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The management of Information Systems (IS) projects occupies a prominent place in research given the need for continuously improve projects efficiency and efficacy. In the case of developing countries, this is even more important because projects success rates are typically lower than those of the socalled developed countries. Projects success is vital to development, because the countries not only need to use the scarce resources available in the best possible way, but also must gain trust from populations and investors to continue ensuring financing for future projects. Note that developing countries’ governments many times depend on foreign investment to undertake large projects, for instance in the construction or IS infrastructure sectors. However, there are few known studies about the success of IS projects in developing countries. To help fill this gap, we carried out a questionnaire-based survey in four countries. The focus of our survey was on IS projects from the public sector. This enabled to identify quite low levels of success, as well as an urgent need for training and education programmes on project management., IMF -International Monetary Fund(undefined)

Information Systems (IS) projects are creative processes implemented by teams. To succeed, such projects require teams to perform at their best. A way to tackle this challenge is to enhance the human resources potential through team leadership. High-performing teams have been studied for some years. However, little has been written about academic IS projects and on how to lead teams to high performance. Building upon Thamhain's (2004) recommendations to lead teams to high performance, our primary aim was to investigate the influence of these recommendations on IS project teams' performance in an academic environment. Twenty-eight teams of masters students involved in the development of academic IS projects were invited to participate in our study. Results regarding the correlation between Thamhain's (2004) recommendations and project teams' performance of IS students are given and analyzed. We also discuss the implications of these recommendations on enhancing academic IS project teams' performance., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

As equipas de elevado desempenho apresentam características únicas que as diferenciam das restantes, sendo um dos aspetos fundamentais a motivação dos seus elementos. Neste trabalho são apresentados os resultados parciais de um estudo de caso focado no elevado desempenho das equipas de projetos de sistemas de informação. Muito concretamente, identifica-se um conjunto de aspetos que contribuem para a motivação dos elementos de uma equipa, de acordo com a sua própria perspetiva. Este trabalho visa proporcionar uma melhor compreensão dos aspetos que influenciam a motivação dos elementos das equipas de elevado desempenho e, assim, contribuir para o estudo e prática da gestão de projetos de sistemas de informação., High performance teams present unique characteristics that make them distinct from the others, being one of the fundamental aspects the motivation of its elements. In this paper are presented the partial results of a case study focused on high performance teams of information systems projects. Specifically, it is identified a set of aspects that contribute to the motivation of the team’s elements, according to their own perspective. This work aims to provide a better understanding of the aspects that influence the motivation of the elements for high performance teams and thus contribute to the study and practice of information systems project management., This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Serie : Lecture notes in engineering and computer science, One of the several difficulties novice undergraduates experience in applying programming fundamentals is mastering the meaning of running programs. Because of these difficulties, students lack involvement for Computer Science (CS) introductory courses; and the latter are associated with high drop-out rates. Integrating a program visualization tool into an environment that tends to facilitate learning helps novice undergraduates to build a clear mental model for understanding the behavior of running programs. This may improve the involvement of students for those courses. Using two different editions of the same CS introductory module, this pilot study portrays the changes from an unassisted to a visualization tool assisted program-completion approach. The results in terms of success, failure, and drop-out are given and the impact of introducing this tool on student involvement in learning is analyzed. The author discusses implications of the assisted implementation for the classroom and pays attention to some of its drawbacks., (undefined)

Learning to program is hard. But it can be facilitated for novice undergraduates. The programming task requires them to master, for instance, the solutions for standard problems and the meaning of running programs. Completing programming worked-out examples directs these students’ attention to learning the essential of relations between problem-solving moves. Hence, the learning of programming solutions was supported by this program-completion approach in both the 2010 and 2011 editions of a computer science introductory module at the University of Minho. The learning of running worked-out examples can be further assisted by a program visualization tool. This pilot study reports the changes verified after introducing the Portugol tool for students to automatically visualize the execution of programming worked-out examples in the 2011 edition of that same module; and compares those changes to the 2010 edition. The positive significant effect on students’ achievements, which made them rise, is then showed and discussed., Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade – COMPETE (FEDER)

Active learning engages students in programming activities. Instructing novice undergraduates to solve standard programming problems primarily by making them generate the solutions is a form of active learning. As the latter provides little guidance from the instructor it puts a heavy load on these students’ working memory, preventing some of them from learning programming fundamentals. This appears to have happened in the 2009 edition of an introductory programming module at the University of Minho, given its high failure rates. But, the instructor can provide novice undergraduates with superior guidance by making them study and complete programming worked examples. Research in education and cognitive load theory suggests that studying and completing worked examples directs these students’ attention to learning the essential of relations between problem-solving moves by diminishing their working memory load. The empirical studies that were reviewed corroborate such premise. In this chapter we describe how worked examples have been successfully applied to the 2010 edition of that same introductory programming module, reducing its failure rates. The chapter portrays the changes in this module from a program-generation to a program-completion instructional format. The results in terms of success, failure, and dropout are given; and the impact on students’ academic achievements of an implementation that emphasized the completion of programming worked examples is analyzed.

