school?
 should we (the US Congress, or the voters) change No Child Left Behind?

Note that a problem can change classifications based on who is making
the decision.  Opening a new school could be strategic for a small
school district, while it might be tactical for a large district.

And, an expensive budget item that isn't part of the core mission usually
doesn't count as strategic.

Grading for this problem:
4 points: size of list
4 points: problems are quantitative enough for math modeling
4 points: each listed problem explained clearly (but briefly)
4 points: ordered from smallest operational to largest strategic
4 points: reasonable division between operational and tactical
4 points: reasonable division between tactical and strategic

Note that the military puts "operational" in the middle and
"tactical" at the small end.  Also, some people talk about
a sub-operational level, which they call "execution".

Optional reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_chain_management

----------------------------------------------------
Required Reading 
	New Diagram of The Modeling Process
http://mapleta.emich.edu/aross15/coursepack3419/comic-modeling.JPG

	List of all the math model types I could think of:
http://mapleta.emich.edu/aross15/coursepack3419/common-models.txt

	(do any of these models sound interesting for your project?)
	
	Math 319 Project Guides
http://people.emich.edu/aross15/project-guides/guides.html

	Especially:
	the Sample Project Titles
	the Overview
	the Sample Projects 
	the Sample Proposal