March 09, 2007

Using an On Line Forum for Student Participation

Yesterday I talked with Professor James Sager of Cal State University / Chico.  Professor Sager teaches intro to MIS to sections of three to four hundred students.  He wants class participation, but realizes that many students will be intimated by such a large group.  So, instead, he requires the students to participate in online forums.  As he explains here, the students earn 15% of their grade based on their forum participation.  You can see the forum itself here.

I asked him if grading participation for so many students is a problem and he explained that he's written software to compute students' scores:

"At present I give students 12 points for each original posting (new thread) and 4 points for each of their reviews/rating of their peers postings.  In total, they can earn 148 points which amounts for roughly 15% of their grade in the course.  The forum software that I use is based on an open-source product called JForum (http://www.jforum.net/).  I've modified the base software in a couple of important respects and it should probably be modified even further to make it a better facility for classroom use (I can think of a couple of annoyances that I'd love to resolve).  Also, my version is based on a slightly older release than the current 2.1.7 product.  For grading, I wrote a servlet that interrogates the JForum database and calculates students' point totals automatically.  I started to do the job manually once and quickly realized that I could write the software and do the job automatically before I would finish the job looking at the data by hand.

"Sometime in the future, I'd like to explore creating a "Semantic Forum" that would use Latent Semantic Analysis technology (paper here) to analyze student postings real-time and disallow postings that are off topic or trivial.  Currently, I use simple minimum word requirements in scoring.  I don't have any automated content analysis, but a posting such as "I Agree" doesn't count in a student's point total.

"My current grading scheme takes into account peer reviews but doesn't incorporate an instructor-based quality assessment.  That would be another use for LSA - i.e. generating a automated relevance score.  It wouldn't be as reliable as instructor evaluation, but it would at least be manageable.  Without an automated scheme, using a forum for a couple hundred students would be an absolute nightmare.  The more of the teaching drudgery that I can automate the better.  That way I get to concentrate on the fun stuff.

 

 "Oh yes, the reason that I chose JForum were (1) it's open source and (2) it's written primarily in Java.  Because we teach our programming classes in the MIS program in Java, and because I'm therefore fairly familiar with that language, I'm able to tweak the software to my requirements without an undue amount of pain.

"I have some additional rationale for using the forum, much of which is outlined in an old internal research grant proposal from a couple of years ago.  See the attachment (here).  Unfortunately, the research wasn't funded, but I went ahead and put something together anyway.  I especially like the peer review aspect of the forum requirement because it absolves me from being the sole source of feedback in the course.  Anyway, you may also share the grant document if you like.  I do have a current research project concerning forum use for which I have collected student survey data, but I don't think any of the language in that proposal is particularly proprietary

"At Chico State, we use WebCT Vista as the campus course management system and there is a forum facility built into the latest Vista version.  I haven't yet explored its features, but I have that on my agenda for a slow day (the kind of day that rarely seems to come my way).  Meanwhile, I'll probably keep using my JForum-based system, in part because it is very much like other online forums that students might encounter on the Web."

I found this fascinating.  The automated grading aspects would pertain to online courses as well, maybe even better.  You can contact Jim at: JSager1@csuchico.edu

 

Posted by DavidK at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 05, 2007

Well, (5) * (3) = 15, Doesn't It?

Many years ago, I was working at a university with a research center that was developing a new general ledger system.  That was back in the mainframe days, and at the time, most organizations developed their own software, even G/L, in house.  So, they hired a group of students to help develop the system.  The center had a number science students who needed summer employment, so they hired them to help develop the general ledger system.

Things went along swimmingly until the first major review.  The accounts would not sum correctly.  Eventually, the problem was traced to the code that one of the science students had written.  Turned out he didn't understand that, in a financial application, numbers in parentheses, like ($12,345), have a special significance.  His code ignored the parentheses.

Which brings me to the career question of this week:

What does a systems analyst need to know?

Posted by DavidK at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Q8 of 25 Questions about a Career in IS

What Does a Systems Analyst Need to Know?

