Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Using actor-network theory to understand the process of information systems curriculum innovation

  • Published:
Education and Information Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this article I will note that Information Systems is a socio-technical discipline that is subject to rapid change and argue that changes in Information Systems curriculum can best be thought of as innovations and considered through the lens of innovation theory. In a socio-technical area like this where the contributions of both human actors (including academics, students and employers) and non-human actors (such as computers, programming languages and university infrastructure) must be taken into account, this article proposes the use of actor-network theory as a means of understanding more of the innovation process. The adoption of the programming language Visual Basic by an Australian university in the 1990s is used as an example of how actor-network theory can identify and explain some of the important issues in curriculum change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. All human and institutional names in this article are pseudonyms to preserve a degree of anonymity.

References

  • Association for Computing Machinery and IEEE Computing Society. (2008). “Information Technology 2008 - Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Information Technology.” Retrieved November 2009, from http://www.acm.org//education/curricula/IT2008%20Curriculum.pdf.

  • Callon, M. (1986a). The sociology of an actor-network: The case of the electric vehicle. In M. Callon, J. Law, & A. Rip (Eds.), Mapping the dynamics of science and technology (pp. 19–34). London: Macmillan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callon, M. (1986b). Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay. Power, action & belief. A new sociology of knowledge? Law, J (pp. 196–229). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callon, M. (1987). Society in the making: The study of technology as a tool for sociological analysis. In W. E. Bijker, T. P. Hughes, & T. P. Pinch (Eds.), The social construction of technological systems (pp. 85–103). Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cecez-Kecmanovic, D., & Nagm, F. (2009). Have you Taken your Guys on the Journey?—An ANT account of IS project evaluation. International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 1(1), 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Checkland, P., & Scholes, J. (1991). Soft systems methodology in action. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Vries, G. (1995). Should we send Collins and Latour to Dayton, Ohio? EASST Review 14(4).

  • Emery, F. E. (Ed.). (1969). Systems thinking. Penguin: Middlesex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fred (1997). Interview on programming Curricula.

  • Fred (1998). Interview on programming Curricula.

  • Gorgone, J. T., Gray, P., Stohr, E. A., Valacich, J. S. and Wigand, R. T. (2006). MSIS 2006—Model Curriculum and Guidelines for Graduate Degree Programs in Information Systems. Communications of the Association for Information Systems 17(1).

  • Gregor, S., von Konsky, B. R., Hart, R. and Wilson, D. (2008). The ICT profession and the ICT body of knowledge (version 4.0). Retrieved October 2008, from https://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=show&conID=200806131436156192.

  • Grint, K., & Woolgar, S. (1997). The machine at work—Technology, work and organisation. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, T. P. (1988). The Seamless Webb: Technology, Science, et cetera, et cetera. Technology and Social Progress. Elliott, B. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.

  • James (1997). Interview on programming Curricula.

  • John (1997). Interview on programming Curriculum.

  • Johnson, W. (2009). Pick, Universe, Unidata Resources. 2010, from http://knol.google.com/k/pick-universe-unidata-resources#.

  • Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula. (2002). IS 2002 - Model curriculum and guidelines for undergraduate degree programs in information systems. Retrieved November 2006, from http://www.acm.org/education/is2002.pdf.

  • Juliff, P. (1992). Interview on business computing curriculum. Melbourne.

  • Kendall, K. E., & Kendall, J. E. (2008). Systems analysis and design. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambright, W. H. (1994). Administrative entrepreneurship and space technology: the ups and downs of “Mission to Planet Earth”. Public Administration Review 54(2).

  • Latour, B. (1987). Science in action: How to follow engineers and scientists through society. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (1997). On actor-network theory. A few clarifications. http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/stt/stt/ant/latour.htm, 2 May 1997, Centre for Social Theory and Technology, Keele University.

  • Law, J. (1987). Technology and heterogeneous engineering: The case of portuguese expansion. In W. E. Bijker, T. P. Hughes, & T. J. Pinch (Eds.), The social construction of technological systems: New directions in the sociology and history of technology (pp. 111–134). Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, J. (1991). Introduction: monsters, machines and sociotechnical relations. In J. Law (Ed.), A sociology of monsters: Essays on power, technology and domination. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, J. (1992). Notes on the theory of the actor-network: ordering, strategy and heterogeneity. Systems Practice, 5(4), 379–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Law, J. (1999). After ANT: complexity, naming and topology. In J. Law & J. Hassard (Eds.), Actor network theory and after (pp. 1–14). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, J., & Callon, M. (1988). Engineering and sociology in a military aircraft project: a network analysis of technological change. Social Problems, 35(3), 284–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linden, L., & Saunders, C. (2009). Linux Kernel developers embracing authors embracing licenses. International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 1(3), 15–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukaitis, S. (2010). A Brief History of the Pick Environment in Australia History of Computing: Learning from the Past. Tatnall, A. Heidelberg, IFIP / Springer: 149–160.

  • Library, M. (1981). The macquarie dictionary. Sydney: Macquarie Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pick Systems (1998a). An Incomplete History of Pick/BASIC. http://www.picksys.com/articles/pw/119407.html, 22 September 1998, Pick Systems.

  • Pick Systems (1998b). The Pick Systems Approach: Now more than ever. http://www.picksys.com/company/approach.html, 22 September 1998, Pick Systems.

  • Rowan, L., & Bigum, C. (2009). ANT reflections on a research project studying girls enrolment in information technology subjects in postcompulsory education. International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 1(4), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephen (1997). Interview on business computing curriculum.

  • Suchman, L. A. (1987). Plans and situated actions. The problem of human-machine communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatnall, A. (1993). A Curriculum history of business computing in victorian tertiary institutions from 1960–1985. MA thesis. Geelong, Deakin University.

  • Tatnall, A. (2000). Innovation and change in the information systems curriculum of an australian university: A socio-technical perspective. Rockhampton, Central Queensland University. Doctor of Philosophy.

  • Tatnall, A. (2007). Innovation translation in a university curriculum. Melbourne: Heidelberg Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatnall, A. (2009). Information systems, technology adoption and innovation translation. International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 1(1), 59–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatnall, A., & Davey, B. (2001). How Visual basic entered the curriculum at an Australian University: An account informed by innovation translation. Challenges to informing clients: A transdisciplinary approach (Informing Science 2001), Krakow, Poland, Informing Science.

  • Tatnall, A., Davey, B., Burgess, S., Davison, A., & Wenn, A. (2002). Management information systems—concepts, issues, tools and applications. Melbourne: Data Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tummons, J. (2009). Higher education in further education in england: an actor-network ethnography. International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 1(3), 55–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uden, L., & Francis, J. (2009). Actor-network theory for service innovation. International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 1(1), 23–44.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Business, Victoria University, City Flinders Campus, PO Box 14428, Melbourne, 8001, Australia

    Arthur D. Tatnall

Authors
  1. Arthur D. Tatnall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arthur D. Tatnall.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tatnall, A.D. Using actor-network theory to understand the process of information systems curriculum innovation. Educ Inf Technol 15, 239–254 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-010-9137-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-010-9137-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation