The Impact of Guided Practice in Argument Analysis and Composition via Computer-Assisted Argument Mapping Software on Students’ Ability to Analyze and Compose Evidence-Based Arguments

The purpose of this quantitative action research study was to document the impact of the use of computer-assisted argument mapping (CAAM) upon high school students’ ability to analyze and compose evidence-based arguments. The study used a one-group pretest posttest design with a convenience sample of the participant researcher’s seventy-one high school sophomores. During the six-week study, each participant generated four sets of artifacts, each consisting of two argument analysis maps from provided source arguments and one argument composition map representing the participant’s position on the given topic. Artifacts were generated at four separate benchmarks, the pretest, week four, week five, and the posttest. Between the pretest and week four, students completed a self-paced computerized tutorial on critical thinking (CT) that emphasized argumentation skills, such as grouping ideas, the parts of an argument, locating arguments in a text, evaluating arguments for errors in logic and credibility, and creating argument maps. In weeks four and five of the study, students applied the skills learned in the tutorial to full-length argumentative articles provided by the participant researcher. Benchmarks for weeks four, five, and the posttest consisted of the same task as the pretest, two analysis maps reconstructing the authors’ arguments and one argument composition map representing the participant’s position on the given topic. Composite scores were analyzed to determine an overall effect, while each component score, analysis and composition, provided an indication of reading comprehension ability and argument construction ability, respectively. The use of CAAM as a means of fostering the CT skills necessary for the comprehension and composition of arguments (analysis, synthesis, and organization) proved beneficial, with the results of the study showing both significance (t=7.7077, crit. t=1.67, ∝= 05, 95% confidence level) and an appreciable effect size (d = .9147)

Seminal Barriers to Female High School Students’ Choice of Information Technology as a Career Alternative

The under-representation of women in the IT profession is a well-known Information Systems phenomenon. Unlike the other sciences and mathematics, where the percentage of women receiving bachelor’s degrees has increased over the past two decades, the percentage of women obtaining degrees in technology has decreased. Information Technology started strong in 1984 with 37.06% women receiving bachelor’s degrees; however, 2004 brought a decrease to a low of 25.05%, near the level of three decades earlier. The consequences of this under-representation include non-diverse IT solutions, a predicted IT workforce shortage, and the United States losing its ability to participate as a fervent technological contributor in a global arena. Despite the importance of this issue, previous research has yielded isolated and often conflicting results. Past researchers have concentrated on small subsets rather than examining the complete breadth of barriers to the recruitment and retention of women in the IT field. This research consisted of seven major activities. First, a four-staged IT Career Lifecycle model was developed which advances the work of prior research. Second, it was determined that the specific scope and focus of this research would consist of Stage I of the IT Career Lifecycle model at a point where high school girls are considering college majors. Third, a literature review was conducted to establish a comprehensive list of Stage I barriers that have been identified by previous researchers. Fourth, a second new model was established that identifies and classifies all of the Stage I barriers identified by the literature. As part of this model’s development process, fourteen barriers were analyzed, summarized, and categorized into three sources: the girls, the IT community, and the societal influencers. Fifth, fourteen hypotheses were developed to validate the Stage I Barriers Model. Sixth, a survey was conducted to validate the Stage I model, determine the most prevalent barriers, identify new barriers, and capture the attitudes and perceptions of high school girls regarding the IT profession and its workers. The survey was administered to 417 female junior and senior girls in four high schools in the Chicago metropolitan area. Seventh, the Stage I model was reconstructed to incorporate the knowledge gained from the survey. Thus, through the process of this research, the reconstructed Barrier Model was grounded in research literature and validated through the “real world” view of high school girls’ attitudes, perceptions, and interests in computers and IT careers. Although the goal of the survey was to examine barriers to high school girls’ entry into the Information Technology field of study, findings went beyond that, falling into three main categories: barriers, enablers, and predictors. As expected, some of the findings identified significant barriers that were incorporated into a reconstructed Barrier Model. However, some results uncovered factors that were clearly, not identified as barriers by the participants. Consequently, some originally proposed barriers were reclassified as enablers and others as predictors of IT majors. Still other factors were recognized as having the potential to be classified in more than one way, barriers, enablers, or predictors. Since the original scope of the research incorporated barriers only, a framework did not exist to capture significant findings on enablers or predictors. Therefore, two additional models were developed, the IT Career Enabler and the IT Career Predictor. Additionally, this research created a new Pre-College IT Career framework to contain the three models, embracing factors that may influence high school girls in their potential pursuit of IT careers

Social Construction of Appropriate Use of Enterprise Social Media

Increasingly companies and governments are turning to enterprise versions of social software to accomplish organizational goals. Unlike public social media, access to Enterprise Social Media (ESM) is normally restricted to the organization or key strategic partners. We know from research on Information Technology (IT) value, that not only is system use necessary to achieve value, but also that this use must be appropriate. System use and specifically appropriate use has received very little attention in the literature. The nature of ESM tools and the absence of specific and detailed use guidelines creates an environment where employees are encouraged to explore means to achieve value. Thus, employees invoke a dynamic and interactive process to socially construct appropriate use. This paper draws on previous research on IT value, and legitimacy to propose a conceptual model to guide future research on how appropriate use of enterprise social media is socially constructed

Evaluating Learner-Centeredness Course Pedagogy in Project Management Syllabi Using a Content Analysis Approach

Project Management (PM) capability continues to be a highly desired skill set in many for-profit and not-for-profit organizations across a range of industries. However, the PM field faces a talent gap, and one approach that may increase the interest in PM education is having a learner-centered pedagogy. A learner-centered pedagogy seeks to create a community of learners through the implementation of several initiatives namely, sharing power between the teachers and the students, providing multiple assessments and evaluation avenues, specifying clear feedback mechanisms, and articulating a rationale for the course by tying the course content to the learning outcomes. The goal of this research is to conduct a descriptive content analysis to examine the nature and content of the PM syllabi to gain a better understanding of how they reflect and communicate the attributes of a learner-centered pedagogy and thus help in improving the learning, teaching, and delivery of the PM curriculum. This study makes use of a sample of 76 PM syllabi gathered in 2018 from instructors affiliated with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) schools in the United States. The results have implications for the academy and the PM practice and call for improvements in the design and content of PM syllabi by including language and activities that foster the creation of a community of learners, mechanisms for offering periodic feedback, and consistent teacher-student interactions. Furthermore, it is suggested that the assessments and evaluations should be tied to the learning outcomes and incorporate “real world” experiential projects aligned with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) areas and process groups

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera