Track: Engineering Education

Abstract

This article attempts to describe challenges and opportunities for teaching work measurement in developing countries using the Japanese art of origami (paper folding). I initially present background information about the challenges of teaching work measurement to students from developing countries. Next, I suggest that origami-based instruction is related to Problem Based Learning (PBL) and can be used to teach work measurement, or other industrial engineering concepts, without depending on laboratories. Specifically, I present an origami-based project and its implementation by students from a Bolivian university. The basic strategy of the project is for students to put their hands to work to shape origami figures, and thus develop intuitions about work measurement for the calculation of average, normal, and standard times. Moreover, this strategy can also be used to teach students other industrial engineering concepts, such as learning curves, work standards, workplace cleanliness, poka-yokes, etc. As a consequence, origami-based instruction offers new opportunities for the development of practical, cheap, and environmentally friendly learning experiences. Therefore, industrial engineering students will discover the joy of product creation by their own hands, where the possibility of creation from a paper is infinite.