A systems analyst is a cultural broker.  A systems analyst meets with the users and learns their goals and objectives, their processes, and their information needs.  A background in business will enable the systems analyst to learn business needs quickly and effectively.  Without such a background, his or her ignorance will slow the project unacceptably, or will cause silly mistakes like the one above.

For example, consider a systems analyst that is working with, say, a manufacturing department.  At a requirements meeting, that analyst is likely to hear terms like MRP or MRP II or just-in-time inventory.  The discussion might involve the number of turns in finished goods inventory and how inventory holding costs seem to high for that number of turns.

Without a background in business, the systems analyst will be unable to follow the discussion.  And, the team expects the systems analyst to be able to contribute to the discussion -- adding insights into what kind of information is needed to solve that problem, and the likely availability of the data to produce that information.

At the same time, once the systems analyst understands the business requirements, he or she then meets with technical people to explain what needs to be done.  The analyst must be able to develop data models, to participate in database design, to understand how computer programmers will go about creating the information system, to know what an effective test plan is, to understand how the system should be implemented, and so forth.  The analyst needs to have sufficient background in technology to be able to reject ideas that are clearly infeasible, whether from cost, organizational, schedule, or technical reasons.

So, a systems analyst needs to be able to bridge the world of business and the world of information technology.

It is a fascinating and ever so interesting a job!

 

Posted by DavidK at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 21, 2007

Q7 of 25 Questions about a Career in IS:

How much do systems analysts earn?

        The BLS publishes the follow salary statistics for systems analysts:

"Median annual earnings of computer systems analysts were $66,460 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $52,400 and $82,980 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $41,730, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $99,180. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of computer systems analysts in May 2004 were:

"According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, starting offers for graduates with a bachelor’s degree were $44,417 for those with a degree in management information systems; and $44,775 for those with a degree in information sciences and systems"  source:  http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos287.htm#earnings

        Note these data are for 2004.  2007 salaries are likely to be 10 percent higher than these figures, or more.

 

Posted by DavidK at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Q6 of 25 Questions about a Career in IS:

What are the job prospects for systems analysts?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an excellent outlook for the number of systems analysts jobs:

"Employment of computer systems analysts is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2014 as organizations continue to adopt and integrate increasingly sophisticated technologies. Job increases will be driven by very rapid growth in computer system design and related services, which is projected to be among the fastest growing industries in the U.S. economy."  Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos287.htm.

In the verbiage of the BLS, grow much faster than average means grow 27 percent or more.

        By the way, because systems analysts often need to work face-to-face with users, it is difficult to outsource systems analysis tasks to off-shore vendors.

Posted by DavidK at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Q5 of 25 Questions about a Career in IS:

What does a systems analyst do?

        Systems analysts are cultural brokers.  They have one foot in the business world and one foot in the world of information technology.  They translate the needs of business users into specifications and designs for information systems.  Systems analysts need to be both people oriented and technology oriented.

       One of the most important jobs for systems analysts is to to interview users and determine needs for information systems.  Systems analysts document those needs using text descriptions, use cases, process diagrams, data models, and other formats.  Systems developers use that documentation to design and build the information system.  Systems analysts sometimes also test the information system to ensure that it conforms with the specifications.

        The U.S. Government's Bureau of Labor Statistics defines the job of a systems analyst as follows:

"Computer systems analysts solve computer problems and apply computer technology to meet the individual needs of an organization. They help an organization to realize the maximum benefit from its investment in equipment, personnel, and business processes. Systems analysts may plan and develop new computer systems or devise ways to apply existing systems’ resources to additional operations. They may design new systems, including both hardware and software, or add a new software application to harness more of the computer’s power. Most systems analysts work with specific types of systems—for example, business, accounting, or financial systems, or scientific and engineering systems—that vary with the kind of organization.

