Managing Information Systems Development Projects: What’s on Your Mind?

Drawing on a mental model perspective, we investigate information systems (IS) project members’ knowledge and beliefs about how to manage information systems development (ISD) projects. A new construct – ISD mental models – is proposed and defined as the knowledge and belief structures that help IS project members to understand, conduct, and manage ISD projects. Literature reviews and cognitive interviews using the repertory grid technique are used to identify the fundamental concepts that are in project members’ mental models. This study further proposes that the structure of mental models is organized into four ISD project-related areas: product, process, people, and organization. This proposition will be tested by a survey with ISD project members using the pairwise comparison technique. Expected contributions and implications are discussed

Conclusiones derivadas de la investigación cognitiva relativas a factores favorecedores de la retención a largo plazo: implicaciones para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera

El propósito de este trabajo es establecer una conexión entre la investigación básica y la práctica educativa. Es muy aconsejable, ya que la combinación de estos dos aspectos puede tener consecuencias muy positivas para la educación. Para ello, se examinan siete aspectos procedentes de la investigación cognitiva, los cuales se deberían considerar cuando se enseña. Aunque la mayoría de las ideas se han extraído de artículos relacionados con el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera probablemente estas ideas sean extrapolables a disciplinas afines.The purpose of this paper is to make a connection between basic research and educational practice. This is strongly advisable because the combination of these two aspects can have very positive consequences for education. It examines seven different aspects, coming from cognitive research, which should be considered when teaching. Although most of the ideas have been extracted from articles related to the learning of a foreign language they can probably be transferred to any close discipline

Promoting conceptual change of learning sorting algorithm through the diagnosis of mental models: The effects of gender and learning styles

It has been advocated that pedagogical content knowledge as well as subject matter knowledge are important for improving classroom instructions. To develop pedagogical content knowledge, it is argued that understanding of students' mental representations of concepts is deemed necessary. Yet assessing and comparing mental model of each individual is very tedious and time consuming. This study attempted to use gender and learning styles to associate mental models in learning sorting algorithm. The Gregorc Style Delineator (GSD) was used to measure learning styles of the participants. Mental models were assessed using the Pathfinder Scaling Algorithm (PSA). Results indicated that females showed greater similarity in mental models than males and concrete learners also exhibited closer resemblance to the expert mental model than abstract learners. These suggest that gender and learning styles can be meaningfully used to associate mental models in order to provide a group-based instead of individual-based diagnosis and thus promote conceptual change in learning. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.postprin

Variables Related to Sexual Aggression in Male College Students.

Using the Pathfinder computer algorithm comparisons were made of participants\u27 knowledge organization of sexual, sexually aggressive, and aggressive concepts. Three hundred and fifty-two heterosexual males (81 admitting a past history and future likelihood of sexual aggressive/coercive behavior; 111 admitting a past history of engaging in sexual aggression; 88 admitting no past history of or future likelihood of engaging in sexual aggression) rated all possible pairwise combinations of 18 words relevant to sex, aggression, sexual aggression, and emotion. Analyses of the dependent variable, number of links, failed to support predicted differences as a function of level of sexual aggression in the number of links between word categories, within word categories, or on specific words. Unpredicted differences in the organization of sexual information as a function of level of sexual aggression were obtained. Measures of network similarity and link strength failed to reveal significant differences as a function of level of sexual aggression. Results generally do not support a network theory of sexual aggression predicated upon an overlap of sexual and aggressive elements. However, further results supported Malamuth et al.\u27s (1991) confluence model of sexual aggression in that levels of hypermasculinity and sexual promiscuity/preoccupation varied as a function of level of sexual aggression. In addition, using regression analysis, attraction to sexual aggression and hypermasculinity were significant predictors of responses to an analogue measure of sexual aggression. Results suggest the role of sexual drive, disinhibition, and distortion in sexual aggression

Empirical evaluation of the effects of experience on code quality and programmer productivity: an exploratory study

There is a widespread belief in both SE and other branches of science that experience helps professionals to improve their performance. However, cases have been reported where experience not only does not have a positive influence but sometimes even degrades the performance of professionals

Knowledge restructing and the development of expertise in computer programming

This thesis reports a number of empirical studies exploring the development of expertise in computer programming. Experiments 1 and 2 are concerned with the way in which the possession of design experience can influence the perception and use of cues to various program structures. Experiment 3 examines how violations to standard conventions for constructing programs can affect the comprehension of expert, intermediate and novice subjects. Experiment 4 looks at the differences in strategy that are exhibited by subjects of varying skill level when constructing programs in different languages. Experiment 5 takes these ideas further to examine the temporal distribution of different forms of strategy during a program generation task. Experiment 6 provides evidence for salient cognitive structures derived from reaction time and error data in the context of a recognition task. Experiments 7 and 8 are concerned with the role of working memory in program generation and suggest that one aspect of expertise in the programming domain involves the acquisition of strategies for utilising display-based information. The final chapter attempts to bring these experimental findings together in terms of a model of knowledge organisation that stresses the importance of knowledge restructuring processes in the development of expertise. This is contrasted with existing models which have tended to place emphasis upon schemata acquisition and generalisation as the fundamental modes of learning associated with skill development. The work reported here suggests that a fine-grained restructuring of individual schemata takes places during the later stages of skill development. It is argued that those mechanisms currently thought to be associated with the development of expertise may not fully account for the strategic changes and the types of error typically found in the transition between novice, intermediate and expert problem solvers. This work has a number of implications for existing theories of skill acquisition. In particular, it questions the ability of such theories to account for subtle changes in the various manifestations of skilled performance that are associated with increasing expertise. Secondly, the work reported in this thesis attempts to show how specific forms of training might give rise to the knowledge restructuring process that is proposed. Finally, the thesis stresses the important role of display-based problem solving in complex tasks such as programming and highlights the role of programming language notation as a mediating factor in the development and acquisition of problem solving strategies

Análise da eficácia do balanced scorecard e o efeito da (des)semelhança estrutural do modelo mental na decisão estratégica: uma abordagem baseada em simulação

JEL Classification: C91 - Design of Experiments/ Laboratory, Individual Behavior D83 - Learning; Information and KnowledgeComo consequência da aceleração das mudanças no mundo, os gestores progressivamente reconhecem a complexidade dos sistemas empresariais em que estão envolvidos. A presente tese descreve duas pesquisas conduzidas em Portugal, relacionadas com a compreensão e aprendizagem dos gestores sobre sistemas empresariais complexos. A primeira pesquisa consiste num estudo empírico sobre a capacidade de sujeitos na compreensão de conceitos simples de dinâmica de sistemas. A segunda pesquisa explora a influência da abordagem BSC no processo de aprendizagem estratégica e tomada de decisão dos gestores. A melhoria da capacidade de compreensão sobre sistemas complexos exige a compreensão de alguns conceitos básicos de dinâmica de sistemas, tais como a relação stock e fluxos e como lidar com eles. Quatro exercícios simples foram aplicados a dois grupos distintos: um no ISCTE, o outro na Galp Energia. Os resultados são comparados com os obtidos em outros estudos internacionais. Estas experiências confirmam em termos gerais, uma baixa compreensão intuitiva destes conceitos básicos de dinâmica de sistemas, mesmo quando os sujeitos possuem formação e treino em matemática e ciências, e o desempenho global não parece variar sistematicamente em função das variáveis demográficas consideradas. Na segunda pesquisa, uma experiência baseada em simulação foi desenvolvida. O sistema de hipóteses testa a influência da abordagem BSC na formação dos modelos mentais do gestores, e como a qualidade desses modelos mentais afecta a efectividade da decisão. Os dados da experiência foram analisados através de regressão linear múltipla e modelação com equações estruturais. Os resultados mostram que os gestores melhoram significativamente os seus modelos mentais através da utilização do mapa estratégico no processo de revisão e implementação da estratégia, e que essa melhoria dos modelos mentais conduz a uma melhor performance.As the world changes ever faster, managers increasingly recognize the complexity of the business systems in which they are embedded. This paper describes two empirical researches conducted in Portugal, concerning to managers’ understanding and learning about complex systems. The first research is an empirical study of the ability of subjects to understand basic system dynamics concepts. The second research explores de impact of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach in the process of strategic learning and decision-making. Improving manager ability to understand complex systems requires understanding of some basic system dynamics concepts such as stocks and flows and how to deal with them. Four simple tasks were applied to two different groups: one at ISCTE; the other at Galp Energia. The results are compared with those of other international studies. The experiences confirm a generally poor intuitive understanding of the basic systems dynamics concepts, even when subjects have training or background in mathematics and sciences, and overall performance do not appear to vary systematically with demographic variables. In the second research, a simulation-based experiment based in a microworld was conducted. The system of hypotheses test the influence of the BSC approach in the formation of decision makers’ mental models and how the quality of those mental models affect decision effectiveness. Experiment data was analysed through linear regression analysis and structural equations modelling. The results pointed out that managers significantly improve their mental models by using strategy map in the process of strategy review and implementation, and that improved mental model similarity led to better performance