Improving information systems students’ teamwork and project management capabilities: Experiences from an innovative classroom

Abstract

This paper describes an innovative teaching project that was developed and implemented to help MIS students improve their systems development “soft skills” in areas such as teamwork, group development, and project management. The project focused on improving students’ understanding of Systems Analysis and Design (SA&D) concepts by training and assigning students in an advanced SA&D course as formal team leaders and project managers for student groups in the introductory SA&D course. Students used CASE and Project Management tools to understand and apply course concepts. Faculty and students used e-mail facilities and interactive World Wide Web pages to facilitate both personal and broadcast communication among the multiple participants. This approach was used in two different semesters, with insights from the first implementation serving as the basis for improvements in the classroom activities the second time. Results suggest the pedagogical approach has significant conceptual value, but major logistical and operational problems must be overcome for successful implementation.