The Case for a More Rigorous Approach to Teaching Spreadsheet And Database Applications
M. Pamela Neely and Thoms Pray
Although most schools offer and/or require a course in spreadsheet and database applications, the amount of meaningful learning derived from the class varies widely, due in part to a lack of rigor in adjunct instructor led classes. The approach described in this paper involves a combination of demonstration and hands-on practice using two term-long cases to be used in an introductory course in spreadsheet and database applications. These cases, packaged together with slides emphasizing theory, hands-on quizzes and exams that foster critical thinking, can be used across the multiple sections that are taught to maintain consistency within the course and encourage faculty members and students to take the course to a higher level. In order to illustrate that the new methodology makes a difference, we focus on the percentage of As and Bs under both methods. We looked at grades between the New and Old Method for full-time faculty members as well as adjunct faculty members. Also, we looked at a comparison across faculty members for each method. We show that adjunct performance across methods was not significantly impacted, but that full- time faculty members show a statistical change. We also found that the disparity in grading between full-time faculty members and adjunct faculty members is reduced with this New Method of teaching.
Keywords: excel, access, student retention, adjunct faculty, teaching methodology
M. Pamela Neely, Ph.D, CPA, is an assistant professor in the department of management information systems at the Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology. She has published numerous conference papers at the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) and the International Conference on Information Quality (ICIQ). She has also published in The DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems, the Journal of College Teaching and Learning, and the Review of Business Information Systems. Dr. Neely’s primary research area is in the realm of data and information quality. She will be program chair of ICIQ in 2008 and is vice president of the forthcoming special interest group in information quality connected with the Association of Information Systems (AIS).
Dr. Neely has taught the software applications course for the last several years, both at RIT and Marist College. She also teaches Database courses, as well as various accounting courses. She frequently receives e-mails from students two and three years after taking a course, expressing their thanks for the thorough coverage of the topics.
Dr. Neely received an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies for SUNY Buffalo, a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in Information Systems from the University at Albany.
Thomas Pray, Ph.D., is a nationally recognized leader in the development and application of business simulations. A professor of Decision Sciences at RIT's College of Business and past chairman of the Department of Decision Sciences and MIS, he has lectured on and used computerized business simulations throughout the US and in Canada, Australia, England, Scotland and India – in both industrial and academic contexts.
Dr. Pray began his career by co-authoring three business simulation books and corresponding software. Recently, he has been active in the development of two new strategy-oriented simulations: DECIDE: A Total Enterprise Simulation and INNOVATE: A Strategy Simulation with New Product Development Elements.
He always receives the highest evaluations. At the university level, he has received two major awards for outstanding teaching: the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching, awarded by RIT in 1985, and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, awarded by the State University of New York in 1980 when Dr. Pray was teaching at SUNY Geneseo. Dr. Pray received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Clarkson University in industrial engineering and industrial management, respectively, and received his doctorate in managerial economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Return to the Table of Contents