J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.最新文献

{"title":"Using Educational Data Mining to Predict Students' Academic Performance for Applying Early Interventions","authors":"Sarah Alturki, Nazik Alturki","doi":"10.28945/4835","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4835","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: One of the main objectives of higher education institutions is to provide a high-quality education to their students and reduce dropout rates. This can be achieved by predicting students’ academic achievement early using Educational Data Mining (EDM). This study aims to predict students’ final grades and identify honorary students at an early stage.\u0000\u0000Background: EDM research has emerged as an exciting research area, which can unfold valuable knowledge from educational databases for many purposes, such as identifying the dropouts and students who need special attention and discovering honorary students for allocating scholarships.\u0000\u0000Methodology: In this work, we have collected 300 undergraduate students’ records from three departments of a Computer and Information Science College at a university located in Saudi Arabia. We compared the performance of six data mining methods in predicting academic achievement. Those methods are C4.5, Simple CART, LADTree, Naïve Bayes, Bayes Net with ADTree, and Random Forest.\u0000\u0000Contribution: We tested the significance of correlation attribute predictors using four different methods. We found 9 out of 18 proposed features with a significant correlation for predicting students’ academic achievement after their 4th semester. Those features are student GPA during the first four semesters, the number of failed courses during the first four semesters, and the grades of three core courses, i.e., database fundamentals, programming language (1), and computer network fundamentals. \u0000\u0000Findings: The empirical results show the following: (i) the main features that can predict students’ academic achievement are the student GPA during the first four semesters, the number of failed courses during the first four semesters, and the grades of three core courses; (ii) Naïve Bayes classifier performed better than Tree-based Models in predicting students’ academic achievement in general, however, Random Forest outperformed Naïve Bayes in predicting honorary students; (iii) English language skills do not play an essential role in students’ success at the college of Computer and Information Sciences; and (iv) studying an orientation year does not contribute to students’ success. \u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: We would recommend instructors to consider using EDM in predicting students’ academic achievement and benefit from that in customizing students’ learning experience based on their different needs.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: We would highly endorse that researchers apply more EDM studies across various universities and compare between them. For example, future research could investigate the effects of offering tutoring sessions for students who fail core courses in their first semesters, examine the role of language skills in social science programs, and examine the role of the orientation year in other programs.\u0000\u0000Impact on Society: The prediction of academic performance can help both teachers and students in man","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114639439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New Findings on Student Multitasking with Mobile Devices and Student Success","authors":"U. Yeliz Eseryel","doi":"10.28945/4723","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4723","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: This paper investigates the influence of university student multitasking on their learning success, defined as students’ learning satisfaction and performance.\u0000\u0000Background: Most research on student multitasking finds student multitasking problematic. However, this research is generally from 2010. Yet, today’s students are known to be digital natives and they have a different, more positive, relationship with mobile technologies. Based on the old findings, most instructors ban mobile technology use during instruction, and design their online courses without regard for the mobile technology use that happens regardless of their ban. This study investigates whether today’s instructors and learning management system interface designers should take into account multitasking with mobile technologies.\u0000\u0000Methodology: A quasi-experimental design was used in this study. Data were collected from 117 students across two sections of an introductory Management Information Systems class taught by the first author. We took multiple approaches and steps to control for confounding factors and to increase the internal validity of the study. We used a control group as a comparison group, we used a pre-test, we controlled for selection bias, and we tested for demographic differences between groups.\u0000\u0000Contribution: With this paper, we explicated the relationship between multitasking and learning success. We defined learning success as learning performance and learning satisfaction. Contrary to the literature, we found that multitasking involving IT texting does not decrease students’ learning performance. An explanation of this change is the change in the student population, and the digital nativeness between 2010s and 2020 and beyond.\u0000\u0000Findings: Our study showed that multitasking involving IT texting does not decrease students’ performance in class compared to not multitasking. Secondly, our study showed that, overall, multitasking reduced the students’ learning satisfaction despite the literature suggesting otherwise. We found that attitude towards multitasking moderated the relationship between multitasking and learning satisfaction as follows. Individuals who had a positive attitude towards multitasking had high learning satisfaction with multitasking. However, individuals who had positive attitude toward multitasking did not necessarily have higher learning performance.\u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: We would recommend both instructors and the designers of learning management systems to take mobile multitasking into consideration while designing courses and course interfaces, rather than banning multitasking, and assuming that the students do not do it. Furthermore, we recommend including multitasking into relevant courses such as Management Information Systems courses to make students aware of their own multitasking behavior and their results.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: We recommend that future studies investigate multitasking with different","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127902112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Innovative Pedagogical Strategies of Streaming, Just-in-Time Teaching, and Scaffolding: A Case Study of Using Videos to Add Business Analytics Instruction Across a Curriculum","authors":"Benjamin E. Larson, J. Bohler, A. Krishnamoorthy","doi":"10.28945/4694","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4694","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: Business analytics is a cross-functional field that is important to implement for a college and has emerged as a critically important core component of the business curriculum. It is a difficult task due to scheduling concerns and limits to faculty and student resources. This paper describes the process of creating a central video repository to serve as a platform for just in time teaching and the impact on student learning outcomes.\u0000\u0000Background: Industry demand for employees with analytical knowledge, skills, and abilities requires additional analytical content throughout the college of business curriculum. This demand needs other content to be added to ensure that students have the prerequisite skills to complete assignments. Two pedagogical approaches to address this issue are Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) and scaffolding, grounded in the Vygoskian concept of “Zone of Proximal Development.\u0000\u0000Methodology: This paper presents a case study that applies scaffolding and JiTT teaching to create a video repository to add business analytics instruction to a curriculum. The California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and Major Field Test (MFT) scores were analyzed to assess learning outcomes. Student and faculty comments were considered to inform the results of the review.\u0000\u0000Contribution: This paper demonstrates a practical application of scaffolding and JiTT theory by outlining the process of using a video library to provide valuable instructional resources that support meaningful learning, promote student academic achievement, and improve program flexibility.\u0000\u0000Findings: A centrally created library is a simple and inexpensive way to provide business analytics course content, augmenting standard content delivery. Assessment of learning scores showed an improvement, and a summary of lessons learned is provided to guide implications.\u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: Pedagogical implications of this research include the observation that producing a central library of instructor created videos and assignments can help address knowledge and skills gaps, augment the learning of business analytics content, and provide a valuable educational resource throughout the college of business curriculum.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: This paper examines the use of scaffolding and JiTT theories. Additional examination of these theories may improve the understanding and limits of these concepts as higher education evolves due to the combination of market forces changing the execution of course delivery.\u0000\u0000Impact on Society: Universities are tasked with providing new and increasing skills to students while controlling the costs. A centrally created library of instructional videos provides a means of delivering meaningful content while controlling costs.\u0000\u0000Future Research: Future research may examine student success, including the immediate impact of videos and longitudinally using video repositories throughout the curriculum. Studies examining the appr","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130347560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rubric for Measuring and Visualizing the Effects of Learning Computer Programming for Elementary School Students","authors":"D. Saito, Shota Kaieda, H. Washizaki, Y. Fukazawa","doi":"10.28945/4666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4666","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: Although many computer science measures have been proposed, visualizing individual students’ capabilities is difficult, as those measures often rely on specific tools and methods or are not graded. To solve these problems, we propose a rubric for measuring and visualizing the effects of learning computer programming for elementary school students enrolled in computer science education (CSE), which is independent of the programming language being used.\u0000\u0000Background: In this research, we proposed a rubric based on existing CSE standards and criteria having a programming education-learning goal. We then applied this rubric to actual lessons to visualize the educational effects.\u0000\u0000Methodology: The proposed new rubric for teaching computer programming, based on existing standards and criteria, was applied to fourth- and sixth-grade students in Japan. We assessed which skills were cultivated through quizzes before and after the teaching.\u0000\u0000Contribution: This paper contributes on how to make and utilize a rubric for programming education in computer science. We evaluated and visualized the proposed rubric’s learning effects on children and found that our proposed rubrics are independent of any particular method or tool.\u0000\u0000Findings: The results of this survey are twofold: (1) we proposed a rubric of programming education in computer science, independent of the programming tools used and (2) we succeeded in visualizing students’ learning stages by applying the proposed rubric to programming education conducted in a Japanese elementary school.\u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: Evaluating educational effects in CSE is important. In particular, graded assessments of learner abilities can reveal individual characteristics. This research is useful for assessing CSE because it focuses specifically on programming education.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: The rubric’s suggestions and quality improvements in CSE help learners assess their learning progress and will clarify the cultivated computer science skills.\u0000\u0000Impact on Society: This research evaluates CSE based on a rubric in the programming education field.\u0000\u0000Future Research: Future work is needed to improve the proposed rubric’s quality and relevance. Also, this rubric should be applied to many classes to increase the number of evaluations and analyses.\u0000\u0000","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127515032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Students' Awareness and Embracement of Soft Skills by Learning and Practicing Teamwork","authors":"Noa Ragonis, O. Hazzan, Gadi Har-Shai","doi":"10.28945/4650","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4650","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: This paper presents a study about changes in computer science and software engineering students’ perceptions of their soft skills during their progress through the Computer Science Soft Skills course. \u0000\u0000Background: Soft skills are often associated with a person’s social, emotional and cognitive capabilities. Soft skills are increasingly sought out and are well recognized by employers alongside standard qualifications. Therefore, high importance is attributed to soft skills in computer science and software engineering education. \u0000\u0000Methodology: Content analysis was applied to interpret, categorize and code statements from students’ course assignment answers. Data analysis was performed gradually at the three main stages of the course and by the two students’ study populations.\u0000\u0000Contribution: The paper highlights the variety of (a) soft skills that can be learnt in one course, both on the individual level and on the team level and (b) assignments that can be given to students to increase their awareness and motivation to practice and learn soft skills. \u0000\u0000Findings: Data analysis revealed the following: (a) five individual soft skills categories, with 95 skills, and five team-related soft skills categories, with 52 skills (in total, the students mentioned 147 soft skills); (b) course assignments and particularly team-based activities elicited student awareness of their individual soft skills, both as strengths and weaknesses; (c) students developed their reflection skills, particularly with respect to team-related soft skills; and (d) significant differences exist between the two groups of students in several categories.\u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: It is important to provide undergraduate students with opportunities to integrate soft skills during their training. Establishing a meaningful learning process, such as project-based learning, enables students to apply and develop soft skills when accompanied by reflective thought processes.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: A similar course can be taught and be accompanied by similar analysis of students’ learning outcomes, to examine the influence of local culture on the characteristics of soft skills. \u0000\u0000Impact on Society: Increased awareness of soft skills in scientists and engineers’ undergraduate education. University graduates who will strengthen their variety of soft skills in their academic training process and will be more meaningful employees in the workplace and in society.\u0000\u0000Future Research: Our future research aims (a) to explore additional innovative ways to increase students’ learning processes, awareness and practices in relation to soft skills and (b) to research how students’ soft skills are developed during the entire undergraduate studies both on the individual level and the team level.\u0000\u0000","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"100 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115749434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improving Workgroup Assessment with WebAVALIA: The Concept, Framework and First Results","authors":"Rosalina Babo, Jarkko Suhonen, M. Tukiainen","doi":"10.28945/4627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4627","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient methodology that can assist the evaluators in assessing a variable number of individuals that are working in groups and guarantee that the assessment is dependent on the group members’ performance and contribution to the work developed.\u0000\u0000Background: Collaborative work has been gaining more popularity in academic settings. However, group assessment needs to be performed according to each individual’s performance. The problem rests on the need to distinguish each member of the group in order to provide fair and unbiased assessments. \u0000\u0000Methodology: Design Science Research methodology supported the design of a framework able to provide the evaluator with the means to distinguish individuals in a workgroup and deliver fair results. Hevner’s DSR guidelines were fulfilled in order to describe WebAVALIA. To evaluate the framework, a quantitative study was performed and the first results are presented.\u0000\u0000Contribution: This paper provides a methodological solution regarding a fair evaluation of collaborative work through a tool that allows its users to perform their own assessment and peer assessment. These are made accordingly to the user’s perspectives on the performance of each group member throughout the work development.\u0000\u0000Findings: The first analysis of the results indicates that the developed method provides fairness in the assessment of group members, delivering a distinction amongst individuals. Therefore, each group member obtains a mark that corresponds to their specific contribution to the workgroup. \u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: For those who intend to apply this workgroup assessment method, it is relevant to raise student awareness about the methodology that is going to be used. That is, all the functionalities and steps in WebAVALIA have to be thoroughly explained before beginning of the project. Then, the evaluators have to decide about the students’ intermediate voting, namely if the evaluator chooses or not to publish student results throughout the project’s development. If there is the decision to display these intermediate results, the evaluator must try to encourage collaboration among workgroup members, instead of competition.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: This study explores the design and development of an e-assessment tool – WebAVALIA. In order to assess its feasibility, its use in other institutions or contexts is recommended. The gathering of user opinions is suggested as well. It would then be interesting to compare the findings of this study with the results from other experimentations \u0000\u0000Impact on Society: Sometimes, people develop a rejection of collaborative work because they feel exploited due to the biased evaluation results. However, the group members assessment distinction, according to each one’s performance, may give each individual a sense of fairness and reward, leading to an openness/willingness towards collaborative work.\u0000\u0000Future Research: As ","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"159 4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131995256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Study on the Effectiveness of an Undergraduate Online Teaching Laboratory With Semantic Mechanism From a Student Perspective","authors":"G. Gutiérrez-Carreón, T. Daradoumis, Josep Jorba, M. Peña-Gomar","doi":"10.28945/4624","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4624","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: The current study was conducted to investigate the students’ perceived satisfaction with the use of a semantic-based online laboratory, which provides students with a search mechanism for laboratory resources, such as instruments and devices.\u0000\u0000Background: The increasing popularity of using online teaching labs, as an important element of experiential learning in STEM education, is because they represent a collection of integrated tools that allow students and teachers to interact and work collaboratively, whereas they provide an enriched learning content delivery mechanism. Moreover, several research studies have proposed various approaches for online teaching laboratories. However, there are hardly any studies that examine the student satisfaction provided by online laboratories based on students’ experiential learning. \u0000\u0000Methodology: To measure the effectiveness of the laboratory, we performed a case study in a Computer Fundamentals online course in which undergraduate students were able to manage devices and instruments remotely. Participants were a sample of 50 third semester students of Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Administration who were divided in experimental and control groups (online laboratory vs. traditional manner). Given a laboratory assignment, students were able to carry out the management of devices and instruments through a LabView virtual environment and web services. The data of the experiment were collected through two questionnaires from both groups. The first is a system usability score (SUS) questionnaire concerning lab usability and the second one students’ cognitive load. \u0000\u0000Contribution: The results of the study showed a high correlation between usability and cognitive load-satisfaction of students who used the online teaching laboratory compared to the students who did not use it.\u0000\u0000Findings: On the one hand, the online laboratory provided students with an easy way to share and deploy instruments and devices, thus enhancing system usability. On the other hand, it offered important facilities which enabled students to customize the search for instruments and devices, which certainly had a positive impact on the relationship between cognitive load and satisfaction.\u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: In this work we propose an intuitive laboratory interface as well as easiness to use but challenging and capable of providing similar experiences to the traditional laboratory.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: This study is one of the first to analyze the cognitive load-satisfaction relationship and compare it with usability scores.\u0000\u0000Impact on Society: Our analyses make an important contribution to the literature by suggesting a correlation analysis comparing the results of experimental and control groups that participated in this research work, in terms of usability and cognitive load-satisfaction.\u0000\u0000Future Research: Future work will also investigate other methodological aspects of instructional des","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132751567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Redesigning an Introductory Programming Course to Facilitate Effective Student Learning: A Case Study","authors":"Cynthia L. Corritore, Betty Love","doi":"10.28945/4618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4618","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: This study reports the outcome of how a first pilot semester introductory programming course was designed to provide tangible evidence in support of the concept of Student Ownership of Learning (SOL) and how the outcomes of this programming course facilitate effective student learning. \u0000\u0000Background: Many instructors want to create or redesign their courses to strengthen the relationship between teaching and learning; however, the researchers of this study believe that the concept of Student Ownership of Learning (SOL) connects to student engagement and achievement in the classroom setting. The researchers redesigned the introductory programming course to include valuable teaching methods to increase Student Ownership of Learning and constructive approaches such as making students design an authentic mobile app project as individuals, partners, or within teams. The high quality of students’ projects positioned them as consultants to the university IT department. \u0000\u0000Methodology: This paper employs a case study design to construct a qualitative research method as it relates to the phenomenon of the study’s goals and lived experiences of students in the redesigned introductory programming course. The redesigned course was marketed to students as a new course with detailed description and elements that were different from the traditional computer science introductory programming course requirement. The redesigned introductory programming course was offered in two sections: one section with 14 registered students and the other section with 15 registered students. One faculty member instructed both sections of the course. A total of 29 students signed up for the newly redesigned introductory programming course, more than in previous semesters, but two students dropped out within the first two weeks of the redesigned course making a total of 27 students. The redesigned coursework was divided into two parts of the semester. The first part of the semester detailed description and elements of the coursework including a redesigned approach with preparation for class, a quiz, and doing homework in class, which gives students control of decisions whenever possible; and working with each other, either with a partner or in a team. The second part of the semester focuses on students designing a non-trivial working mobile app and presenting their developing mobile app at a significant public competition at the end of the semester. Students developed significantly complex mobile apps and incorporated more complex functionality in their apps. Both Management Information System (MIS) major students and Computer Science major students were in the same course despite the fact that MIS students had