Integrated Curriculum for a Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems Design (BISD 2010)

Commentators on Information Systems (IS) education have urged the IS community to develop new and alternative IS curricula. The IS 2002 model curriculum has recently been revised. The new IS 2010 curriculum guidelines for undergraduate degree programs in Information Systems [Topi et al. 2010] has a curriculum structure to accommodate the education of several different professional roles within IS. This paper identifies one such role, the Business Information Systems Designer. It presents and argues for a new, integrated Bachelor of Science curriculum for Business Information Systems Design (BISD 2010) to educate for this role. The proposed curriculum focuses on the design and use of IS in business and has a strong design focus. The education focuses on developing and training a set of capabilities that enables the Business Information Systems Designer to participate in the design of business and IS in concert. Some examples of capabilities are communication and presentation skills, business and industry understanding, and high-level modeling. Consequently, the curriculum adopted a capabilities-driven pedagogical model in order to train specific skills. The paper presents the BISD 2010 with its specific expected learning outcomes, structure, and pedagogy, and also how the students should be able to fulfill the learning outcomes. The proposed curriculum differs from much of the current IS model curriculum discussions in a number of respects: (1) it is built on a notion of design, design science, and design as a profession, (2) it is based on a capability driven pedagogical model, (3) the curriculum is modeled for a European higher education context and the Bologna accord, and (4) it is not a model curriculum, but a specific, comprehensive, and ambitious curriculum for a degree program

The Service Oriented Business Process and Separation of Concerns - Modelling paradigms for Architectures and Business Processes

This paper deals with the contemporary concern of business service-orientation. The paper suggests that service-oriented Business Information Systems Development (BISD) permits quality aspects, -“ilities” e.g.; maintainability and modifiability, of BISs and BISD. In addition, this paper departs from viewing a Business Information System (BIS) as services and suggests Separation of Concerns (SoC) as a prerequisite for achieving a well formed digital ecosystem. Besides knowledge transfer the purpose of this paper is to indicate the importance of architecture incorporating SoC when service-orienting a business with the contemporary Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). By realizing business logic service orientation in a nationwide research project our conclusion indicates that separate implementation of decision logic and process logic provides two different species of digital services implementing SoC. Consequently, responsible and eligible digital services become deliverables, service-orienting a part of a business representing vital quality aspects of ISD. The viability of separate digital services ensuring SoC facilitates the well-formed digital ecosystem i.e. the service oriented business process and business logic reusability and modifiability. The originality of this paper is based on a non-technical departure of SOA and on separation of process and decision logic as a mean to decreased child deaths due to preventable diseases

Swedish Undergraduate Information Systems Curricula: A Comparative Study

The authors do a comprehensive comparison of the Swedish Information Systems undergraduate programs in order to on the one hand get a better understanding of how the Swedish curriculum compares to the Australian and US counter parts and on the other hand also get an understanding of where the IS field has changed over time. This change is debated to get a clearer view of what courses should be core in a post 2020 curriculum. The study points to some significant overlaps where Foundations of Information Systems, Data and Information Management, and Systems Analysis and Design are important for both Swedish, Australian, and US undergraduate IS programs. The study also shows differences in focus in the different countries curriculum, where the Swedish programs have a clear focus towards enterprise architecture and application development in comparison to both the Australian and US counterparts

Toward a Model Undergraduate Curriculum for the Emerging Business Intelligence and Analytics Discipline

Business intelligence (BI) combined with business analytics (BA) is an increasingly prominent strategic objective for many organizations. As a pedagogical subject, BI/BA is still in its infancy, and, in order for this to mature, we need to develop an undergraduate model BI/BA curriculum. BI/BA as an academic domain is emerging as a hybrid of disciplines, including information systems, statistics, management science, artificial intelligence, computer science, and business practice/theory. Based on IS 2010’s model curriculum constructs (Topi et al., 2010), we explore two curricular options: a BI/BA concentration in a typical IS major and a comprehensive, integrated BI/BA undergraduate major. In support, we present evidence of industry need for BI/BA, review the current state of BI/BA education, and compare anticipated requirements for BI/BA curricula with the IS 2010 model curriculum. For this initial phase of curricular design, we postulate a preliminary set of knowledge areas relevant for BI/BA pedagogy in a multi-disciplinary framework. Then we discuss avenues for integrating these knowledge areas to develop professionally prepared BI/BA specializations at the undergraduate level. We also examine implications for both AACSB and ABET accreditation and describe the next phase of applying the IS 2010 concept structure to BI/BA curriculum development

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

Using the Work System Method with Freshman Information System Students

To date, the use of the work system method in information systems curricula has demonstrated that postgraduate students can benefit from this approach when examining a business situation involving an information system. To contrast the experiences of post-graduate students with work experiences, in this paper we report on use of a simplified version of the Work System Method in a freshman Information Systems course and study how students without work or technical knowl-edge performed when analyzing IT-reliant work systems in business settings. We reflect on an introductory information systems course that included a work system analysis assignment, and we examine the reports produced by students as well as the learning outcomes and challenges

