Teaching Information Systems Development Using "Virtual Team" Projects
Suprateek Sarker, Sundeep Sahay, Francis Lau
In this paper, we discuss our experiences in designing and implementing a "virtual team" systems development project that enabled us to incorporate the different types of knowledge relevant to teaching Information Systems Development (ISD) and the different stages of learning applicable to students in institutions of higher education. We outline some of the unique advantages as well as potential pitfalls that professors interested in adopting this project structure should be aware of. We also provide a framework that can guide the design and evaluation of ISD courses.
Suprateek Sarker is currently an assistant professor of information systems at Washington State University, Pullman. He received his bachelor of engineering degree in computer science and engineering from Jadavpur University, India, MBA from Baylor University, MS from Arizona State University, and PhD from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Sarker's research focuses on utilizing positivist as well as interpretivist research approaches to study IT -enabled organizationchange,virtual teamwork, on-lineeducation, and mobile commerce. His teaching interests include database and knowledge management systems, systems analysis and design, case studies in IS, and qualitative research methodologies. Dr. Sarker's work has appeared (or due to appear) in journals such as JATS, JSTS, DATABASE, Communications of the ACM, and conferences such as ICIS, IFIP 8.2, mess, and ICIER, where his submission was adjudged the "Best Paper" in 2001.
Sundeep Sahay is a professor in the Department of Informatics, University of Oslo. He received his PhD from Florida International University and was a post-doctoral researcher at the Judge Institute of Management Studies at Cambridge University. A primary theme of Dr. Sahay's research is concernedwith understanding the nature of social implicationsof information technologies in differentcultural contexts. He has complete a master in philosophy, and his thesis topic was related to ICT and education.
Francis Lau is director of the School of Health Information Science at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He received his doctoral degree in medical science with a specialization in medical informatics from the University of Alberta in 1993. After that, Dr. Lau taught graduate- and undergraduate-level information systems in the business faculty at the University of Alberta. His current research interests are in the areas of information systems implementation, e-leaming, knowledge management, and action research in health.
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