Teaching Simulation to Generation Z Engineering Students: Lessons Learned from a Flipped Classroom Pilot Study

Simulation has been a long-time staple for industrial and systems engineering programs. Today's engineering students known as Generation Z (Gen-Z) exhibit specific generational traits including short attention spans and multi-tasking on multiple digital screens. These Gen-Z preferences have created new challenges and opportunities for the delivery of simulation methods and training in a classroom. In this paper, we present motivating factors and success in converting a software-intensive undergraduate-level simulation course to a flipped classroom setting. Furthermore, we present lessons learned from a multi-semester pilot study that investigated the impact of video length in lecture-length 40-50 minute vs. short-length 10-12 minute videos. Surprisingly, Gen-Z students preferred lecture-length videos. This paper shares our experience in transitioning from traditional to flipped classroom lectures for teaching simulation to Gen-Z engineering students. We share student feedback about the transition process, key tips for communicating expectations and deliverables, and how to minimize video burnout.