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Fri, Nov 2, 11:30 - 11:55, Haselton 1 Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Burns, A T and T A Steinbach. Best Practices: A Cure for the New Prep Headache? In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2007, v 24 (Pittsburgh): §2345. ISSN: 1542-7382. (A later version appears in Information Systems Education Journal 8(17). ISSN: 1545-679X.)

Best Practices: A Cure for the New Prep Headache?

Refereed

13 pages

Alan T. Burns    [a1] [a2]
Argosy University    [u1] [u2]
Chicago, Illinois, USA    [c1] [c2]

Theresa A. Steinbach    [a1] [a2]
School of Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Systems
DePaul University    [u1] [u2]
Chicago, Illinois, USA    [c1] [c2]

The teaching of a new course is colloquially known among faculty as a “new prep.” New preps are often time-consuming and laborious for instructors. They can be particularly frustrating when this effort does not yield results in the classroom. This research explores how a best practice approach can make the transfer of new preps across faculty less burdensome and increase student learning. Best practices are desirable because they inject substantial, relevant and validated knowledge directly to the task at hand. The new prep transfer process is modeled in terms of communication theory, where the transfer occurs between an experienced instructor (source) and an instructor new to the course (recipient). A template has been developed to facilitate the transfer of best practices for a course. Some features of the template are discussed as are the transfer barriers they seek to overcome. Although one benefit of the best practices approach presented is reduced faculty workload, it is believed that the quality of instruction and student learning should increase as well.

Keywords: best practices, IS education, knowledge transfer

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