Embedding Student Clickers in an Introductory Management Information Systems Course

The challenges associated with teaching a core introductory management information systems (MIS) course are well known (large class sizes serving a majority of non-MIS majors, sustaining student interests, encouraging class participation, etc.). This study offers a mechanism towards managing and (hopefully) overcoming these challenges through the use of a simple and effective teaching innovation referred to as classroom response systems (a.k.a., clickers). Although clickers are not necessarily new (they have been around for some time), recent enhancements, such as radio-frequency technology and integration with other presentation software, have made them easier to manage, with greater reliability and flexibility. This paper presents a case study of the implementation and integration of clickers into an introductory MIS course. The system benefits, lessons learned and effective practices of integrating the technology in a large lecture format are provided

Clicking to Learn: A Case Study of Embedding Radio-Frequency based Clickers in an Introductory Management Information Systems Course

The challenges associated with teaching a core introductory management information systems (MIS) course are well known (large class sizes serving a majority of non-MIS majors, sustaining student interests, encouraging class participation, etc.). This study offers a mechanism towards managing these challenges through the use of a simple and effective innovation referred to as classroom response systems (a.k.a. clickers). Although clickers are not necessarily new, recent enhancements in the technology (such as radio-frequency and integration with presentation software) have made them easier to manage, with greater reliability and flexibility. This paper presents a case study of the development, implementation and integration of clickers into an introductory MIS course. The benefits, lessons learned and effective practices of integrating the technology in a large lecture format are provided. The case study findings are supplemented with results from student surveys administered to three sections of the same course based on clicker use levels (high, low and no usage). The study found that the use of clickers significantly improved students\u27 perceived performance in the course and classes with clickers experienced greater attendance levels and higher correlations of student performance and attendance. Furthermore, the greater the volume of clicker usage, the more favorable student perceptions were in terms of active learning, motivation, and providing feedback

SHOULD THEY SHARE OR NOT? AN INVESTIGATION ON THE USE OF COMMUNICATION AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING TECHNOLOGY IN A POLICE ORGANIZATION

Organizations are increasingly utilizing knowledge-sharing technologies to increase the amount of knowledge within their organization. While in most organizations, knowledge sharing is seen as a benefit, for law enforcement agencies it is viewed as a necessity. In order to protect against future terrorist attacks like September 11th, law enforcement agencies are trying to increase knowledge sharing across their current organizational boundaries. Given this massive undertaking, we have to wonder what are the potential unintended effects of this increase in knowledge sharing. This dissertation seeks to address this issue by understanding the relationships between individual and organizational factors, the use of knowledge sharing technology, and organizational outcomes.After a general discussion on knowledge, knowledge management strategies and technologies, a two-part model of knowledge sharing is proposed that 1) predicts outcomes given the use of knowledge sharing technology and 2) investigates the individual and organizational factors that serve as antecedents to the use of the knowledge sharing technology.The findings of this research suggest that given the characteristics of a police organization, an increase in the use of the knowledge sharing technology to communicate with external groups results in decreased productivity and job perceptions. Furthermore, this relationship may be moderated by factors within the police organization. Previous research on knowledge sharing has found that as knowledge sharing increases between individuals in different groups, productivity also increases. The results of this dissertation indicate that this is not always the case. By pulling together different areas of research, such as knowledge management, information technology, communication, and organizational behavior, this dissertation addresses the gaps in the research and contributes to the existing understanding of knowledge sharing. This dissertation also provides an important notice to law enforcement and other organizations: although they may approach knowledge sharing with the best intentions, there can be unintentional effects to increasing the use of knowledge sharing technology

Creating Win-Win Opportunities: Integrating Community Engagement into the IS Classroom

With more emphasis being placed on experiential learning experiences in the curriculum, the Information Systems discipline is positioned perfectly to increase the value provided to our students, our local community organizations, and our university by integrating community and civic engagement opportunities into our curriculum. In addition to being able to give back to the community, engaging in these interactive, real-life activities provides students and instructors a deeper level of learning and collaboration that go far beyond the walls of a classroom or a student’s time in college. In this TREO talk, I would like to share my experience incorporating community engagement into both a beginning level systems analysis course as well as a capstone-level, advanced systems analysis course, highlighting student benefits, challenges, and lessons learned. As a starting point, it is important to recognize that decisions to incorporate community engagement activities should match with the pedagogical and learning goals of the course. For example, depending on the skills that students should have at the completion of the beginning versus the capstone systems analysis course, how community partners and projects are chosen, types of product deliverables, and level of client interactions will vary. Similarly, my role will also vary, often from instructor to coach to mentor. In addition to discussing the challenges, such as project selection, managing client expectations, student-client interactions, and project closure, I will also discuss the benefits that students receive from this learning experience. From a competency standpoint, the types of skills that can be achieved by integrating a community engagement project includes technical, managerial, communication, team, and problem-solving skills. I hope that attendees of this talk will walk away with ideas of how they can integrate community engagement into their own Information Systems courses

Can Information Security Awarness Mitigate Resistance Towards Patients Healthcare Portals?

Resistance behaviors toward newly implemented technology are generally predicted by the perceptions of threats associated with the use of the technology. Recent studies of resistance towards Health Information Technology (HIT) revealed users describing the fear of losing private data due to potential cyber-attacks as an important perceived threat. This study is underpinned by concepts of the information security policy compliance theory. It aims to investigate the impact information security awareness can have on mitigating HIT resistance. Precisely, it evaluates patient’s behavior towards a new Patient Portal System (PPS) after enforcing a new cyber risk management insurance policy. This work contributes to the underdeveloped area of research concerned with patients’ interactions with HIT, as well as to practice by providing important insights about the impact of information security awareness on mitigating patients’ threats from the PPS