Theda Thomas

Gender Differences in Students' Perceptions of Information Technology as a Career

This paper reports on an investigation into first year students’ perceptions of IT as a career. There are many stereotypes of the typical IT professional. These stereotypes are often depicted in the media and affect students’ perceptions of the career and whether they should study IT or not. An exploratory study into male and female first year students’ perceptions of the IT professional is presented. The participants included students studying the Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Information Systems degrees at ACU National in Melbourne, Australia. The study investigated the differences and similarities between the perceptions of males and females as well as where they came by those perceptions. The study found that the majority of students had chosen to drop IT as a subject at school by Year 10 of their schooling. Males and females differ in their reasons for giving up IT, with females listing computer illiteracy and dislike of being called a nerd as their main reasons and males listing boredom, teachers not being encouraging and little creativity as their main reasons for stopping. The students were then asked questions relating to the IT industry. A t-test showed that females were significantly more negative about the industry in their answers to three of the questions, namely “Is it ‘uncool’ to be interested in computers?” “Does the IT industry offer good job prospects?” and “Are people working in the IT industry ‘nerds/computer geeks’?” The survey then went on to look at the technical versus non-technical issue in perceptions of an IT career. The majority of the participants believed that an IT job consists mainly of technical work and working at a computer. This was true for all the students across both genders. The majority of students did not know any females in the IT industry and could not name any female role models from real life or from TV or film. Some of the role models that they did mention were cartoon characters. The final part of the survey tried to determine where the students felt that their knowledge of an

Challenges of assuring the development of graduate attributes in a Bachelor of Arts

All universities in Australia are asked to develop various attributes in their degrees. From 2011, the Australian Qualifications Framework has stipulated some of these attributes for the various levels of qualifications. There are many challenges that face assuring the development of graduate attributes in a Bachelor of Arts as the degree typically has very few core units (if any), a wide choice of subjects, a limited prerequisite structure and, unlike many professional degrees, the BA does not have an external accrediting body. This paper describes an approach used to identify the pathway undertaken by each individual student in a History major of the Bachelor of Arts. This pathway was used to identify the graduate attributes that each student should have developed, as articulated by the lecturers. Student perceptions were then compared with the graduate attributes that were intended to be developed through each individuals combination of units studied. In summary, through analysing the two methods (student perceptions and unit pathway) we found that they concurred with respect to only three-quarters of the graduate attributes. Possible reasons for the discrepancies and future research are discussed. The need for multiple methods of providing evidence of the development of graduate attributes is confirmed.

Embedding Critical Thinking in IS Curricula

It is important for students to develop critical thinking and other higher-order thinking skills during their tertiary studies. Along with the ability to think critically comes the need to develop students’ meta-cognitive skills. These abilities work together to enable students to control, monitor, and regulate their own cognitive processes and improve their ability to comprehend and solve problems. This paper proposes the use of scaffolding as a method of helping students to develop their critical thinking and meta-cognitive skills within the IS curriculum. Scaffolding enables students to undertake tasks that they might not have been able to tackle without the scaffolding. It allows the learners to focus on the aspects of the task that they can manage, while still keeping an understanding of the task as a whole. As the scaffolding is gradually removed, the student should be able to work more independently and apply the new skills effectively. The paper shows how the scaffolding of the process of critical thinking can be used in the early stages of the IS curriculum to enable students to first learn, then gain confidence, in using the techniques that they need to apply independently in the latter stages of the curriculum. Some of the topics covered and where skills were developed included writing essays (in particular essays that include argument), critical and analytical thinking in programming, and the use of problemsolving techniques in systems analysis and design. In the section on critical and analytical thinking in programming, we show how we taught students to think logically and then how this was applied in programming. The task of testing algorithms was scaffolded to enable the students to learn how to evaluate a program and create test data. The paper then shows how the lecturer developed students’ meta-cognitive skills by phrasing SQL questions that made the students conscious of their thinking and helped them to link what they were currently doing with their previous knowledge. The paper goes on to show how the conventional problem-solving techniques that are often taught to school children can be used in systems analysis and design. These techniques help the student to consider the whole picture and to understand the relationships between the different parts of the system and how it interacts with the rest of the world. Lastly, the paper describes how the students were taught to write and argue when writing an academic essay. The first assessment task was carefully scaffolded to help the students understand the need to put forward an argument, substantiate that argument and to mini

Developing team skills through a collaborative writing assignment

Employers want students who are able to work effectively as members of a team, and expect universities to develop this ability in their graduates. This paper proposes a framework for a collaborative writing assignment that specifically develops students’ ability to work in teams. The framework has been tested using two iterations of an action research project, with this paper focusing on the second iteration. The paper provides detailed information on how the framework was implemented, and then reports on the students’ perceptions of their learning about teamwork.

