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This positioning paper focuses on the selection of software for educational purposes and how the selection process may encourage usage. Computer Aided Software or Systems Engineering (CASE) tools provided an appropriate e software example for this study. The paper also seeks to examine if the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) such as CASE can aid the students' understanding of systems analysis and design techniques. Entity relationship modelling has been used as the primary technique. Focus groups comprising postgraduate and undergraduate students were used as the main data collection instrument supported by a pre and post assessment test. The findings provided a clear indication of which CASE tool the participants found easiest to use and which tool they were interested in using. It was further found that some tools have unique properties that may assist the user in their understanding. This paper also provides a valuable platform for defining future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The IS professional is a person endowed with certain professional skills and attributes usually formally obtained through an education process. The IS professional may also have formal skills in peripheral, non technical areas that may too be obtained through a formal education process. This is typical now in the education of IS students who are aspiring IS professional. In addition they come with a range of soft skills that may be attitudinal and influenced by life and work experiences. This paper suggests that these skills, attributes and work environment do not sit in isolation from each other, but interact in an as yet unmeasured way. How this happens with students studying towards an IS qualification is discussed here and a structural model is developed to explain the interactions. The value of this research is that a picture is presented that shows the interactions between these important elements in a quantitative way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of increased accountability in assessing student learning outcomes, greater emphasis has been focused on factors that influence student learning. In this paper we examine the impact of instructional methods and information technology on student learning styles, all critical factors affecting student learning. A research framework that suggests the relationship of instructional processes and information technology to learning styles is proposed. Using the framework, pre-and post-tests based on the Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Styles Scales were used to assess changes in student learning styles over the course of a semester in three college-level courses. Through specific instructional intervention coupled with collaborative projects and the use of course-management software, the results of the assessments showed a significant increase in students' Collaborative, Participant, and Independent learning styles over the course of the semester. Implications for practice and additional research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]