The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2006: §2123 Home Papers/Indices prev (§2122) Next (§2124)

Fri, Nov 3, 8:30 - 8:55, Bordeaux Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Baugh, J M. The Disconnect of the Non-Computer Information Systems Major to the Information Systems Literacy Course. In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2006, v 23 (Dallas): §2123. ISSN: 1542-7382. (A later version appears in Information Systems Education Journal 5(18). ISSN: 1545-679X.)

Recipient of Distinguished Paper Award

The Disconnect of the Non-Computer Information Systems Major to the Information Systems Literacy Course

Refereed

10 pages

Jeanne M. Baugh    [a1] [a2]
Computer Information Systems
Robert Morris University    [u1] [u2]
Moon Township, Pennsylvania, USA    [c1] [c2]

How does one teach introductory Information Systems concepts along with application software to students with a variety of backgrounds? Information Systems literacy courses such as this exist in many University core curriculums. What can be done to help the students see the value of this course as it applies to their major, no matter what it may be? This paper provides the results of surveys done with non-Computer Information Systems majors who were taking a required University core course in Information Systems. Results highlight the disconnect felt by the students towards the Information System topics and their major area of study. Student attitudes toward the course are discussed, along with recommendations for course structure and content. In an effort to bridge the gap the students feel between the Information Systems topics and their major, a specific approach to teaching the course is presented with the Information Systems topics linked to their major. Having a strong background with computers will make the student more marketable to the perspective employer.

Keywords: computer literacy, Information Systems coursework, student interest

Read this refereed paper in Adobe Portable Document (PDF) format. (10 pages, 442 K bytes)
Preview this refereed paper in Plain Text (TXT) format. (33 K bytes)

CDpic
Comments and corrections to
webmaster@isedj.org