"One obstacle associated with expanding computer use is the need for different computer systems to communicate with each other. Because of the importance of maintaining up-to-date information—accounting records, sales figures, or budget projections, for example—systems analysts work on making the computer systems within an organization, or among organizations, compatible so that information can be shared among them."  source:  http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos287.htm#nature

Posted by DavidK at 09:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 14, 2007

The Phishers Get Better and Better ...

Here's an email I received last week:

 

Worth asking our students to find all of the clues that indicate this is a phishing message.

Of course, the url is just text.  The url behind the text does not provide an Amazon address ... it's to the phisher's site.

Posted by DavidK at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Barb Warner, Elluminate, and IM

Barb Warner at the University of South Florida has been using a course teaching product called Elluminate in her intro to MIS class.  She summarized some of her experiences in a recent email to TeachingMIS:

"I have used Elluminate in several settings.  I have used it for office hours - where students can just sign in & I can answer questions.  I also do this using IM.  For office hours- both are very useful.  I like IM better in some ways because I can have separate conversations/windows with each student & it is easier that way to stay organized when 'talking' with 20 students at once.  With Elluminate - the messages fly by all on one screen & it's difficult to keep track of them & students aren't always sure who you are responding to.  However, with Elluminate - I can do application sharing & show skills, and it's very easy to talk to all at one time.  In IM's favor, students can easily send me a file & I can examine/troubleshoot their work - so that is a nice feature too.  So both have their strengths.

"I also use Elluminate for exam reviews for my online class.  We all sign on & I have a PowerPoint of questions that I load onto the whiteboard & the students can use polling to select the right answers. While this is going on, I can see what each student has selected & the % of students who chose each answer & then we can discuss that.  That is very popular and effective.  I can also allow them to write on the whiteboard/PowerPoint - which most have fun with.   Another nice feature is that I can record each session & go back & see who was there & what was said.  I can also make the recording available to students.  This can't be done with IM.

"I have also used Elluminate for meetings with my TAs, conferences with others across the country,  and sat in on a class that had a debate via Elluminate.  I also took an online class on interactive media & we used Elluminate for trouble shooting projects & it was nice to be able to view the recording of the session if you had to go back & check something out again."

An interesting (but poorly done) video on the use of Elluminate for secondary education in England is on here (YouTube).  Also, if you're willing to give your name and contact info, you can download a demo of Elluminate from here.

Posted by DavidK at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Student Tips for Using Excel and Access

Barb used another product, Camtasia, to create an excellent set of student tips for using Excel and Access.  Here is an example of her tip for creating a table in Access.  The full list of tips is available here.

Thanks to Barb for making these available to all of us!

Posted by DavidK at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 29, 2007

Joe Hoyle, Master Teacher

Last week, Bill Beville, the Prentice-Hall sales professional in eastern Virginia, introduced me to Joe Hoyle, the David Meade White Distinguished Teaching Fellow in the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond.

Joe is a veritable fountain of great ideas on teaching.  He's published a (free for download) book on Tips and Thoughts on Improving Teaching which you can download from here.  The book has 35 days worth of exercises and thoughts for teaching.  Although Joe teaches financial accounting, all of his thoughts are pertinent to those of us who teach MIS.

One of Joe's ideas is to ask the students who earned an A in his class to write a memo to future students explaining how to obtain an A.  A sample of one term's memos is here.

Joe doesn't want to waste the first class period, so he sends an email to his students before their first class meeting.  In that email he describes his expectations, sets out classwork ethics standards, provides other class background, and gives the first assignment.  He wants to start everyone off with an expectation of hard work.

I'll be featuring more of his ideas here, but if you're intrigued, it's well worth downloading his book.

Thanks to Bill for the introduction and to Joe for being so generous with his materials!

Posted by DavidK at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Q4 of 25 Questions about a Career in IS:

The IS discipline has many varied and interesting careers.  One way to think about them is to consider the five components of an information system:  hardware, software, data, procedures, and people.  Consider the following careers for each component:

People

Many information systems careers involve working with people.  Computer sales people sell hardware, network services, software, database consulting, and other systems services.  Such sales people must possess sophisticated knowledge of their customers and their industry as well as have broad knowledge of the capabilities of their products.  Sales support personnel assist the sales personnel with the installation and use of the product either pre- or post-sale.  Sales support personnel are usually more technical than sales people and are trained to give in-depth demonstrations of their products.

