A Decision Support System Example

Teaching the role and value of information systems (IS) in the decision process is an important goal of the introductory IS course. Experiential learning encourages many students to engage in the learning proves and become more invested in the learning experience. A way to achieve this is to use a simple example of a decision process and then explain where information is used to support the decision process. It is vital that the decision process be completely explained to students before the role of information to support the decision is introduced. It is a mistake to teach the introductory IS course as a series of techniques and applications without first grounding these in an example that students can understand. The introductory class is for all business students and to simply teach it as a preview of what IS majors do when they graduate lessens its value to the core business curriculum

TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL COURSES IN CHINA

There are many reasons for faculty to seek teaching experience in a country outside of their home institution. Education is just one more industry in a global economy. Foreign nationals are increasingly enrolling in our universities. Textbooks enjoy a multinational audience. Many of the experiences and examples used in classrooms are grounded in multinational organizations. Business students today must understand how business is conducted on the world stage. Two issues show up as learning objectives in many U.S. schools: critical thinking and communication. A casual conversation among U.S. faculty often shows they believe Chinese students may be proficient in memorization but lack critical thinking skills. Another perception is that Chinese students do not actively share ideas and debate positions as they meet in teams but simply copy the solution. The purpose of this research is to test those assumptions by surveying U.S. faculty who have taught in China. Questions will address student critical thinking skills, participation, as well as instructor effort required to teach these skills in China

Early Results - Including an Enterprise Architecture Course in Information Systems Curricula

The IS 2010 Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Systems (Topi et al 2010) included an enterprise architecture course that was not included in earlier curriculum guidelines. It was an ambitious course and was suggested to be a core course required of all information systems majors in business schools. This paper outlines the benefits and limitations of the enterprise architecture and also an early measure of the adoption of the course in curricula

Preliminary Results on U.S. Versus Non-U.S. Perceptions of Online Course Materials

The phrase online course materials means different things to different people. A common characterization is that online course materials are delivered and consumed via a Web-based interface. Online education requires certain resources to be in place. Technological resources are easy to identify: computers with browser software, Internet access, servers, and so forth. Some resources are less obvious: student skills relating to computers, computer-related skills of people developing online materials, and the resources needed to sustain the development and delivery of online materials. One important resource is the continuing development and redevelopment of online materials. Content and concepts in college courses change and the online materials must change as well. Additionally, the delivery methods for online materials change as technology changes. Faculty must be motivated to update and renew the content and also the delivery of online course materials. This article looks at the similarities and differences of U.S. and non-U.S. faculty in their perceptions of developing online course materials. Resources, demographics, and other factors will be considered. College faculty must believe that developing online materials has academic value in order to assure that online courses become a permanent feature of higher education and not merely a fad of the dot com era

The Introduction to Management Information Systems Course Goes Online

The world holds a fascination for information technology and the internet. This provides a wonderful opportunity to embody the course concepts of the information systems core business school course within the framework of the information technology being taught. Teaching this core business school course in a web-based format exposes the student to the theory and practicalities of information systems. There are many motivations for faculty to offer web- based courses. A consistently high ranked motivation is the faculty member’s enjoyment of technology. The enjoyment will be tested since virtually all faculty that offer web-based courses comment on the substantial additional effort required to teach a web-based versus traditional course. This presentation focuses on why web-based courses are offered, key issues for success, and why the introductory course for management information systems is a natural choice

Changes in Perceptions of Web-Based learning Materials

This paper is a research in progress to assess changes in perceptions of the academic value of creating web-based learning materials. A survey was conducted in 2002 that assessed perceptions of faculty and administrators concerning the value of creating web-based learning materials, especially as it pertained to tenure decisions. A second survey was completed in 2008 (approximately one “tenure generation” later) to see if perceptions concerning academic value of web-based had changed. The use of web-based materials has increased in the years since the first survey as well as the arrival of new ways to create web-based materials. While some may feel that the passing years and increased use of information technology in the classroom should have changed perceptions, initial results between the two surveys were generally similar. This paper is a presentation of the basic survey results and a more detailed analysis will be presented at the SAIS Conference. Survey collection ended in November and a detailed analysis of 2008 data has not yet been completed. Specifically, we wish to pursue a deeper analysis based on the respondents’ tenure status and gender

Teaching the Systems Approach in the Information Systems Curriculum

This paper contends that establishing a central theme in the information systems curriculum is important to program stakeholders. An analysis of the IS 2010 Curriculum Guidelines (Topi et al., 2010) reveals that the systems approach can be an effective integrating theme throughout the IS curriculum. This paper concludes that the systems approach to problem solving, applied at different levels of abstraction throughout an IS program, can be a unifying theme linking technology, management, organization and transformation processes. The systems approach is a problem solving approach to supporting organizations. The key stakeholders of information systems programs would benefit from a persistent theme of the systems approach throughout the curriculum. This paper will establish the importance of establishing a theme in the IS curriculum, define the systems approach, and examine the IS 2010 Curriculum Guidelines for elements of the systems approach. The paper concludes with tactics/strategies to integrate the systems approach to current and future IS students

Enhanced Courses Using Teacher-Tested Modules

University faculties are under increasing pressure to do more with less. They are expected to continuously improve educational experiences to more students at less expense. Without help, the increasing demands and decreasing resources may prove too great. Merlot is a project designed to provide quality, online exercises to enhance the learning experience. The materials in Merlot are peer reviewed by both experts in the discipline and users of the materials. Quality of content, potential effectiveness as a teaching tool, and ease of use are the key areas of review process. This paper provides a explanation of Merlot, the peer review process, and examples of Merlot modules in business