MAPPING IS CURRICULUM RESEARCH AREAS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW FROM 2010 TO 2019

Research on IS curriculum addresses many important aspects related to IS curriculum planning: sharing of good curriculum planning practices, reviewing and recommending contents for IS curriculum, and identifying graduates’ competency needs. A bit surprisingly, however, there is no systematic literature review on IS curriculum research, increasing the possibility that knowledge does not accumulate, or reach intended beneficiaries. In this paper, we present results of a systematic literature review of IS curriculum research from 2010 to 2019. In total, 204 articles are downloaded from Scopus, AIS eLibrary, and ACM digital library. In addition to providing an overview of research demographics, we classify the articles first into three broad categories (planning process, curriculum contents, competency requirements), and secondly to more specific classes within each category. For IS curriculum researchers, the results assist in identifying prior research in different areas, thus promoting accumulation of research knowledge. For IS faculty, the paper provides an overview of IS curriculum related studies and a possibility to identify papers based on their immediate curriculum design needs and interests

An Instrument to Measure Student Attitudes Toward and Perceptions of MIS: Exploring the Success of Efforts to Change Perceptions of the Field Across Time and Gender

The Management Information Systems (MIS) field suffers from two pressing workforce issues, lack of diversity and an inadequate supply of entry level talent. Much has been done in the last five years to address these two related issues, but little is known about the success of these efforts. This study develops an instrument based on similar work in the hard sciences to measure 3 student attitudes towards MIS (Attitude toward success, usefulness, and effectance motivation) and student perceptions of both MIS and MIS professionals. Data was collected from 1102 college students over a 5 year period. Paired t-tests were used to test differences across time periods for each gender and to test differences between males and females within time periods. Surprisingly, little progress has been made to improve attitudes and perceptions. Interestingly, females and males do not currently view MIS differently

Putting PS Into IS: Developing Professional Skills And Enhancing Employability Through Curriculum Initiatives In Information Systems

Debate about the content of Information Systems (IS) in undergraduate courses often involves balancing the individual skills-based components within a degree, the broader discipline-specific knowledge required and more generic IS skills. Curriculum discussions invariably concern the use of specific software packages, programming languages or development methodologies and seek to answer the question of how to prepare students for the exponential rate of technological change that make the IS profession both exciting and challenging. In recent times, another distinctive set of skills has dominated curriculum discussion – Professional Skills. The need for profession-specific employability skills has been influenced by changing funding models of the Commonwealth government to Australian universities. Australian universities are committed to both developing graduate capabilities and enhancing graduate transition to work and curriculum aims to reflect those aims. This paper reports on curriculum initiatives within the Bachelor of Business (Information Systems) at Victoria University, Melbourne, and focuses on one mandatory unit of study, BCO 1102 Information Systems for Business, to examine strategies for developing Professional Skills for IS students. The paper draws on student evaluations of the unit’s efforts to develop communication and team skills and concludes with some suggestions for future directions

Generation Z Entering IT – Navigating Expectations for Employers and Employees

Recruiting Generation Z IT professionals (born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s) presents unique challenges for organizations in the fast-paced digital era. This paper employs a cluster analysis approach to gain insights into Generation Z IT professionals’ employer and workplace expectations, enabling organizations to develop targeted strategies for effective digital talent attraction and employment. Analyzing the expectations of 370 current IT students, we highlight three distinct clusters within the sample: Success-Driven Prestige Seekers, Challenge-Driven Autonomy Seekers, and Money-Driven Security Seekers. We show how each cluster prefers different employer and workplace characteristics and illustrate paths for organizations to tailor their recruitment strategies for each cluster. This paper contributes valuable insights into the preferences and motivations of Generation Z IT professionals and provides practical recommendations for organizations seeking to build a talented, digital workforce by integrating Generation Z IT professionals

Are information systems and computer science overlapping more and more?

