Critical Thinking through Writing in IS Courses James J. Pomykalski, PhD Assistant Professor of...

Critical Thinking Critical Thinking through Writing through Writing

in IS Coursesin IS Courses

Critical Thinking Critical Thinking through Writing through Writing

in IS Coursesin IS Courses

James J. Pomykalski, PhDJames J. Pomykalski, PhDAssistant Professor of Information SystemsAssistant Professor of Information Systems

Sigmund Weis School of BusinessSigmund Weis School of BusinessSusquehanna UniversitySusquehanna University

Selinsgrove, PASelinsgrove, PA

ISECON-2003ISECON-2003San Diego, CASan Diego, CA

November 8, 2003November 8, 2003

© 2003, James J. Pomykalski, PhD

SWSB—Susquehanna University

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Overview• What is the Non-Technology Report (NTR)• Motivation: IS 2003 Model Curriculum• Critical Thinking Skills• IS Courses in Business Program• Writing-Intensive Courses• NTR Usage in Courses

– Courses– Topics– Grading– Examples (Recent)

• Conclusions and Future Work



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Non-Technology Reports (NTR)

• Research/Writing Assignment• Outcome:

– Two-to-three page written paper summarizing findings

• Research– Find “related” articles (3-4) on a “non-

technology” topic• E.g., impact of data quality on decision

making



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IS 2003 Model Curriculum

• Work is in part motivated and supported by curriculum guidelines– Characteristics of IS profession

• IS Professionals must:– Have a broad business and real world

perspective– Have strong analytical and critical thinking skills– Exhibit strong ethical principles and have good

interpersonal skills– Have strong technological skills

• These assignments allow students to develop three of four



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Critical Thinking SkillsKey skills are research and

writing

Steps in the process1. Students must find and evaluate

articels for content realted to the topic2. Students must produce an “integrated”

summary of their findings3. NTR is graded for content and writing



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Business Foundation• Every business major must

complete 12 hours of IS courses– Using Computers (2 Hrs)– Using Databases (2 Hrs)– Systems Analysis & Design (2 Hrs)– E-Business Applications (4 Hrs)– Management Support Systems (2

Hrs)



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Writing-Intensive Requirement

• All students at Susquehanna University must take at least eight hours of course work in “writing-intensive” courses

• University Requirements:– Assignment(s) that amount to 10 typed

pages– Assignments graded for writing skills– Assignments must count for at least

25% of final grade



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Business Courses• Systems Analysis & Design

– Sophomore level, required for all business majors

– Focus on planning, analysis and design stages

• Management Support Systems– Senior level, required for all business

majors– Focus on strategic issues and the

application of Decision Support Systems



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IS Courses• Systems Development

– Junior level, IS majors– Follow up to Systems Analysis & Design– Focus on design, implementation, and

maintenance stages (Relational DB)• Simulation Models

– Junior level, IS majors– Focus on use of [simulation] models for

process improvement– No NTR work (yet!)



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NTR in Management Support Systems

• Origin of NTR– Since Spring 2002

• Focus on managerial/organizational issues– Data Quality– End Users (training)– Ethics– Integration/use of data and applications– Leveraging IS for competitive advantage

• Very successful



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NTR in Systems Analysis & Design

• Tried twice– Fall 2002 & Spring 2002

• Focus on managerial/organizational issues– End Users (training)– Ethics– Use/misuse of ROI

• Limited success



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NTR in Systems Development

• Tried twice– Spring 2002 & Spring 2003

• Focus on managerial/organizational issues– End Users (training)– Ethics– Approaches/limits to systems

development– Outsourcing

• Early success



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My Supporting Role• Courses are managed through

Blackboard Course Management System• Create a pages of external resources for

finding articles– University subscribed on-line DBs– Popular Business/IT publications

• Computerworld, CIO magazine, Intelligent Enterprise, @Brint

• Spend time in early class period describing the resources



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Grading• 50% content; 50% writing• Content

– Completeness/Coverage (30%)– Correctness (20%)

• Writing– Focus chosen (10%)– Organization, Structure & Flow (15%)– Use of Resources (10%)– Grammar & Spelling (15%)



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Examples• Topic: Leveraging Information

Resources (IR)– Role of knowledge workers– Comparative look at FedEx and UPS;

Lowes and Home Depot– Role of KM in “Continuous Auditing”– Role of IR in Healthcare—Role of HIPAA– Value-added from Wireless Services



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Conclusions• Research and Writing are

critical thinking activities that need to be exercised

• NTR has been an effective means to combine both



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Future Work• Continue to develop new topics

for NTR• Develop NTR assignments/topics

for Simulation Models course• Look for other opportunities to

combine research and writing to help students develop necessary skills



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The End

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