Active learning engages students in Computer Science (CS) classroom activities. However, instructing novice undergraduates to solve programming problems primarily by making them generate the solutions puts a heavy load on these students’ working memory, preventing them from learning CS fundamentals. This appears to have happened in the 2009 edition of a CS introductory module at the University of Minho, given its high failure rates. Studying CS worked-out examples directs novice undergraduates’ attention to learning the essential of relations between problem-solving moves, diminishing their working memory load. This pilot study describes how worked-out examples have been successfully applied to the 2010 edition of that same CS introductory module, reducing its failure rates. The study portrays the changes in this module from a program-generation to a program-completion approach. The results in terms of success, failure, and dropout of a more program-completion approach are given and analyzed., FEDER através do Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade – COMPETE, FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia no âmbito do Projeto: FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022674

Computer Science (CS) introductory courses seem to abound in non-motivated students. They are characterized by high failure and withdrawal rates and use mainly deductive instruction. Deductive instruction begins with theories and progresses to applications of those theories. Active learning techniques are more inductive. Inductive instruction begins with the presentation of, for instance, a specific problem that introduces a topic, and theories are studied on a need-to-know basis. This pilot study portrays the changes in a CS introductory course from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered approach, using two different editions of the course. The results in terms of success, failure, and dropout are given and the impact of a more student-centered approach on student involvement in learning is analyzed. The author discusses implications of student-centered learning for the classroom and pays attention to some of the drawbacks of an implementation more focused on active learning.

This research explores the effect on students’ achievements of integrating inductive instruction (i.e., project and other forms of active learning) and the use of a forum tool in a web-based Software Engineering (SE) introductory course. Using two different editions of the same course, the study portrays the changes in it from the absence (in the 2008 edition) to the presence (in the 2009 edition) of directives to use an online forum for reusing students’ contributions “as resource for further learning”. About 80 undergraduate students participated in the study. Data sources included students’ practices, individual and team contributions to the forum, and perceptions of using the discussion tool to learn SE principles. Although students tended mostly to read rather than post entries to the forum, this exploratory study shows how the above referred integration had a positive influence on students’ achievements, making them rise. Implications for the classroom are discussed.

Este trabalho investigação e reflexão crítica surgiu do nosso interesse pelo estudo e divulgação da “Literatura de Cordel” enquanto reflexo das transformações culturais da sociedade, sobretudo no domínio da moda, observando-as à luz de critérios vulgarizados no “Século das Luzes”. Assim, propusemo-nos esboçar um breve e sintético panorama estético geral da evolução ideo-mental das sociedades ocidentais, para, a partir dele, gradativamente, tentarmos lançar luz sobre o palco das modas em Portugal, por cujas ruas e caminhos, se encontravam “volanteiros”, vendendo os tais folhetos de cordel, entre os quais figuravam as mais interessantes críticas e visões acerca da moda. Sendo evidente o valor de tais documentos, apresentamos em anexo uma modesta antologia para edição, esperando incentivar a novos investimentos de estudo, nesta área, que tão rica e tão pouco abordada.

Computer Science (CS) introductory courses seem to abound in non-motivated students. This may have led to the high failure and withdrawal rates reported on such courses, especially when deductive based teaching approaches are used. Deductive instruction begins with theories and progresses to applications of those theories. Active approaches to teaching are more inductive. Inductive instruction begins with the presentation of, for instance, a specific problem that introduces a topic, and theories are taught on a need-to-know basis. This pilot study describes how active teaching and learning techniques have been successfully applied on a CS introductory course, reducing its failure and withdrawal rates. However, instructors should be aware that if students are given an open-ended ill-structured term project they may not end up mastering CS fundamentals; and thus, they may end up having a hard time applying the latter to small and simple programming exercises.