In this research, we posit the importance of including Computer Science topics in undergraduate Information Systems courses. A review of the existing literature has mentioned the importance of learning some Computer Science topics for an Information Systems career. Unfortunately, we have not found a consensus that could push this initiative. There is a set of concepts that Information Systems students should acquire from Computer Science or at least have a solid background in these areas. Therefore, we propose a set of courses from Computer Science that, we believe, should be considered in an Information Systems education

Undergraduate Student Attitudes Toward MIS: Instrument Development and Changing Perceptions of the Field Across Gender and Time

The MIS field suffers from two pressing workforce issues, underrepresentation of women and inadequate supply of entry level talent. To examine these issues, this study develops an instrument to measure attitudes toward MIS (Attitude toward success, usefulness, confidence in learning, and effectance motivation) and perceptions of both MIS and MIS professionals. Data from 1102 college students collected over a five-year period were then used to test gender differences within and across time periods. In spite of recent efforts, little progress has been made to improve attitudes and perceptions. However, in contrast to expectations, views appear not so different across gender

Workforce Preparedness of Information Systems Students: Perceptions of Students, Alumni, and Employers

Employers of newly hired higher education graduates report their new workforce is not prepared. Further research was required to discover insights to the workforce readiness gap. This concurrent mixed methods study explored what competencies influenced employer\u27s perceptions of the work-readiness of Information Systems (ISYS) undergraduate students and discovered ISYS graduates\u27 and current ISYS students\u27 perceptions of their work-readiness. Participants consisted of a convenience sample including 69 ISYS program upperclassmen, 20 ISYS program alumni, and 8 employers of the ISYS program graduates. ISYS program alumni completed an online Qualtrics survey to measure the participants\u27 perception of their workforce preparedness. ISYS program upperclassmen completed a similar paper-based survey to measure the students\u27 current perception of their workforce readiness. Employers of ISYS program graduates were interviewed to determine (1) how they defined workforce readiness, (2) the competencies associated with being workforce-ready, and (3) the degree to which the Sam M. Walton College of Business graduates demonstrated workforce readiness. The instrument used in this study was adopted from the employer survey used in the Are They Really Ready to Work?: Employers\u27 Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce report by Casner-Lotto, Barrington, & Wright (2006) and the Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training report by Casner-Lotto, Rosenblum, & Wright (2009). The reports were produced by ASTD, The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and SHRM. Research findings demonstrated 91% of ISYS program alumni and 86.9% of upperclassmen believed they were adequately to well prepared for the workforce by the ISYS program. Additionally, 75% of ISYS graduates\u27 employers felt the students were adequately to somewhat well prepared for the workforce. Workforce readiness skills measured in this study included English Language (spoken), Writing in English, Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Collaboration/Working with Others, Computer/Technical, Project Management, Knowledge within Major, General Business Knowledge, Willingness to Learn, Ability to Learn, Responsibility/Dependability, Initiative, Attitude Toward Work, Attendance/Punctuality, and Other skills not mentioned

Designing Innovative Education through Action Design Research: Method and Application for Teaching Design Activities in Large Lecture Environments

Today’s fast-changing global environment has created unprecedented challenges for the university sector worldwide. Consequently, educational innovation has become more important than ever before, especially in dynamic design-oriented disciplines, including information systems (IS). Action design research (ADR) offers great but yet-to-be-explored potential for designing educational innovations. In this paper, I present ADR as a method for educational innovation. I also showcase this method using the example of teaching design activities in large lecture environments. More precisely, I offer an innovative organization design solution, the team net-based learning (TNBL) model, which I designed and other educators later independently adopted. They continue to use the model to this day. In this paper, I report on the ADR project of initiating, designing, implementing, and evaluating the TNBL model in a large undergraduate MIS class over a two-year period in a real-life setting from the standpoint of a reflective practitioner/designer engaged in ADR in her own practice. Even though I implemented the project in the IS domain, the main design artifact is discipline and content agnostic, and, as such, could be used in any other design-oriented discipline. I also provide important directions for future research

MISunderstood: A Longitudinal Analysis of Major MISperceptions

Low information system (IS) enrollment continues to present a threat to IS programs and pose a serious problem to companies in desperate need of IS professionals. Research attributes low enrollment and the shortage of IS talent to misperceptions about the nature of IS programs, careers, and job prospects. Recent research (Akbulut-Bailey, 2012) suggests that enrollment remains low despite improved perceptions about the IS job market, which raises the question as to whether the misperceptions about IS careers and programs still exist and whether they represent the main factor in why students do not choose the IS field. Using the case study method (Yin 1984), we provide a longitudinal view of the perceptions that students have had about MIS, how they have changed, and ways in which we can meaningfully combat misperceptions