Adapting team-based learning to the interpersonal communication class

Abstract This paper proposes that team-based learning (TBL) methods can be adapted to achieve the learning outcomes of an interpersonal communication class. When studying interpersonal communication it is important for students to be able to apply the theory they learn through interaction in groups. TBL principles support students learning theoretical concepts prior to coming to class in order to free up time for group interaction. The method therefore seems particularly suited to the study of interpersonal communication. This paper shows how team-based learning was adapted to suit the interpersonal communication discipline allowing students to apply theory while developing their understanding of their role in the communication situations through refl ection. An evaluation was undertaken by analysing students’ perceptions of their engagement and their experience of the subject. Student feedback, refl ections and a questionnaire were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods. Ideas for further research are presented.

What Were You Thinking? Empowering Tomorrow’s Professionals Today

Abstract As students undertake their tertiary studies and subsequently face the challenges of their increasingly competitive professions, it is essential to recognise the need to take a more active, early, formal and direct approach to the enhancement of their critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork and communication skills. This paper reports on a course, Reasoning and Critical Thinking for Information Systems (IS) Professionals, which provides a discipline focus to the development of these skills and forms part of the core curriculum in the Bachelor of Information Systems degree at Australian Catholic University (ACU) National. The mechanisms introduced to engage students actively in the development of their individual metacognitive processes are discussed and conclusions as to the effectiveness of the methods are drawn. The paper goes on to provide a rich description of how the academic team involved in the curriculum development, presentation and assessment have used action research as the means of informing their pedagogical practices. The paper finishes by providing insights into how the skills addressed in this course, as well as the pedagogical practices that have evolved, may be used to inform other academics and courses offered in the degree program.

Strategies for leading academics to rethink humanities and social sciences curricula in the context of discipline standards

Abstract The introduction of discipline standards in Australia has required a comprehensive rethinking of humanities and social science curricula from first year through to graduation. This paper proposes a model to facilitate academics’ engagement with discipline standards and their implication for first-year curricula. The model supports discipline-focussed professional development that integrates consideration of discipline threshold learning outcomes, first-year pedagogy principles, and discipline threshold concepts. The model is demonstrated using strategies that were applied, tested, and shown to be effective in workshops across five disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

Has Distance Learning Become More Flexible? Reflections of a Distance Learning Student

This paper provides insight into the way in which distance learning had changed over the past 30 years from the perspective of the author as a distance learning student. The question is then asked as to whether current practice is reducing flexibility for distance learning students? The paper starts with a discussion of flexible learning and the different factors that need to be considered when making distance learning flexible for students. The paper then describes the author’s experiences as a distance learning student in the early 1980s and compares it to her experiences as a student in 2006-2008. The experiences were compared using various dimensions of flexibility. The main dimensions used were flexibility of content, assessment, instructional approach, course delivery, time, and learning styles. While flexibility had improved in some areas, improving the pedagogical design by engaging students on an ongoing basis had also decreased flexibility in others. The paper concludes with a look to the future and factors that online designers might consider in balancing different types of flexible learning activities.

Teaching the history threshold learning outcomes to first-year students

Stakeholder ownership and implementation are crucial when applying the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) to the development of curriculum. Threshold Learning Outcomes (TLOs) are a case in point. While they might seem to be triumphs of managerialism over pedagogy, we argue that they can be used to build lecturers’ deep engagement with the teaching of their discipline and thus foster sustainable change. By extending the professional use of TLOs, beyond the stages of agreement, establishment and early dissemination, to the point of implementation, we offer a framework for how to elicit collegial conversations to improve teaching and learning practice in history. First, we combine ‘Decoding the Disciplines’ methods developed by historians at Indiana University. Second, we add key principles of first-year pedagogy, associated with Sally Kift. Third, we link to Threshold Learning Outcomes. The framework is supplemented by a good practice guide that translates our theoretical model into practical strategies in teaching and assessment.