O trabalho desenvolvido aborda o tema da avaliação do sucesso dos sistemas informáticos, em particular dos Sistemas de Apoio ao Trabalho de Grupo (SATGs). A avaliação do sucesso deste novo tipo de sistema informático é aqui encarada sob uma perspectiva global e abrangente, constituida pelas seguintes vertentes: qualidade do sistema, qualidade da informação, utilização, satisfação do utilizador, impacto individual e organizacional. Tendo por finalidade encontrar medidas para avaliar o sucesso dos SATGs, o trabalho realizado constou de uma selecção e análise de estudos versando esta temática. Como resultado, foram (1) encontradas medidas destinadas a avaliar o impacto desses sistemas nos grupos e (2) identificados métodos de investigação (e.g., estudos de campo, estudo de casos, experiências laboratoriais e de campo) similarmente empregues na avaliação dos restantes sistemas informáticos. Uma sistematização das medidas conseguidas deu origem a uma nova vertente para avaliar o sucesso dos SATGs - o impacto no grupo. Este facto propiciou a apresentação de uma extensão do modelo de sucesso proposto por DeLone e McLean (1992) aos SATGs., The study focus on the evaluation of computer supported systems designed to support work group - Computer Supported Workgroup Systems (CSWS). The evaluation of this new kind of systems is considered in a multiperspective and comprehensive way. The evaluation perspectives are: system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact and organisational impact. The model of success as presented by DeLone and McLean (1992) was then extended to CSWS, which extension, in its turn, resulted in a model of success for those systems. On trying to come up with measures to evaluate the success of CSWS, the present work involved a selection and analysis of studies on the evaluation of the success of those systems. Its findings were as follows: (1) measures to evaluate the impact (or effect) of CSWS on groups were obtained; (2)research methods (e.g., field studies, case studies, laboratory experiments and field experiments), such as those employed in the evaluation of the remaining computer supported systems were identified. A new perspective on the evaluation of the success of CSWS - group impact - was brought about by a systematisation of the measures which were arrived at., Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica - Fundo de Apoio à Comunidade Científica - 1998.

This study focus on the evaluation of computer supported systems designed to support work group - Computer Supported Workgroup Systems (CSWS). The evaluation of this new kind of systems is considered in a multiperspective and comprehensive way. The evaluation perspectives are: system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact and organisational impact. The model of success as presented by DeLone and McLean (1992) was then extended to CSWS, which extension, in its turn, resulted in a model of success for those systems. On trying to come up with measures to evaluate the success of CSWS, the present work involved a selection and analysis of studies on the evaluation of the success of those systems. Its findings were as follows: (1) measures to evaluate the impact (or effect) of CSWS on groups were obtained; (2) research methods (e.g., field studies, case studies, laboratory experiments and field experiments), such as those employed in the evaluation of the remaining computer supported systems were identified. A new perspective on the evaluation of the success of CSWS - group impact - was brought about by a systematisation of the measures which were arrived at.

