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.