Developing Expertise in E-Commerce: A Content Analysis of Students' Knowledge of Online Auctions

Journal of Information Systems Education, Spring 2005 by Foster, Jonathan, Lin, Angela

The second implication is pedagogical. What use can be made of the findings from the exercise to inform the development of e-commerce education? Eraut's (1993) framework states that practicing professionals draw on propositional, process, and personal knowledge in performing their roles. The current study provides evidence that there exist imbalances in students' acquisition and application of the knowledge required for professional practice. This would suggest that, in the domain of e-commerce, information systems educators can usefully turn their attention to learning and teaching strategies that recognize and work with such imbalances e.g. encouraging some students to write more about their individual experience of participating in the online auction, encouraging others to incorporate a greater degree of theoretical knowledge into their reflections. In so doing, information systems educators can aim at developing their students' professional capacities in a manner more tailored to redressing such imbalances.

7. REFERENCES

Bauer, M.W. (2000), "Classical Content Analysis: A Review". In: Bauer, M.W. and Gaskell, G., eds., Qualitative Researching with Text, Image, and Sound, pp. 131 -151. London, Sage.

Braut, M. (1993), Developing Professional Knowledge and Competence. London, The Falmer Press.

Foster, J. and Lin, A. (2003), "Individual differences in learning entrepreneurship and their implications for web-based instruction in e-business and e-commerce", British Journal of Educational Technology. Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 455-465.

Ngai, E. W.T. (2004), "Teaching and learning of ecommerce at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University: from a business education perspective", Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations. Vol. 2, No.2, pp. 17-27.

McCubbrey, D. J., Gricar, J., Swatman, P.M.C., Wagennar, R. W., and Wrighley, C. D. (1994), "Interorganisational Business Simulation and Gaming: Rethinking Information Systems Curricula". Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Information Systems, December 14-17, pp. 476-477.

Rayport, J. F. and Jaworksi, JJ. (2003), Introduction to E-commerce, 2nd edition. London, Mc-Graw-Hill.

Jonathan Foster

Angela Lin

Department of Information Studies

University of Sheffield

Sheffield, S1 4DP, UK

j.j.foster@sheffield.ac.uk a.lin@sheffield.ac.uk

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

Jonathan Foster is Lecturer in Information Management at the University of Sheffield, UK. His current teaching and research interests include information management; information management in the digital economy; and information strategy. He has higher degrees in information systems and in education.

Angela Lin is Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her current teaching and research interests include information systems management; computer supported cooperative work; and e-business, technology, and work.