I plan to use mine to create a welcoming first impression and show students I care before the course even begins. With a friendly tone, clear expectations, and easy access to support, the Liquid Syllabus helps build trust and reduce anxiety. My goal is to let students know they’re not alone—I’m here to support their success every step of the way.

I selected this course card image because it visually represents interaction, collaboration, and the human side of operations—core themes in Production Operations Management. The image of people engaging in a marketplace-like environment reflects real-world applications of the course content and evokes a sense of familiarity and everyday relevance. It subtly signals that this course isn’t just about numbers and systems—it’s about people, processes, and meaningful exchanges.

The homepage of this course serves as a kindness cue of social inclusion by warmly welcoming students and setting a supportive, approachable tone from the very beginning. The personalized welcome message from Dr. Wen emphasizes a sense of shared journey and mutual exploration, reassuring students that it’s okay to feel uncertain and encouraging them to reach out if they need help. This fosters psychological safety and shows students that they are not alone in the learning process.

This “Tell Me About Yourself” survey is used during the first week to help me get to know students beyond the classroom. Questions like “What values are important to you?” and “What is your long-term career aspiration?” offer insight into students’ goals and motivations.

I use this information to tailor my teaching—adjusting content, pace, or examples to better support their learning. It helps me create a more inclusive, responsive classroom where students feel seen and supported from day one.

The “What’s in Your Bag?” self-affirming icebreaker assignment invites students to share a personal item they carry regularly and explain its significance in a short video, highlighting something that reflects their identity, values, or daily life. By starting the course with this personal reflection, students not only affirm their sense of self but also connect with classmates through real-world experiences and meaningful stories. This fosters a sense of belonging by encouraging empathy, curiosity, and respect, helping to create an inclusive learning environment where everyone feels seen and valued.

This short video supports our module on process analysis by clearly distinguishing two commonly confused concepts: throughput time and cycle time. Through simple animation and visual examples, it demonstrates how these terms relate to system performance and capacity. It helps students grasp these foundational ideas quickly and accurately, enhancing understanding and reducing confusion in later topics.

This microlecture on Takt time vs. Cycle time supports the course’s focus on time-based performance metrics in operations management. It helps students distinguish between production pace (Cycle time) and customer demand rate (Takt time), emphasizing their impact on aligning supply with demand. Tied to the learning objective of analyzing time-based metrics to improve process alignment, the lecture uses real-world examples to show how managing these metrics can prevent overproduction or backorders, promoting efficient, customer-focused operations.