never taken a programming course before; however, the Computer Science students had taken at least one course of programming. \u0000\u0000Contribution: This study provides a practical guide for faculty members in Information Technology programs and other faculty members in ","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121232893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Novice Programmers' Coping with Multi-Threaded Software Design","authors":"Rami Rashkovits, I. Lavy","doi":"10.28945/4609","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4609","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: Multi-threaded software design is considered to be difficult, especially to novice programmers. In this study, we explored how students cope with a task that its solution requires a multi-threaded architecture to achieve optimal runtime. \u0000\u0000Background: An efficient exploit of multicore processors architecture requires computer programs that use parallel programming techniques. However, parallel programming is difficult to understand and apply by novice programmers.\u0000\u0000Methodology: The students had to address a two-stage problem: (1) design an optimal runtime solution to a given problem with no additional instructions; and (2) provide an optimal runtime multi-threaded design to the same problem. Interviews were conducted with a representative group of students to understand the underlying causes of their provided designs. We used qualitative research methods to gain refined insights regarding the students’ decision making during the design process. To analyze the gained data, we used content analysis tools.\u0000\u0000Contribution: The case study presented in this paper will help the teacher to stress the merits and limitations of various parallel architectures and confront students with the consequences of their solutions via performances’ benchmark.\u0000\u0000Findings: Analysis of the student’s solutions to the first stage revealed that the majority of them did not provide a multi-threaded solution ignoring the optimal runtime requirement. At the second stage, seven various architectures were provided differing in the number of involved threads, the data structures used, and the synchronization mechanism employed. The majority of the solutions were sub-optimal and only a few students provided an optimal one.\u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend conducting class discussions that will follow a task similar to the one used in this study.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: To be able to generalize the received results this research should be repeated with larger study participant groups from various academic institutions.\u0000\u0000Impact on Society: Understanding the difficulties of novice programmers may lead to quality software systems.\u0000\u0000Future Research: To be able to generalize the received results this research should be repeated with larger study participant groups from various academic institutions.\u0000\u0000","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"98 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131520547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design and Delivery of an Online Information Systems Management Course for MBA Programs","authors":"Xihui Zhang","doi":"10.28945/4600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28945/4600","url":null,"abstract":"Aim/Purpose: In this paper, we present our experience in design and delivery of a graduate Information Systems Management (ISM) course in an online MBA program. Also presented are a detailed examination of the design and delivery of the online course, survey results of students’ perceptions and backgrounds, course evaluation results, best practices and lessons learned, and potential changes and future actions.\u0000\u0000Background: This graduate ISM course needs to not only cover a broad range of dynamic technology and business topics, but also strike a balance between the width and depth of the content. Effective course design and delivery are critical to improved teaching and learning, especially when the course is delivered online. \u0000\u0000Methodology: We provided a comprehensive review of the related literature to develop guidelines for the design and delivery of our ISM course; we collected survey data to evaluate the students’ backgrounds and their perceptions of the course; we used data analysis and content analysis methods to assess the course evaluation results.\u0000\u0000Contribution: A review of the related literature indicates that IS researchers and educators have not adequately studied online graduate education. Given the importance of the graduate ISM course in most MBA programs, and the lack of attention from the IS community, it is critical to address this gap in the research. We believe we have done so with this paper.\u0000\u0000Findings: The paper’s major findings are embedded in a detailed examination of the design and delivery of the online course, survey results of students’ perceptions and backgrounds, course evaluation results, best practices and lessons learned, and potential changes and future actions.\u0000\u0000Recommendations for Practitioners: Even though our experience may not be fully applicable to other institutions, we hope our IS colleagues can learn from the design and delivery of this online course, as well as our best practices and lessons learned to improve the teaching and learning effectiveness in IS online graduate education, in general. Furthermore, we provide instructors with an actionable framework onto which they can map their current course offering, and compare their current pedagogical offering to literature driven best practices for ISM courses, in particular.\u0000\u0000Recommendation for Researchers: It is our hope that the design and delivery of this online course, and our best practices and lessons learned can inspire our IS colleagues to search for innovative ways to improve the teaching and learning effectiveness in IS online graduate education. In addition, we distill a literature driven framework for ISM courses design and delivery that can help researchers frame their pedagogical research questions.\u0000\u0000Impact on Society: The online course in this study prepares students for more efficiently and effectively delivering IT systems in organizations. Many MBA students work for non-profits and other socially-focused organizations and are able to us","PeriodicalId":152265,"journal":{"name":"J. Inf. Technol. Educ. Innov. Pract.","volume":"246 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125745795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}