Lessons Learned from the Trenches: Successful Design of Online IT Courses for High School Students

As high schools begin to offer more distance learning courses, universities have an opportunity to establish partnerships to deliver online IT courses. Delivering online courses at the high school level, however, means overcoming obstacles that may not be faced at the university level. In particular, establishing partnerships with high schools requires politically savvy navigations of bureaucratic roadblocks while ensuring the integrity of course content and delivery. This paper provides a primer on establishing relationships with high schools to deliver college-level IT curriculum to high school students in an asynchronous learning environment. We describe the curriculum introduced and discuss some of the challenges faced and the lessons learned

Designing a First Year Experience Course for IS Students

First Year Experience (FYE) courses target entering students and introduce them to the college environment and expectations for the college classroom. These courses have gained increasing popularity due to their positive impact on retention of students, as well as increased graduation rates. This workshop will describe how to design a FYE course specifically targeting IS students. The IS focused FYE course should improve the retention of students in information technology and information systems. As IS departments face declining enrollment, retaining the students who do select IS majors is of critical importance. Workshop participants will create a basic syllabus for the specially focused FYE course and will complete activities that will prepare them to propose and deliver the course at their university

A Call to IS Educators to Respond to the Voices of Women in Information Security

Much prior research has examined the dearth of women in the IT industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of women in IT within the context of information security and assurance. This paper describes results from a study of a relatively new career path to see if there are female-friendly opportunities that have not existed in previous IT career paths. Research methodology focuses on a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with women who are self-described information security professionals. A primary goal of the study is to understand the perceptions of women in information security and determine what IS educators can do to help educate a new generation of students who are diverse, confident, and excited about the real-world aspects of an information security degree. Suggestions for improving the representation of women in information security and their ultimate perception of the field include better recruiting and retention strategies, development of mentors, and changes in presentation of the information security field

Winners and Losers in the Napster Case

In this study, we examine the impact of the Napster decision on RIAA sales. We also present a brief introduction to copyright law and DMCA. We compare RIAA sales to DVD and entertainment software sales, both before and after the Napster decision. Analysis of variance showed no differences in sales growth before Napster; that is, all industries showed similar growth. After Napster, however, RIAA showed significantly lower growth than that experienced by the movie and entertainment software industries

Learning Outcomes for Cyber Defense Competitions

Cyber defense competitions (CDCs) simulate a real-world environment, where the competitors must protect the information assets of a fictional organization. These competitions are becoming popular at the high school and college levels, as well as in industry and governmental settings. However, there is little research to date on the learning outcomes associated with CDCs or the long-term benefits to the participants as they pursue future educational, employment or military goals. For this exploratory research project, we surveyed 11 judges and mentors participating in a well-established high school CDC held in the southeastern United States. Then we developed a set of recommended learning outcomes for CDCs, based on importance of the topic and participant preparedness for future information-security related endeavors. While most previous research has focused on technology issues, we analyzed technological, human, and social topics, to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations for future CDCs

Perspectives on Open Access Opportunities for IS Research Publication: Potential Benefits for Researchers, Educators, and Students

Access to current research materials, pedagogical best practices, and relevant knowledge has become problematic as journal subscription costs have increased. Increasing delays in the traditional publication timeline, coupled with high subscription costs, have resulted in a diminished ability for IS faculty and their students to access the most relevant research in a timely manner, an issue felt most acutely in developing nations. As IS educators seeks to increase the dissemination of their work and ensure that students have the most updated knowledge, one option is publishing in open-access (OA) journals. However, a lack of knowledge, inconsistent quality perceptions, the presence of predatory journals, and publication fees have negatively affected IS researchers’ support for OA publishing. This study surveyed 68 IS scholars and found that IS scholars do not publish in OA journals due to concerns about fees, quality, prestige, and impact factors. This study found more similarities than differences between junior- and senior-level IS scholars, with junior faculty members placing more emphasis on the speed of publication than their senior colleagues do. By understanding the underlying reasons that IS faculty are favoring OA options, the study hopes to shed light on the reliance on traditional journal publication models that restrict the distribution of intellectual property. If the OA approach were embraced by more journals, IS faculty members and their students benefit through expeditious access to relevant content to support faculty professional development, instruction, and research

A Comparision of College and High School Students in an Online IT Foundations Course

As computer science and information systems departments face declining enrollments, we must find ways to attract and retain students. One option is through partnering with high schools to attract students into the IT field. As we work to reach more students, distance learning offers an alternative method to reach many students. However, some argue that satisfaction levels of students taking distance learning courses is lower than that of students taking traditional courses. This study compares the satisfaction levels of high school students and college students taking an almost identical IT Foundations course. Preliminary results suggest that levels of satisfaction for the two groups are similarly high. Several potential areas of improvement in delivery of distance learning courses are also discussed

Winning the Recruiting Challenge: Hiring Diverse and Talented IS Faculty Members

Serving on an IS recruiting committee can be a challenge to most faculty members. In addition to standard committee responsibilities, the IS search committee is strategically important to the department’s mission. Hiring a diverse faculty group provides even more challenges to an already difficult task. Particularly in IS, where qualified women and minority applicants may be difficult to find, the task of the search committee is challenging. This paper provides an overview of the IS search committee process, focusing on strategies for recruiting diverse and talented faculty members. Specific strategies include providing relevant training for the committee members, developing appropriate advertising strategies for the position, including diverse faculty in the composition of the committee, removal of any gender or minority identifiable material before review, and courting the candidate to accept the position. These strategies should lead to an increase in recruiting diverse and qualified IS faculty

Personality and Programming

Information systems students continue to struggle to successfully complete computer programming classes. Leaming how to program is difficult, and failure and attrition rates in college level programming classes remain at an unacceptably high rate. Since many IS students take a programming course as part of their program of study, IS educators should better understand why IS students tend to achieve low success rates in programming courses and what can be done to improve success rates. Little research to date has addressed potential reasons for student failure in programming principles courses. Many educators simply assume that high failure rates are acceptable - that computer programming is difficult and some students simply will not succeed. Some researchers have studied personality as a predictor of success in computer programming courses. However, no studies have attempted to gather cognitive profiles and match performance to profile type exhibited. In our study, we identified the primary cognitive profile in a sample of beginning programming students in a southeastern university and matched profile to final average in Programming Principles I. Intuitive thinkers tended to perform better in Programming Principles I than sensor feelers. We found no other differences in performance between profile types. We recommend instructional strategies that may be used to reach fully motivated and intellectually capable sensor feelers, while not detracting from the learning experience of the other profiles

Special Issue Editorial: Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in IS Education

This editorial piece introduces a special issue of the Journal of Information Systems Education (JISE) on the topic of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in IS education. A number of contemporary issues are raised, such as inequality and barriers pertaining to gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, and socio-economic status. A set of research questions relating to EDI within IS education is set out, thus inviting further work within this important and under-researched area of our field