Computer support personnel assist system users.  They may work on telephone support, or they may write documentation for the support web site. Some support personnel work in the offices of the users whom they support.  Computer training personnel teach users how to employ the information system to accomplish their job tasks.

Change agents specialize in helping users adapt to new or modified information systems.  Typically, users resist change and it is the responsibility of a change agent to determine the source of the resistance and to help users overcome their reluctance to adapt to the new system.   

Procedures

Every information system has procedures for use.  Systems analysts work with users to determine, early in a project, what the information system is supposed to accomplish.  Systems analysts interview users to specify the features and functions that are needed.  Then, systems analysts work with other IS professionals to design and document procedures.  They coordinate with system support personnel for the development of training materials.

Technical writers develop documentation for using the system.  Some writers create the help text within computer programs, some create external documentation on a web site or other facility, and still others create training materials.  Technical writers need strong writing skills, an empathy for the user, and a fearless ability to dive into complicated subjects.

Data

Three job titles are common for the data component.  Database designers meet with users and systems analysts and create a data model of how the users view their data.  They then transform the data model into a database design.  Some database designers alter existing database designs to adapt to new or changed requirements.  Database design requires someone with both effective communications skills and strong conceptual thinking abilities.

Databases are shared resources and subject to conflict and misuse.  Database administrators establish policies and procedures for controlling and protecting a database.  A large database may be supported by an office of database administration.  Most database administrators have strong database skills.

Data administration is an enterprise-wide function that concerns the effective use and control of an organization's data assets.  A data administrator (or office of data administration) works with top management to set organizational data policy (for example, privacy restrictions on customer data) and to ensure that effective controls exist for protecting the organization's data.  Data administration requires strategic thinking and strong diplomacy skills more that it requires technical knowledge.

Software

The common jobs involving software are computer programmers and software testers.  Programmers design and code computer programs and software testers evaluate those programs against their specifications.  Maintenance programmers are entry level programmers who adapt existing programs to meet new or changed requirements,  Today, much software testing is done by automated systems and some software testers are also programmers who write the testing programs.

Some IS professionals install, tune, and test pre-built or licensed software.  These people, who may have been trained as programmers, do not actually design or write the computer code, but instead install an existing software product in a customer's site, tune that product to best meet the customer's needs, and test the installation.  

Hardware

Jobs for this component involve setting up and operating computer hardware and networks.  The titles system administrator and network administrator are common.  Such people setup new hardware, install components, and they sometimes repair computer and network gear.

 

         

Posted by DavidK at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 22, 2007

Q3 of 25 Questions about a Career in IS:

What is the Difference between Computer Science and Information Systems?

Computer science deals primarily with the software component of an information system.  Computer scientists learn how to write efficient and effective computer programs.  They also study database design and the efficient processing of databases.  Computer scientists are normally not concerned with the design and development of computer hardware; usually that topic is addressed in electrical engineering programs.  Computer science courses are taught in the College of Engineering.

IS students are concerned with the application of information systems to help organizations achieve their goals and objectives by creating competitive advantages, enabling organizational cost savings, solving problems, and so forth.  Information systems deal with all five components of an information system.  Information systems courses are taught in the College of Business.

Someone who specializes in IS needs to know not only technology, but also business.  An IS professional needs to know the fundamentals of accounting, management, marketing, finance, organizational behavior and strategy, as well as other business topics.  IS professionals do not need to be as technical as computer scientists, though some are.  IS professionals are like cultural brokers; they bridge between the needs of an organization and the capabilities of information technology.

Posted by DavidK at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Half of Today's Students Are below Average in Intelligence (!)

