Teaching that keeps pace with technology

Journal of SMET Education : Innovations and Research, Jul-Dec 2002 by Fedorowicz, Jane, Gogan, Janis L

ABSTRACT

IT faculty members find it increasingly difficult to keep pace with rapidly changing software, hardware and networking technologies, let alone to introduce new course materials that adequately address the attendant IT management challenges. Yet, our students and their employers expect that our courses will address timely topics in the context of fundamental principles and skills. This paper discusses several examples of the rapid development of new courses and course modules covering emerging IT topics, which were designed for a variety of graduate degree programs at Bentley College's McCallum Graduate School of Business. Based on these experiences, suggestions are offered for blending relevant research into course materials on emerging IT issues. We conclude with lessons learned on how to: 1) leverage your research; 2) continuously scan for relevant emerging topics; 3) accept curricular imperfection; 4) collaborate with practitioners; 5) collaborate with and learn from students.

INTRODUCTION

Some time ago, a magazine cartoon depicted a poorly dressed, unshaven man moping on a park bench. Two clean-cut joggers pass by. "Poor fellow," says one. "He took a two-week vacation and fell so far behind, he lost his IT job." He could as easily have been an IT faculty member in a business school. Take a short vacation - never mind a sabbatical! - and we return to discover that new hardware, software and networking technologies appeared on campus in our absence.

Who, as the last century drew to a close, could have taught about Bluetooth, WAP, Jini, or XML, to cite but a few examples of significant new technologies? Furthermore, new applications of these technologies, and new business models enabled by them, are also introduced at bewildering rates. Pre-millennium, the term Application Services Provider did not appear on MIS syllabi; today, we would be remiss not to discuss this important IS option. And, pity the poor faculty member who tries to keep up with electronic commerce developments! Consider, for example, the many high-flying dot-com darlings that failed in the 2000 and 2001 downturn.

These and numerous other IT challenges illustrate the strong pressure a faculty member faces to rapidly and continuously infuse new content into the business curriculum. Somehow business school CS, CIS, MIS and AIS professors need to keep pace with these changing developments, while retaining a focus on the core principles that provide a foundation for our students' ability to continue to learn throughout their careers.

To address this challenge, Bentley College has experimented with a "fast-cycle" research and curriculum-development process in many of our programs (Fedorowicz and Gogan, 2001). In a research-driven fast cycle, faculty members leverage their curricular efforts by judiciously selecting research topics and field studies that provide insight and material for classroom use. Fast-cycle development relies heavily on the input and feedback of curriculum stakeholders, such as students, alumni, current and potential employers, and benefactors. This article discusses several recent examples in which new courses or course modules were rapidly developed following a fast-- cycle approach for various Accounting Information Systems (AIS) and Computer Information Systems (CIS) classes. Each example illustrates the link between the faculty member's need to acquire knowledge or skills in an emerging area and the production of high-quality research and/ or teaching materials. This is especially important for emerging technologies, for which traditional textbooks or student materials do not yet exist. Following a description of each example, we discuss the lessons learned, provide some guidelines for succeeding with a fast-cycle approach, and close with implications for teaching and research.

BACKGROUND: BENTLEY COLLEGE

Bentley College is a private school located outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Approximately 4300 undergraduates, 1400 graduate students, and 2300 professional and executive education students are taught by a full-time faculty of 360. Bentley has traditionally had a strong regional reputation for its undergraduate accounting and finance programs, and was one of the first colleges to require that all undergraduate students obtain a laptop computer. Shortly after the 1997 appointment of a new and very supportive president, the faculty and administration launched an ambitious set of initiatives to re-position the College as a "Business School for the Information Age." From 1998-2001 these initiatives have included a revamped undergraduate core curriculum, several new undergraduate majors, a new undergraduate IT minor, new full-time Information-Age MBA program, and five new Master of Science programs: Accounting Information Systems, Information-Age Marketing, Global Financial Analysis, Human Factors in Information Design, and Information Technology. Each new program has required a significant effort to redesign existing courses and introduce new courses that address the intersection of emerging information technologies, business processes, and best management practices. This paper describes five such efforts in our McCallum School graduate curricula.