This article investigates the impact of integrating authentic and contextualized activities into teaching on students' knowledge construction, grounded in social constructivism principles. The research focuses on applying the real-project approach within a "Mini-Project Workshop" module for third-year Information Systems Development…

User Experience Design (UXD) is an often-neglected area of the information systems (IS) curriculum. UXD classes specifically designed for IS students are still uncommon in IS programs and this study aims to add to the body of knowledge to prepare a more well-rounded future generation of IS professionals. With this goal in mind, this study…

This article reports on a sequential mixed-methods research study, which compared different approaches on how to guide students through a semester-long data science project. Four different methodologies, ranging from a traditional "just assign some intermediate milestones" to other more Agile methodologies, were first compared via a…

Agile methods such as Scrum that emphasize technical, communication, and teamwork skills have been practiced by IT professionals to effectively deliver software products of good quality. The same methods combined with pedagogies of engagement can potentially be used in the setting of higher education to promote effective group learning in software…

Real issues of web design and development include many problem-solving tasks. There are, however, some inadequacies associated with the implementation of appropriate pedagogy for organised and structured instruction that supports the rational problem-solving paradigm. The purpose of this article is to report on a study for the design and…

Businesses and other organizations are relying increasingly on virtual teams to perform a range of business activities. A key challenge in utilizing virtual teams is to support collaboration among team members who are separated by distance and/or time. In this paper we use a research model based on a combination of the Technology Acceptance Model…

The authors assign semester- or quarter-long team-based projects in several Computer Science and Finance courses. This paper reports on our experience in designing, managing, and evaluating such projects. In particular, we discuss the effects of team size and of various peer evaluation schemes on team performance and student learning. We report…

Information Systems (IS) projects are increasingly staffed by cross-functional teams working together to solve complex tasks. To better prepare students for this business reality, higher education institutions need to integrate team projects within their courses. Despite good intentions, these team projects do not always have the desired outcomes.…

The Computing Curricula (2005) place Information Systems (IS) at the intersection of exact sciences (e.g. General Systems Theory), technology (e.g. Computer Science), and behavioral sciences (e.g. Sociology). This presents particular challenges for teaching and learning, as future IS professionals need to be equipped with a wide range of…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association representing the technology leadership in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is SETDA's ninth annual report on select educational technology activities. This year's report includes…

Although group project concepts and skills have become a major component in most information systems (IS) academic programs, very little research has attempted to examine factors that may improve or undermine effectiveness of IS group projects. Accordingly, based on relevant literatures, this study develops and empirically tests a model of factors…

Background: Advocates of the project method claim that project-based learning inspires student learning. However, it has been claimed that project-based learning environments demand quite a bit of self-regulation on the part of the learner. Aims: Consequently, it was tested whether students scoring low in self-regulation of learning experienced…

Readers will find several papers that address high-level issues in the use of technology in education, for example architecture and design frameworks for building online education materials or tools. Several other chapters report novel approaches to intelligent tutors or adaptive systems in educational settings. A number of chapters consider many…

This paper focuses on the difficulties of assessing multi-year team projects, in which a team of students drawn from all three years of a full-time degree course works on a problem with and for a real-life organization. Although potential solutions to the problem of assessing team projects may be context-dependent, we believe that discussing these…

The importance of teamwork in Information Systems Development (ISD) practice and education has been acknowledged but not studied extensively to date. This paper tests a model of how groups participating in ISD projects perform and examines the relationships between some antecedents of this performance based on group research theory well…