Heading is a quote from the first of a series of three back-to-back editorials in last week's Wall Street Journal.  Written by Charles Murray, the editorials examine the limits created by intelligence in educational experience.  In the first, he wonders if we are not attempting to educate students beyond their capacities to learn:

"Our ability to improve the academic accomplishment of students in the lower half of the distribution of intelligence is severely limited. It is a matter of ceilings. Suppose a girl in the 99th percentile of intelligence, corresponding to an IQ of 135, is getting a C in English. She is underachieving, and someone who sets out to raise her performance might be able to get a spectacular result. Now suppose the boy sitting behind her is getting a D, but his IQ is a bit below 100, at the 49th percentile.

"We can hope to raise his grade. But teaching him more vocabulary words or drilling him on the parts of speech will not open up new vistas for him. It is not within his power to learn to follow an exposition written beyond a limited level of complexity, any more than it is within my power to follow a proof in the American Journal of Mathematics. In both cases, the problem is not that we have not been taught enough, but that we are not smart enough."

Posted by DavidK at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Need for Respectable Vocational Education

Murray continues in his second editorial by reiterating his thesis:

"It is possible for someone with an IQ of 100 to sit in the lectures of Economics 1, read the textbook, and write answers in an examination book. But students who cannot follow complex arguments accurately are not really learning economics. They are taking away a mishmash of half-understood information and outright misunderstandings that probably leave them under the illusion that they know something they do not. (A depressing research literature documents one's inability to recognize one's own incompetence.) Traditionally and properly understood, a four-year college education teaches advanced analytic skills and information at a level that exceeds the intellectual capacity of most people.

And then he argues for socially respectable vocational training:

"No data that I have been able to find tell us what proportion of those students really want four years of college-level courses, but it is safe to say that few people who are intellectually unqualified yearn for the experience, any more than someone who is athletically unqualified for a college varsity wants to have his shortcomings exposed at practice every day. They are in college to improve their chances of making a good living. What they really need is vocational training. But nobody will say so, because 'vocational training' is second class. 'College' is first class."

"Combine those who are unqualified with those who are qualified but not interested, and some large proportion of students on today's college campuses--probably a majority of them--are looking for something that the four-year college was not designed to provide. Once there, they create a demand for practical courses, taught at an intellectual level that can be handled by someone with a mildly above-average IQ and/or mild motivation."

(Italics mine.)

I think his argument is valid, but it suffers from a static definition of what is a college education.  In fact, many collegiate institutions are responding to the demand for practical courses and providing courses for students with mild motivation.  This make them less collegiate only if we define college as Murray does. 

Posted by DavidK at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Education for the Gifted

His third editorial argues for special education of those students with an IQ above 120.

"The encouragement of wisdom requires a special kind of education. It requires first of all recognition of one's own intellectual limits and fallibilities--in a word, humility. This is perhaps the most conspicuously missing part of today's education of the gifted. Many high-IQ students, especially those who avoid serious science and math, go from kindergarten through an advanced degree without ever having a teacher who is dissatisfied with their best work and without ever taking a course that forces them to say to themselves, 'I can't do this.' Humility requires that the gifted learn what it feels like to hit an intellectual wall, just as all of their less talented peers do, and that can come only from a curriculum and pedagogy designed especially for them. That level of demand cannot fairly be imposed on a classroom that includes children who do not have the ability to respond. The gifted need to have some classes with each other not to be coddled, but because that is the only setting in which their feet can be held to the fire."

"In short, I am calling for a revival of the classical definition of a liberal education, serving its classic purpose: to prepare an elite to do its duty. If that sounds too much like Plato's Guardians, consider this distinction. As William F. Buckley rightly instructs us, it is better to be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the faculty of Harvard University. But we have that option only in the choice of our elected officials. In all other respects, the government, economy and culture are run by a cognitive elite that we do not choose. That is the reality, and we are powerless to change it. All we can do is try to educate the elite to be conscious of, and prepared to meet, its obligations. For years, we have not even thought about the nature of that task. It is time we did."

Worth reading all three editorials.

Posted by DavidK at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)