Development of INFO 102

(from meeting with Allan Sylvester, 13/12/06)

2/3 and 3/3 2004:
Same course outlines.
Low class attendance.
100% programming – no information systems (too much Comp Sci, not enough IS).

2/3 2005:
Change to front half of course.
Allan Sylvester entered tutoring role.
Instructor led lab session model.
New division between programming and IS – 75% IS, 25% programming.
Large project handed in late in course. High prevalence of plagiarism. Feedback given back to students only two days before they sat the exam – very little room for student improvement.

3/3 2005:
Project three marked in two parts (both reflect change to IS concepts):
Part 1 by software inspection to counter plagiarism and to pick up on student learning gaps early.
Part 2 written component.
This led to earlier feedback to students within 24 hours.
Worked for a small summer course.

Feedback from 1/3 INFO 241 - lecturers had to re-teach much of the basics as students had forgotten a lot of it (exp Comp Sci)
Management and marketing – required greater retention of skills è taught less at greater detail, especially lab teaching.

2/3 2006
Written component incorporated into the final exam.
Staggered hand in and feedback of final project.
2^nd half teaching order re-grouped to equip students with skills required for labs. Tight lecture/lab coordination at start then diverges (Lectures moved more towards IS “people and organizations”. Labs stay technical.

3/3 2006
Projects 1 & 2 turned into in-class tests – test course content from start/previous test.
1^st test – scenario given prior (1 week) to the test so students can prepare, but problem unknown. This was to stop plagiarism and memorization of answers.

Meeting at SIM

Met with Val Hooper, Allan Sylvester and Tom at SIM. Discussed at length the paramaters which the study will undertake.

Discussed the staffing structure of INFO courses:


Selected meeting notes:

The study will be aimed towards a July information systems conference - results of continual improvement process, teaching of programme out of lecture theatre and into the lab.

SIM is currently undertaking a change in learning paradigm and teaching language from Visual Basic Application to C-Sharp. This will bring IS courses into line with each other. These have the same priciples and IS concepts, but are more advanced. The change of language is guided by industry statistics.

102 Experiance - students taking 102 and changing major (into INFO).

INFO Courses have to be at the cutting edge, but do students perseive this?

During 2006, less was taught at a greater depth. This was intended to make the flow-through to 241 smoother. 102 improvements lead to changes in how 241 is taught. A large number of students in 241 become tutors in 102. A large number of tutors in 102 move on to postgraduate study.

Learning Objectives for INFO 101 & 102

Downloaded first five course outlines for INFO 102 - 2/3 2004 - 2/3 2006 and 11 INFO 101 outlines - 1/3 2003 - 2/3 2006. Will follow up with current - 3/3 2006 - outline with Allan.

Learning objectives remain unchanged throughout, but significant changes to course content. I will document these changes next.

Meeting with Tom and Allan

Met with Allan and Tom to discuss the progress of the INFO 102 project. Discussed at length the evolution of the INFO 102 course:

2004 2/3 First half of course was well received, second half not as well received. This was also seen in 3/3.

2005 2/3 it was realized that the course was essentially a IS course with Com Sci content. As a result, the teaching of programming was moved from the lectures to the labs, while the lectures focused on IS. Due to the nature of assessment, there was also little feedback before the exam. Many students were learning the skills in order to complete the project as they went along.

2005 3/3 assessments marked in labs, more feedback on progress.

2006 2/3 Term project was broken into 4 parts, so students could receive regular feedback on their progress.

2006 3/3 In order to alleviate plagiarism issues with take home assignments, it was replaced with an in-class test. The relevant information for the test was given out two weeks prior.

Meeting with Allan Sylvester

Met briefly with Allan Sylvester to discuss contacting tutors for INFO 102. Emailed all tutors the following email, all of which were delivered according to the "delivery receipt". Responses slow. Will follow up email next week with second email, followed by phone call.


EMAIL:

Dear {tutors name},

As you may be aware, the Victoria University Teaching and Development Centre is currently undertaking research into the teaching of Information Management 102. As a {tutor}/{former tutor} for this paper, we would appreciate your feedback and perceptions of how the paper was taught. In order to gage this, we will be running a focus group with past and present INFO 102 tutors.

Could you please indicate whether or not you would be willing to participate in the focus group, and if so, when you would be available next week or the week after (I am looking at running the focus group in the evening at Rutherford House, Pipitea Campus).

I look forward to hearing from you.

Warmest regards,