An Analysis of Undergraduate Information Systems Curricula: Adoption of the IS 2010 Curriculum Guidelines

The IS 2010: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems were published as a model to help academic IS programs establish a consistent curriculum that meets the needs of a global information economy. However, to-date, no study has examined the degree to which the IS 2010 model curriculum is being adopted and utilized in contemporary IS curricula. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of program adoption of the IS 2010 curriculum guidelines. Curriculum data were collected from 127 AACSB-accredited undergraduate information systems programs across the United States via a direct survey and interviews with department heads and undergraduate program directors. These data were then compared with the IS 2010 recommendations. Results indicate that: (1) IS programs exhibit a wide range of adherence to the IS 2010 core curriculum guidelines; (2) perceived adherence to IS 2010 guidelines among program administrators is higher than calculated adherence; (3) several non-IS 2010 core topics are still included as required components in many IS programs; (4) although few IS programs have formally implemented IS 2010 career tracks, perceptions of career tracks are generally favorable; (5) resource constraints and program enrollments/class sizes are commonly described barriers to developing career tracks

Coordinación interdisciplinar y Aprendizaje basado en problemas: Educación Superior

The aspect of the European Higher Education Area is the need to educate students using a multidisciplinary approach. The undergraduates should also acquire competencies that will be essential in their future profession. The interdisciplinary approach provides many benefits that develop into much needed lifelong, learning interdisciplinary coordination of two subjects of Degree for the achievement of the competencies and the skills of students. In this context, this work describes an educational constructivist, innovation consisting of interdisciplinary coordination between two subjects from the Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management: Production Management and Business Statistics, using Problem-based learning (PBL). As secondary objectives we set out, to intend, to encourage the participation and implication of students through the proposals of real problems and motivators; to ensure that students have a global and integrating vision of the production and operations function and the possibilities of statistical techniques; to Improved communication between students and teachers, promoting teamwork and work together with some of the necessary skills in the degree. We ran the educational innovation project over three consecutive academic years, the results demonstrate that acquiring knowledge via interdisciplinary coordination is highly valued by students and also allows them to acquire competencies that will be essential in their future careers. It highlights the need for a policy maker to evaluate an interdisciplinary curriculum.El objetivo del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior es la necesidad de educar a los estudiantes utilizando un enfoque multidisciplinario. Los estudiantes de grado también deben adquirir competencias que serán esenciales en su futura profesión. El enfoque interdisciplinar proporciona muchos beneficios que se convierten en habilidades de aprendizaje para toda la vida y que son esenciales para el aprendizaje futuro del estudiante. El objetivo de este trabajo es aplicar la coordinación interdisciplinaria de dos asignaturas de grado para el logro de las competencias y habilidades de los alumnos. En este contexto, este trabajo describe una innovación educativa constructivista, que consiste en la coordinación interdisciplinaria entre dos asignaturas de la Licenciatura en Administración y Dirección de Empresas: Gestión de la Producción y Estadística Empresarial, utilizando el aprendizaje basado en problemas (PBL). Como objetivos secundarios nos propusimos fomentar la participación e implicación de los estudiantes a través de propuestas de problemas reales y motivadores; asegurar que los estudiantes tengan una visión global e integradora de la función de producción y técnicas estadísticas; mejorar la comunicación entre alumnos y docentes, promoviendo el trabajo en equipo y el trabajo conjunto. Ejecutamos el proyecto de innovación educativa durante tres años académicos consecutivos, los resultados demuestran que la adquisición de conocimiento a través de la coordinación interdisciplinar, que resulta muy valorada por los estudiantes y también les permite adquirir competencias que serán esenciales en sus futuras carreras profesionales. Destaca la necesidad de que un responsable de políticas educativas evalúe un plan de estudios interdisciplinar

Planning and Sprinting: Use of a Hybrid Project Management Methodology within a CIS Capstone Course

An increasing number of information systems projects in industry are managed using hybrid project management methodologies, but this shift in project management methods is not fully represented in our CIS curriculums. CIS capstone courses often include an applied project that is managed with traditional project management methods (plan first, execute second). While agile methods (adapt to change through iterations) are making inroads, little research has been conducted on using a hybrid of these two project management methods in a capstone course. In this paper, we explain the hybrid project management methods we used in four sections of an undergraduate CIS Capstone course during the Fall and Spring of the 2011-2012 academic year. We also present the results of an end-of-term student satisfaction and critical success factor survey. We find that overall satisfaction with the hybrid approach is high among our sample. We also find that more client involvement and a pragmatic approach to initial project planning are areas for future improvement. The results of our experience and survey provide lessons learned and best practices for those who wish to provide students with applied experience that combines waterfall (traditional) and Scrum (agile) project management techniques in their own courses