What are the research focuses regarding learning in the field of operations management in higher education? The case of Spain in 2017

Abstract

Purpose: What are the current research topics being studied by higher education professors in the area of operations management in Spain with regard to the learning of their students? Are the approaches that support these investigations adequate?

Design/methodology/approach: For the analysis, we have selected 25 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals published by Spanish authors in 2017, and we have encoded them using Atlas.ti.

Findings: Most of the research centers on a very basic type of approach to learning, which reproduces the type of research typically conducted more than 40 years ago (type 1). For this reason, we propose an example of how to convert type 1 research questions into type 2 or 3 questions.

Originality/value: This paper collects and summarizes the main works on learning research carried out by members of ACEDEDOT and published in 2017, identifying themes, methods, levels of teacher conception and focus on the type of student learning. We intend to use this information to create a map of the current situation and propose possible suggestions to implement evidence-based instruction on operations management.