Diariamente as organizações debatem-se com inúmeros desafios. Na tentativa de conseguirem fazer face a complexidade do ambiente em que se movimentam e superar os mais variados problemas que se lhes deparam elas têm recorrido, cada vez mais, às novas tecnologias de informação e ao trabalho de grupo. Contudo, as novas tecnologias necessitam ser testadas e validadas (i.e., avaliadas), no que diz respeito à sua qualidade, eficácia, eficiência e impacto provocado nos indivíduos, grupos e organizacões que as utilizam, para que delas se possa tirar o maior partido possível. Estes são alguns dos motivos que têm feito despertar um maior interesse pela avaliacão de sistemas informáticos. Existem já inúmeros estudos sobre este tema, mas poucos são os que procuram ver a avaliação sob uma perspectiva global e abrangente. A presente dissertacão tem por finalidade encontrar medidas para avaliar o sucesso de sistemas computacionais especificamente dedicados a apoiar o trabalho de grupo (SATGs). Urn estudo realizado por DeLone e McLean (1992) sobre o sucesso dos sistemas informáticos, serviu como ponto de partida. O referido estudo propõe um modelo para avaliar tais sistemas. A avaliação e encarada, neste trabalho, como um todo visto sob várias perspectivas (ou vertentes). Estas são: a qualidade do sistema, a qualidade da informacão, a utilizacão, a satisfacão do utilizador, o impacto individual e organizational. cada uma reunindo um conjunto de medidas destinadas a avaliar o sucesso dos sistemas informáticos. Para avaliar um SATG o modelo mencionado denota algumas insuficiências, já que não abrange estes sistemas. 0 trabalho realizado constou de uma selecção e análise de estudos sobre a avaliação do sucesso dos SATGs. Como resultado, foram (i) encontradas medidas destinadas a avaliar, o impacto (ou a influencia) desses sistemas nos grupos e (ii) identificados métodos de investigação (tais como, estudos de campo, estudo de casos, experiências laboratoriais e de campo) também empregues na avaliação dos restantes sistemas informáticos. Uma sistematização das medidas conseguidas deu origem a uma nova perspectiva para avaliar o sucesso dos SATGs - o impacto no grupo. Houve entao que estender o modelo de sucesso proposto por DeLone e McLean (1992) aos SATGs. Este facto conduziu a elaboração de um modelo de sucesso para os SATGs., Organizations regularly meet with various challenges. While having to face the complexities of their environment and to solve the various problems they have to deal with, firms have been incrementally making use of the new information technologies and of group work. However, the new technologies need to be tested and validated (i.e., evaluated) in what concerns to their quality, effectiveness, efficiency and impact on the individuals, groups and organizations that make use of them, and this in order to take the greatest possible advantage of them. These are some of the motives that have led to a greater interest in the evaluation of computer supported systems. Although there are already many studies on this subject, only a few of those consider the evaluation globally and in a comprehensive way. The present thesis has the following objective: to come up with measures to evaluate the success of those computing systems specifically designed to support work group. It was a study made by DeLone and McLean (1992) on the success of the computer supported systems that served as the starting point for the present work. The aforementioned study presents a model to evaluate such systems. In this work, one considers evaluation as a whole under the following perspectives: system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact and organizational impact. Each of these perspectives involves a number of measures designed to evaluate the success of computer supported systems. The model already mentioned presents some deficiencies in what concerns the evaluation of computer supported work group systems, since it does not comprehend them. The present work involves a selection and analysis of studies on the evaluation of the success of computer supported work group systems. Its findings are as follows: (1) measures to evaluate the impact (or effect) of those systems on groups were obtained; (2) research methods (e.g., field studies, case studies, laboratory experiments and field experiments), such as those employed in the evaluation of the remaining computer supported systems were identified. A new perspective on the evaluation of the success of computer supported work group systems - group impact - was brought about by a systematization of the measures which were arrived at. The model of success as presented by DeLone and McLean (1992) was then extended to computer supported work group systems, which extension, in its turn, resulted in a model of success for those systems., COLABORA, Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica - Tarefa C.

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de Informação, A motivação das equipas desempenha um papel fundamental no que diz respeito ao sucesso dos projetos nas organizações. Existem vários fatores que contribuem para uma maior, ou menor, motivação por parte dos diferentes elementos das equipas de projetos de tecnologias e sistemas de informação. Torna-se, assim, fundamental analisar o impacto que determinados fatores apresentam na motivação das equipas, de modo que o sucesso dos projetos possa ser potenciado. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo identificar os fatores que mais influenciam a motivação das equipas e, consequentemente, o sucesso dos projetos de tecnologias e sistemas de informação. Para tal, foram realizados uma revisão de literatura e um estudo de caso. Nesta dissertação, são apresentados os principais resultados obtidos, com destaque para o estudo de caso focado na motivação em projetos realizados em contexto académico. Dois diagramas de Venn desenvolvidos indicam novos fatores de motivação identificados neste estudo, tanto a nível individual como de equipa, e, também, fatores idênticos àqueles já encontrados na literatura. Esses mesmos resultados contribuem com novo conhecimento, dado terem permitido a descoberta e a categorização de novos fatores de motivação, promovendo um maior conhecimento acerca dos fatores que influenciam a motivação e proporcionam um maior desempenho no desenvolvimento dos projetos de tecnologias e sistemas de informação e reforçam, também, fatores de motivação previamente discutidos na literatura, dado que foram verificados num ambiente real de desenvolvimento de projetos., Team motivation plays a key role regarding to the success of projects in organizations. There are several factors that contribute to a higher, or lower, motivation on the part of the different elements of technology and information systems project teams. Thus, it is essential to analyze the impact that certain factors have on team motivation, so that the success of projects can be enhanced. This dissertation aims to identify the factors that most influence team motivation and, consequently, the success of technology and information systems projects. For this purpose, a literature review and a case study were conducted. In this dissertation, the main results obtained are presented, with emphasis on the case study focused on motivation in projects carried out in an academic context. Two Venn diagrams developed indicate new motivation factors identified in this study, both at the individual and team level, and also factors identical to those already found in the literature. These same results contribute with new knowledge, as they have allowed the discovery and categorization of new motivation factors, promoting greater knowledge about the factors that influence motivation and provide higher performance in the development of technology and information systems projects, and also reinforce motivation factors previously discussed in the literature, as they have been verified in a real project development environment.