Robert S. Friedman

The integration of problem-based learning and problem-solving tools to support distributed education environments

Discussions of pedagogy and instructional design often entail their impact upon the cognitive systems of learners, knowledge transfer, and efforts to organize, facilitate and evaluate learning activities. Learning systems have undergone a demonstrable shift in focus from those based in instructivist theory and approaches (logical positivism and identifiable/fixed truth) to constructivist concepts (knowledge as a social construction) and practices, particularly as they take shape in the activities comprising problem-based learning (PBL). A technological one has accompanied this pedagogical shift. The Internet has made possible a transformation and increase in the methods of implementing the best practices and reaching greater numbers of potential learners through systems of distributed education. This paper examines how the design and implementation of problem solving tools used in programming instruction are complementary with both the fundamental theories of problem-based learning (PBL) and the pedagogy and practices of distributed education environments. A discussion of how such learning tools can be used to bridge the constructivist foundation of PBL with the needs of distributed education is suggested. We then consider how combining PBL, web-based distributed education and a problem solving environment can create effective learning environments in a variety of disciplines and modes.

Principle Concepts of Technology and Innovation Management: Critical Research Models

The broad, interdisciplinary field of technology and innovation management contains emergent boundaries as well as developing frameworks and theories. Due to the dynamic nature of the field, familiarity with the scope of literature is important to practitioners, researchers, and scholars. Principle Concepts of Technology and Innovation Management: Critical Research Models provides critical, scholarly analysis of over 100 peer-reviewed articles that have had the greatest impact on the multi-disciplinary field of technology and innovation management. The distinguished pool of international authors have identified and analyzed the field s most important works, creating a one-of-a-kind book for scholars and field practitioners.

NJIT's sandbox: an industry/education partnership for IT development

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Application development for informal learning environments: where IT education, community outreach, baseball and history intersect

2.5 million grant from the NJ Commission on Higher Education sought to establish and sustain a viable link between undergraduates and industry partners, both members of the Colleges Advisory Board and start-up technology companies within NJITs Enterprise Development Centers (EDC). This paper describes how this objective was realized through the development of the BS in Information Technologys Sandbox, home to our interdisciplinary team senior project course. Examples of recent industry/education projects are presented, and the managerial and administrative complexities that must be navigated to provide a credible outcome satisfactory to all stakeholders: students, faculty, university administration, EDC staff and clients, and industry advisory board project sponsors, are discussed.

The Virtual Classroom Experience: Viewpoints from Computing and Humanities

A collaborative software development project that brings together elementary school children, college students and museum curators is described. Museum visitors discover the history of the Negro Leagues and gain an understanding of baseballs role in the struggle for social justice. The paper describes the development processes of the applications major components and discusses the benefits and challenges of inter-institutional collaboration and learning activities that occur outside of brick and mortar schools. We discuss how this collaboration model can be used to complement informal learning techniques. We describe how this project provides rich opportunities for presenting diverse student cohorts with novel ways of incorporating information technologies and multimedia design into a learning environment that extends the classroom into the community. Through the description of using a collaborative design model for the development of tools for use in informal learning environments, we suggest that the science of learning be considered a research area for Information Technology Education.

Defining IT research

In this article we first describe the past and current status of educational technology at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) (http://www.njit.edu). We then discuss the main points of delibe...

A longitudinal examination of SIGITE conference submission data, 2007-2012

Information Technology emerged as a separate computing discipline primarily because the computing disciplines that were taught in universities at the time, in particular computer science and information systems, did not meet the needs of employers. In particular, the existing computing disciplines did not meet employer needs for IT infrastructure managers. While IT was successful in meeting employer needs, it was slow to develop a distinct research agenda, and it has become clear that, if it is to gain credibility in an academic environment, it needs to do so.

Open Knowledge Exchange Systems

This paper examines submission data for the SIGITE conference between the years 2007-2012 with an emphasis on the reliability and validity of the peer review process. Despite the centrality of peer review to academic endeavor, it is not easy to assess it due to the confidentiality of blind reviewing systems. This paper provides a unique addition to the study of peer review by examining reviews and submissions for a single international computing conference across an extended time period. It examines which external factors (such as nationality and familiarity of the reviewer) and which internal characteristics of the submissions (such as word length, number of references, and readability measures) are related to eventual reviewer ratings. Ramifications of the findings for future authors and conference organizers are also discussed.

Industry and it

The development of an Open Knowledge Exchange (OKE) system, designed to free knowledge dissemination from the bottleneck of traditional peer review methods, requires careful consideration of not only the technical capabilities such a system should provide, but also how users’ rights and privileges should be distributed amongst contributing authors, conference organizers, and registered system users/reviewers to ensure a fair and legitimate sociotechnical system. A survey was developed and administered to solicit input from prospective users regarding these issues. Survey results indicated that researchers’ assumptions of what would constitute a fair system did not always agree with users’ responses, particularly in the areas of paper rating, social networking functions, and required community participation.

Designing a masters program in cybersecurity and leadership

The COVID-19 Clinical Research Review Panel ? created by Ruth O?Hara, PhD, senior associate dean for research, and led by Kenneth Mahaffey, MD, vice chair of clinical research in the Department of Medicine, and Upinder Singh, MD, chief of infectious diseases in the Department of Medicine ? will review the proposals and adjudicate for prioritization. The panel will also help foster collaboration and identify potential synergies across proposed clinical research studies and will evaluate efforts for ensuring research personnel and participant safety.