INSAD update

At last there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. The body of work completed for this module is currently being refined and collated. The ETHICS templates are almost complete so now I just need to include some reflection. The study diary needs updating and some extra content
adding but overall I am pleased with the amount of work I have put in. At times some of the tasks have not seemed relevant, but as a final piece of work it does all link together.

The fact remains that the delivery of the subject material could have been better. For example the use of Power Point Presentations in the lectures to support the content delivered by the lecturer would have been useful. It would have allowed students to use the keywords on the screen to ask
questions and form Mind Maps from the lecture to assist in the writing of the study diary. I'm not suggesting that the lecturer provide all the answers just some pointers to enable discussion.

A group of us second year students have also been working on a mini project which has offered some further insight into Systems Thinking.  Peter Bednar invited 6 of us to attend a lecture by Prof Frank Stowell; the theme of the lecture was CLIC's (client led information system creation). The
Professors approach to teaching and helping the third year group whose lecture we piggy backed was as I have described above. In addition a collection of notes and a printed copy of the Power Points were distributed. To this a case study was also added and is being used to develop understanding in Systems Thinking. The Seminar which followed was used to break into small groups and work as a project team to discover the problem within the case study and create definitions which we used to create a presentation for the rest of the class. Working in this way has given me a greater understanding of the requirements within the role of an analyst and facilitator.

I believe if this approach had been adopted within Intermediate Systems Analysis and Design more students would have gained a better understanding of what was required for the Newsagent case study and how to perform the tasks within the ETHICS templates.

Apathy of students performing group work

Ok like it or not I am getting back on my soap box!!

Isn't it about time more students tasked with performing a given project within a group setting became more proactive?  Why does it take so long to get involved?

The theme of the work has been issued.  The forum and tools have been suggested, the only thing left to do is actually add a post of you own and contribute.  It's not a choice you can make.  It is your responsibility to contribute.  The rest of us who have made an effort to get involved and use the our Personal Learning Network to share information, such as bookmarks to interesting topics using Delicious, are waiting to see the thoughts of others.

The marking criteria for the Rsmet module requires that you publish a blog and comment on others.  What can I comment on if you’re not contributing?  How can we begin a discussion if you won't comment on my work?

I just hope that you won't expect me to rush and comment on your work when you have left it to the last-minute?

I realize group work is not for everybody and to be honest I dislike it when I have to rely on others for course marks and grades.  I would prefer to have my own efforts marked regardless of how the group performed.  Obviously in a real work setting this would be different, but I don't feel that all the laws of business can be applied to students in a learning environment.  My fellow students are not contractually obliged to perform in any particular manner in regard to commitment to group work yet my grades will suffer without their contribution.

RSMET Activities Week 6

Paper: Soc1 “How is the training of IT managed in schools?”

How much consideration did the author give to choosing a Research design at all? 

The author of this project refers to using DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Methodology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Systems_Development_Method#The_DSDM_approach as an approach to the project (Project approach pg 5) which has little if anything to do with conducting research as this is a methodology used to develop software systems. However reading through the project and identifying the methods used to gather the primary data, it is possible to recognize that a qualitative approach has been adopted.

Do you have any evidence that the author considered any choice of design?
 
There does not appear to be a direct discussion or statement within the article to suggest which design was adopted. Although reading chapter 3 of the article in the section marked Methodology the author reveals that due to the time constraints of the staff being observed within the research the use of questionnaires would be the most appropriate method of collecting data. Also conducting a short interview with the IT coordinator would provide more in-depth answers to any questions posed within the questionnaire.

Did the author use a flexible research design and, if not, do you think that there were possibilities for qualitative research that were missed?

In my opinion the researcher adopted a flexible approach to the research provided in the article, even though no statement to this affect appears within the document. The evidence of the style of research (Questionnaires, interviews and observation) suggests that this was the method that was chosen. It is possible that given enough time the researcher could have given greater understanding to the findings in the report by utilizing quantitative methods to support the conclusions which were drawn. For example out X number of teachers who took the questionnaire six responded that they found the equipment provided in the school to be excellent. This would have given the opportunity for further discussion within the report, by allowing the writer to comment on the lack of formal training effecting the results, as knowledge of the systems was limited therefore the experience the teachers had with the systems was limited and this was reflected in the opinions given within the questionnaire.