Teaching Project Management to Undergraduates

This paper reports on the use of two activities in a project management class to enhance student learning. One activity employees Second Life to create the experience of managing a project from beginning to end and the other activity simulates the types of decisions required during project execution. A survey of the students at the end of the course finds that students perceived that these activities improved their abilities with the subject matter of the course

Experimental on-stream elimination of resonant whirl in a large centrifugal compressor

Resonant whirl condition during operation of a multi-stage centrifugal compressor at higher than anticipated speeds and loads was reported. The condition was diagnosed by a large scale computerized Machinery Condition Monitoring System (MACMOS). This computerized system verified that the predominant subsynchronous whirl frequency locked in on the first resonant frequency of the compressor rotor and did not vary with compressor speed. Compressor stability calculations showed the rotor system had excessive hearing stiffness and inadequate effective damping. An optimum bearing design which was developed to minimize the unbalance response and to maximize the stability threshold is presented

THE ROLE OF TEACHING PROGRAMMING AND PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES IN IS PROGRAMS

This panel will discuss the role that education in programming languages and practices does and should play in information systems programs

The Impact of Mobile Technology on Small Service Businesses

This research explores the potential impact of the smartphone as a disruptive technology for small service businesses such as plumbers, painters, and similar businesses. This research postulates that use of mobile technology in these businesses is primarily restricted to phone calls and text messages with limited impact on business processes or operations. The research further postulates that this impact is limited due to a perception of these users that there is little the device can do for them. To address these questions, we will use a Design Science Research (DSR) approach to 1) conduct structured interviews with small business owners to establish the need for mobile technologies to affect business processes and operations, 2) demonstrate that a mobile app for scheduling and tracking can be helpful to these businesses, and 3) create and implement such an app in one or more of the businesses and track its performance longitudinally

Interactive Cases in MIS

There is no turning back on the information age. Employers are very interested in employees that understand the appropriate use of information technology to support their organization. This does not mean that the students must be able to program; however they do need to understand the issues associated with applying information technology. In addition educational institutions are exploring the use of technology enhanced delivery methodologies, such as the world wide web. This research evaluated the effectiveness of the use of a computerized, interactive case. This case uses hypertext media to engage the students in a problem solving activity in which they apply theory learned in lecture and text material to successfully accomplish a real world type problem. This is an example of an active learning methodology, which leads to improved learning of the content areas, with higher-order reasoning and increased retention

Maintenance Activities in OOP and 3GL

Maintenance is the process of changing existing software to modify software, either to add or enhance existing functions, or to fix errors (bugs). Maintenance is the dominant activity of many MIS organizations. An average of 70% of software budgets are devoted to maintenance (Swanson & Beath, 1989). Object-oriented programming (OOP) languages have been in used in research and, to a limited extent, in practice for approximately fifteen years. However, it was not until recently that OOP received considerable attention from the practitioner community. The object-oriented paradigm has been hailed because of its natural relationship to the real world, ease and speed of development, and ability to reuse objects in different programs. These capabilities are thought to produce major productivity gains over programming in 3GLs. However, given the importance of maintenance in the MIS organization, the decision to develop systems using OOP must include evaluation of the relative effectiveness of maintenance in that environment. Unfortunately, little research investigates the maintainability of applications written in object-oriented languages. The objective of this study is to examine the maintenance of systems developed in objected-oriented programming languages

Comparing Test-Driven Development and Pair Programming to Improve the Learning of Programming Languages

This article explores student perceptions of the impact that test-driven development (TDD) and pair programming has on their ability to learn programming. In particular, we examine how test-driven development compares to pair programming in student’s perceptions. The basis of the study is a survey of students who have completed two programming courses that use the C# programming language and use both pair programming and test- driven development techniques to support learning of object-oriented programming. The results indicate that both pair programming and TDD are considered helpful by students but TDD is seen as the more valuable practice

Teaching User Interface Design: An Important Addition to the Information Systems Curriculum

Information Systems programs have focused on educating future developers in analysis, design and programming. However, in most of these programs, design is overshadowed by the programming and analysis aspects of the curriculum. The interface is specified by the instructor to be implemented by the students, with little attention to how that interface should work for the users. The result is programmers that develop systems, which users find difficult to use to perform their jobs. Poor user interface design has a significant impact on user productivity and error rates, and an increased need for user support. In this paper, we (1) examine problems caused by poor interface design, (2) describe characteristics of good design, (3) describe a course on interface design, and (4) describe the results of teaching the proposed course

GDSS and idea generation: A theoretical examination of technology supported group creativity

While the importance of creativity and innovation in organizations continues to grow, many organizations rely on questionable mechanisms such as group brainstorming and other such techniques to facilitate creativity. Group decision support systems (GDSS) promise to provide an effective means of enhancing group creativity. However, much of the research on GDSS focuses on group processes. This paper takes the position that the individual is the primary determinant of group creativity and develops a model of the individual process of idea generation. This model is applied to GDSS to examine the implications of this perspective on group creativity output