Search

One teacher preparation program worked toward improving teacher preparation by strengthening the network of support among teacher candidates, mentor teachers, and teacher educators. Drawing on third-generation cultural historical activity theory, we modeled activity systems framing the experiences of teacher candidates and contradictions within and between activity systems. Using cycles of learning over one year, we learned 1) how direct and indirect activity systems interact and 2) how meaningful and influential contradictions erupt between two systems. Contradictions included the theory-practice divide alongside the implementation of equity supports, the teacher candidates' navigation of their role, and shifting rules during the transition to distance learning across contexts during COVID-19. This study has implications for enacting dynamic, program-wide change in teacher education programs.

Contribution: The study characterizes aspects of cognitive and metacognitive dimensions of team cognition of software development teams in educational settings. Background: The software development industry requires software engineers and developers to work in teams; for this, there is substantial research on teamwork in the context of the organization. However, little is known about it in the context of educational settings, where there is scant research on teamwork in engineering and computing projects. Research Questions: How do students enact teamwork cognitive engagement and metacognitive regulation in the context of a systems analysis and design course? Methodology: The participants were 127 undergraduate students in a systems development course organized into 26 teams. Qualitative categories were derived from a content analysis based on recorded teamwork sessions, which were then quantized and visualized for pattern identification. Findings: Results provide each team's overall cognitive engagement coefficient and metacognitive regulation coefficient. The findings also describe three clusters, each with a description of a selected team to provide further insights into the identified patterns.

Suitable execution of moderation policy is challenging but crucial for the trustworthiness and credibility of internal high-stakes assessment systems. In formal education, policies are rarely implemented as intended. Instead, they are "enacted" in ways influenced by mediating factors including the internal and external contexts of organisations. Ball, Maguire and Braun's (2012) contextual-dimensions heuristic provides a conceptualisation of organisation-specific contexts, which is useful when the organisation is the unit of analysis. However, comprehensive analysis of policy enactment--including that relating to moderation--warrants consideration of contexts narrower in scope than whole organisations and wider in scope than individual organisations. In this article, we modify Ball and colleagues' heuristic, incorporating Biggs' (1993) application of systems theory, to develop a new contextual framework for moderation that is applicable on multiple scales and enables such analysis. This framework is applied to a selection of contemporary moderation studies with scopes that vary from one course, to jurisdiction-wide, to illustrate its utility. Our framework captures the hierarchy of embedded, interacting systems within which moderation is enacted and makes contextual relationships visible, allowing consideration of perspectives between units of analysis. Our framework provides a nuanced conceptualisation of context that distinguishes between "material" and "human" factors, and "intrinsic" and "extrinsic" contexts. We present potential uses of the framework for education organisations, central agencies and researchers including as a tool for identifying contextual factors involved in executing moderation initiatives and identifying possible pressures, tensions and enablers.

The article investigates sustainable development from the holistic perspective, taking into account the complex nature of the world and the dynamism of the socio-economic systems. The study is interdisciplinary, as it addresses the issues of economics, mathematics and physics with the main focus on the modern perspective of sustainable development offered in the field of education. The article focuses on key questions concerning the expansion of the educational processes and deepening of ideas and knowledge about the dynamism and diversity of the planetary system. The holistic approach implies the interaction of various nonlinear features that have been used in the paper to build a mental model and a causal relationship schema. The understanding of the interaction of energy flows in socio-economic systems has been used by the authors to explain the underlying connection of various processes. The authors of the article propose a systemic dynamic model of sustainability, which can open up an understanding of some of the reasons for changes in the potential of the industrial sector. Modeling results have been obtained and interpreted using historical USA statistical data from 1949 to 2019. In the article, the authors reveal the relationship between nature, society and human from the point of view of promising and methodological approaches of the "new" and "old" world. The diversity of experiences makes it possible to question the dominant approaches of traditional teaching in education. This creates the need to look for new foundations that can promote the development of more sustainable learning for the future.

This case study describes an alternative process-focused approach to a group project assignment in an undergraduate Systems Analysis and Design (SAD) course. This approach more closely reflects the incremental and iterative nature of Information Systems Development Projects (ISDP) through expanded scope, modified instructions, and reallocation of class time. This approach enables students to select their own real-world ISDP and apply a wider breadth of course concepts in that context, while gaining experience in critical thinking and decision making within a group setting.

The case provides a realistic scenario that can be used in a systems analysis and design, database development or graduate level management information systems course. The case focuses upon the development of an event management system for a small conference with participants and exhibitors. Multiple assignment options are provided allowing instructors to select an assignment based upon course material coverage. Suggested assignments include the development of process modeling diagrams such as data flow and swim lane diagrams, a request for proposal and a response to the request for proposal, and database design and development artifacts.

Infusing five processes into assignments can help students hone the skills they'll need to address complex problems. The world students will enter is full of complex, unpredictable problems--and students will need sophisticated thinking skills to cope. The authors unpack five thinking processes students need to internalize through opportunities in school to practice and apply them: Inquiry, Design, Evaluation, Argumentation, and Systems Thinking. Silver, McTighe, and Boutz present sample assignments embodying each thinking skill, and show ways to infuse these skills into any discipline or grade level.

Background: We evaluated the effect of three teaching strategies to facilitate teamwork in a systems analysis and design course during the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) offering a HyFlex version of the course, (2) facilitating scheduled online teamwork sessions for all students, and (3) providing conflict resolution training to help teams overcome collaboration challenges. Purpose/Hypothesis: To identify the impact of these instructional strategies and answer four research questions, we measured (1) performance, dynamics, and cooperation strategies of teams and (2) students' perceptions of their own and team members' performance along with changes in their perceptions of their conflict management skills. Design/Method: We used a simultaneous triangulation mixed-methods design to obtain distinct but complementary qualitative and quantitative data. We compared data from two offerings of the course: Fall 2019 and Fall 2020 semesters. In the Fall 2019 semester, an in-person active learning strategy was used, while in the Fall 2020 semester, the course followed a HyFlex delivery mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Findings suggest that the use of cooperative learning pedagogy along with HyFlex accommodations for safety and social distancing requirements for the Fall 2020 semester provided students with a comparable learning experience to a traditional in-person mode. Conclusions: Learning strategies, pedagogical supports, and teamwork training can enhance social interactions, and consequently, students' social presence in online learning. Conflict resolution training could be a valuable tool for improving teamwork skills and communication among team members.

Contribution: This study identifies the attributes of complexity that can be incorporated into engineering design problems at first-year undergraduate engineering projects. The findings are compiled as a set of guidelines to aid engineering educators in crafting design problems. Background: Engineering professionals solve complex problems like design problems, troubleshooting problems, system-analysis problems, and decision-making problems. To develop proficiency in solving such problems, accreditation bodies for engineering education mandate the development of knowledge and skills for solving complex problems. The literature presents several attributes of complexity, but it does not clearly state which of these attributes are relevant for first-year engineering problem-solving and incorporate them into the engineering curriculum. Research Question: This study qualitatively investigates the research question, "How to craft engineering design problems with known attributes of complexity for first-year undergraduate engineering education?" Methodology: The study is situated in a project-based learning course offered at first-year engineering at a university in India. It identifies the attributes of complexity in interdisciplinary (mechatronic) design projects (prototypes) through thematic analysis of faculty interviews. Further, this was validated by analyzing the prototypes. Findings: Several themes of complexity emerged; this article presents only two themes: (1) knowledge; and (2) skills related to solving the engineering design problem and the types of relationships between the prototype's functions.

Connecting people with resources is a common activity. However, special situations have unique data needs. Without the appropriate leadership and tools to manage the data, the connections may never take place. This case examines the data needs associated with providing resources and social connections for families having a member with a special need. The case provides a realistic scenario that can be used in a systems analysis and design, database development, or graduate-level management information systems course. The case focuses on developing a database to provide a support system for connecting caregivers of loved ones having special needs with people in similar circumstances, volunteers, and social and employment opportunities. Two assignment options are provided, allowing instructors to select an assignment based on course material coverage. Suggested assignments include the development of process modeling diagrams such as a data flow or swimlane diagrams and database design and development artifacts.

This paper presents a financial statements analysis (FSA) project that integrates Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters in an introductory MBA accounting course. The project introduces students to leading financial databases that are used in practice and helps them to understand how such databases can be effectively leveraged to analyze both the financial and strategic situations of companies and industries. The paper provides a step-by-step guide for faculty to implement the project leading to an effective learning experience. The project also supports a learning framework that addresses the spirit and intent of the AACSB business standards related to information technology skills and knowledge.

This teaching case describes the functionality of a system employing IoT sensors to monitor part levels for a fictitious auto parts manufacturer. Data from the sensors are used to populate a centralized database and generate a dashboard for management. The system also generates tiered alerts to notify part runners and managers of pending part shortages. The case is based on an actual systems development project that students completed for a real auto parts manufacturer. Material in the case can be used for assignments in systems analysis and design, database management, and data analytics courses. Teaching notes, including an entity-relationship diagram (ERD), data dictionary, data flow diagrams, prototype dashboard, and discussion questions are available through the JISE website.

Education systems are made up of individuals, groups, identities, cultures, institutions, discourses, networks, histories, relationships, and so on. In other words, educational systems are complex. Enter into this complexity the issue of inclusion from/for a heterogenous society and how these complex systems can be designed and -- specifically for our purposes -- analysed. In this article, we propose a new conceptual framework for assisting in the understanding of inclusion in complex educational systems: Complex Educational Systems Analysis (CESA), and its visual representation via the CESA Cube (CESA3). At the very heart of CESA is the question of educational purpose. Why school? What is education for? These questions have direct implications in how we understand educational systems and, indeed, how we understand inclusion within these systems.

Bart Longenecker was one of the most influential Information Systems (IS) educators ever. Renowned for his decades of work on IS model curricula, Bart died in 2016 after a 44-year career. This paper traces the life's work of this EDSIG Fellow and Professor Emeritus to capture his IS education legacy.

Systems Analysis and Design (SA&D) is the cornerstone course of a traditional information system curriculum. Conventionally, it is a sequence of two courses with the second course dedicated to the completion of a project. However, it has recently become more common to reduce the two-course sequence into one, especially for IS departments that are only concentrations of a business school and not independent departments. Not only has the original sequence been reduced to one course, but the course is also offered to non-technical business students. It is challenging to design a successful SA&D course that is subject to these constraints. In this article, the author showcases a modified SA&D hybrid course enriched by a real-life entrepreneurial-inspired project with a double review development process model. A survey conducted at the conclusion of the course shows that the new approach works well and holds great promise for improving future SA&D courses.

Even though transformations have been made in Turkey, schools have turned into places where partners are unhappy. Recently, education has moved into a new dimension called the system of objects in consumer society. The consumer society has become devoted to the system of objects, as people are not consuming for need but for want. Model schools and education are couched not within humanitarian paradigms but as promoters of this system of objects, thereby acting to deceive humanity. In this research, simulation theory is used to develop an ontological view of school and educational systems as the simulacra for a radical humanist paradigm. In conclusion, Education systems today tend to anonymize the individual within the nation, enabling the capitalist system to become the reality, thus allowing those in power to shepherd the herd easily.

The purpose of this paper is two fold: to look at Mornington U3A in organisational terms and then look at U3AM as a loosely coupled system. One outcome of the study would be to undertake further analyses of U3As in Victoria to determine the levels of bureaucracy under which each operates. Questions to be asked: are U3As in Victoria operating as bureaucracies and so need to be loosened up? Or are they run as organisational anarchies and need to be tightened up?

This article presents a case scenario that may be used in system analysis and design, database management, and business analytics classes. The case document includes realistic, detailed information on the operations at the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). Examples of assignments for each class and suggested reading are presented. In each assignment, students should learn relevant concepts and skills before applying them to create the deliverables. The core application in the case is a membership accounting system (a variation of an accounts receivable system) with several custom features that require innovative reflection by the student analysts. Instructor's materials are available.

Systems analysis and design is a crucial task in system development and is included in a typical information systems programme as a core course. This paper presented a preliminary study on gender differences in studying a systems analysis and design course of an undergraduate programme. Results indicated that male students outperformed female students in general in this course. However, regarding the different study focuses of the course, female students performed better in information systems development methodologies and systems analysis, whereas male students worked better in systems design. Discussions have been raised to explain the findings and it was suggested longitudinal studies could be conducted for a more generalized conclusion.

Deloitte Consulting LLP conducted a review of publicly available data sources with the goal of identifying the pre- and post-award systems used in higher education. The number and type of pre- and post-award systems identified not only show that higher education institutions (HEIs) use a variety of methods to facilitate research activities, but also suggest that HEIs and ERP vendors may think differently about the role of research administration technologies. We provide some hypotheses for why this may be the case. These hypotheses focus on: institutional priorities, market maturity, and the "vision thing." We also provide high-level considerations to help HEIs think through their research administration technology decisions.

For decades, advising practitioners and scholars have worked toward developing an identity for advising as a unique field of scholarly inquiry and practice. To date, the identity crisis in advising remains. This study presents an examination and description of the function, purpose, and identity of a university advising system through comparisons of ideals espoused by advisors and administrators with practice. Based on systems theory as a framework, this study shows that the identity of academic advising can be misunderstood because of systemic issues. Addressing systemic flaws may help clarify the identity of academic advising within a specific system and possibly the field as a whole.

Researchers have found that computer modeling fosters the learning of causal mechanisms in systems, an important crosscutting concept in science that many novice learners find challenging. Despite the research that highlights the role of teacher's instructional practices in enacting computer tools, few studies have considered teachers' use of computer modeling and its implications for student learning in classroom interactions, compared to interactions without computer tools. In this study, we examine (a) the impact of computer modeling on students' understanding of causal links in decomposition and (b) classroom interactions with use of computer modeling. We employed a quasi-experimental design with eight middle school science classes that served predominately Latinx students. The random treatment was at the class level (computer modeling; n = 60, four classes) and control (paper modeling; n = 59, four classes). Analyses incorporated student preassessment and postassessment, classroom observations, and audio-recorded modeling instruction. Results indicate that compared to paper modeling, computer modeling enriched systems thinking, particularly students' ability to provide causally coherent statements in explaining scientific ideas and evidence. Enactment of computer modeling may be associated with a shift in classroom interactions to include more invitation for students' elaboration of causal systems. We discuss aspects of computer modeling that may foster systems thinking, with implications for the future design of tools and curricula.

This teaching case presents a cross-team systems analysis and design case requiring integration of multiple, interdependent systems. Case deliverables are a mix of both traditional and agile methodologies. Students are introduced to methodology tools and techniques including data flow diagrams, use case diagrams, user stories, and entity-relationship diagrams as they complete the planning, analysis, and design steps for a new information system. Most Systems Analysis and Design textbooks include a standalone, independent system case to enhance learning for students. In the presented case, once the main steps are completed, student teams are then combined to integrate multiple interdependent systems for a company. This case emphasizes that most companies are moving toward a centralized data repository in systems development and that most systems within the company use the same data to accomplish different tasks. Teaching notes with student assignments and solutions are available through the JISE website.

Recent events have emphasized the need for behavior-analytic service delivery models that can remain clinically consistent and produce high-quality outcomes while adapting to environmental change. This paper reports outcomes of an organization that adapted to changes in its service delivery model during a worldwide pandemic. The organization utilized components from the "Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling" (CABAS®) model. The components were interconnected within the system and linked by specific interlocking contingencies. Performance data were used to make decisions within the organization on both individual and organizational levels during the transition to telehealth for clients and staff. Results are discussed in terms of how the interconnectedness of components within the organization contributed to the reliable, positive outcomes of the system during the transition to telehealth.

To more effectively meet the expectations of industry for entry-level IT employees, a case is made for the inclusion of writing throughout the Computer Information Systems (CIS) curriculum. "Writing Across the Curriculum" ("WAC") principles are explained, and it is opined that both Writing to Learn (WTL) and Writing in the Disciplines (WID) pedagogies are desirable for inclusion as part of the delivery of the CIS curriculum. Examples of both WTL and WID are provided from the author's Systems Analysis & Design (SAD) course. It is concluded that the use of WTL and WID techniques in the flipped SAD course has both (1) increase student engagement both in and out of the classroom, and (2) improved student writing and learning.

Despite the effectiveness of using e-learning, educational institutions are still facing many challenges with the e-learning infrastructure and technical aspects, practices and capabilities, and improvement in learning outcome. Hence, a need for framework to benchmark the e-learning capability maturity level and measure the extent to what it is improving the learning processes and ensure improvements in student learning outcomes is raised. The current research is aim at assessing and identifying the e-learning maturity level of the universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain by adopting the e-learning Maturity Model (e-MM). The current state of e-learning in the Kingdom of Bahrain in terms of the drivers for the using e-learning, the technical challenges faced by the learners and level of satisfaction with the current e-learning systems will be investigated in attempt to consolidate the findings. A self-administrated questionnaire was adopted in which 400 surveys were distributed to the public university (University of Bahrain) and all private universities in Kingdom of Bahrain. The overall eMM figures demonstrate that universities in Kingdom of Bahrain both public and private reached an average level of achievement and performance in e-learning processes and developed reasonable capability maturity level on each dimension of the learning processes.

Often, users of information systems (both automated and manual) must analyze those systems in a "black box" fashion, without being able to see the internals of how the system is supposed to work. In this case of business process outsourcing, an insurance industry customer encounters an ongoing stream of customer service issues, with both the original provider and outsourcing organization. To understand and validate what is happening with his account, the insurance customer (Edward) and his representative (Penny) must deduce the operations, business rules, and data flows of the organizations. Most importantly, have the operations of these organizations released anyone's data inappropriately? And are these same customer service issues happening to other customers, who may not be in a position to spend the time and energy needed to catch and resolve them?

Korea has used three different teacher evaluation systems since the 1960s: teacher performance rating, teacher performance-based pay and teacher evaluation for professional development. A number of studies have focused on an analysis of each evaluation system in terms of its advent, development, advantages and disadvantages, but these studies have been critically limited in that they have focused only on the partial integration of the three current teacher evaluation systems, without addressing the problems embedded in each of them. The present study provides a systematic analysis of the three current Korean teacher evaluation systems based on a sound analytical framework and proposes appropriate directions for designing an effective and efficient system. It is found that the three systems share commonalities in terms of stakeholders, evaluators, scope, criteria and methods, further supporting the rationale for developing a single comprehensive teacher evaluation system in Korea. Finally, several steps to establish a comprehensive teacher evaluation system based on the analysis results are suggested.

Gamification is becoming more and more popular in education. The consequences of the use of games for learning are not sufficiently investigated yet, although it is known that using games for learning does not always have a beneficial effect on students. Besides, practical rather than theoretical problems related to use of gamification in education have been more the focus of research by now. It is therefore desirable to consider at the theoretical level the role of game technologies in education taking into account the systemic nature of man's spiritual life and values and ideologies as its constituent parts. The research aim is to determine the degree of applicability of gamification in education determined by a specific system of values and ideologies every participant of educational process has. To achieve this goal, secondary analysis of scientific literature on this problem was applied, main approaches to gamification were singled out and evaluated. Secondly, using systematic approach it is shown that the nature of the impact of gamification depends on the level and character of the development of a person's values and ideologies. The research employs basic scientific and special scientific methods typical of social and humanitarian studies. At the same time, the important role among them is played by the system analysis method that allows us to consider the use of games for learning in educational not in isolation but taking into account the role of basic factors of a person's spiritual life, especially his world outlook. This allows for a many-sided analysis of causes of difficulties which appear when using games for learning. The novelty of this research lies in showing the dependence of the character and results of gamification on man's values and ideologies.

Many educational institutions are shifting their teaching and learning towards equipping students with knowledge, skills, and dispositions that prepare them for lifelong learning, in a complex and uncertain world. These have been termed "21st century competencies." Learning analytics (LA) approaches in general offer different kinds of computational support for tracking learner behaviour, managing educational data, visualizing patterns, and providing rapid feedback to both educators and learners. This special section brings together a diverse range of learning analytics tools and techniques that can be deployed in the service of building 21st century competencies. We introduce the research and development challenges, and introduce the research and practitioner papers accepted to this section, before concluding with some brief reflections on the collection and relevance of a complex systems perspective for framing this topic.

The urgency of the issue discussed in this article is caused by the need for development and assessment of new models and mechanisms of management of higher education institutions, which are connected with the development of the system of management of innovation projects and contribute to the development of educational institutions. The aim of the article is to give a theoretical justification and assessment of the system of innovation project management at a higher education institution as well as to assess its efficiency. The leading research methods are pedagogical modeling and project planning, theoretical analysis and compilation of the educational practice in innovation project management, and mathematical methods of statistics which help to make a comprehensive analysis of efficiency of the system of innovation project management. The article reveals the role of the system of innovation project management at a higher education institution as a complex of methodological approaches, principles, and mechanisms which provide for successful implementation of innovations in scientific, international, economic and other activities of an educational institution. The article also describes the peculiarities of innovation project management connected with the specific character of management entities, subjects to management, management processes. Efficiency of the model of development of the system of innovation project management is justified.

This study investigates the current process of internationalization of higher education in the countries of the Asia Pacific region (APR) through the example of China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Russia. The article aims to familiarize the reader with the experience of internationalizing higher education in APR states against a backdrop of global trends. The authors examine the major strategies for the internationalization of education, such as taking a coordinated approach, attracting qualified manpower, focusing on deriving profit, and expanding the potential. The paper analyzes the traditions, strengths and weaknesses, and general traits and characteristics of the above states' national systems of education, as well as the major forms of international partnership and key dimensions of education internationalization in APR states. The authors show that over the last few years APR states have been increasingly active in entering into agreements in the area of education internationalization, which has facilitated the division of spheres of influence and zones of responsibility within the educational area, as well as the steering of educational approaches along a common course. The paper employs traditional methods of research, such as classification, comparative analysis, generalization, juxtaposition, and forecasting. The study suggests three possible scenarios for the future development of the process of higher education internationalization: sustainably diverse internationalization, convergence in the direction of the liberal model, and the triumph of developing economies. The paper also describes current trends in this area in APR states. The authors come to the conclusion that we are in for considerable changes in the international market of educational services, such as the reconsideration of spheres of influence and redistribution of key players in the market, dynamicity and heterochrony in development being among the key traits inherent to today's market of educational services.

The purpose of this article is to describe and compare individual state funding systems for public elementary and secondary education in the United States. States' major education funding systems are described as well as funding mechanisms for students with disabilities; English language learners (ELL); gifted and talented students; and low income or "at-risk" students, the latter more broadly defined as those who are at risk of dropping out of school. Third is a description of state funding for vocational, career, and technical education programs, an area that is of particular importance to students who do not plan to pursue postsecondary education. Fourth are funding programs that are generally, but not always, outside the state's major funding system that are district-based. These include state funding related to sparsity and density factors; transportation costs; and infrastructure-related expenses for capital outlay and associated debt. The research reported in this article was based upon a 50-state survey of chief education officers with regard to their respective state's funding system for public elementary and secondary education for the 2014-2015 academic year. As a result, this article presents a comprehensive view of formulas and other mechanisms states employ to fund PK-12 education at present.

The purpose of the study is to determine the business need for vocational training. This article gives a detailed analysis of the problem aimed at finding optimal occupational skill structure of training, which involves all kinds of positive effects in various areas of public life--from the economy up to the spiritual sphere of human life. Moreover, the authors described relevant stages and their interconnections in the implementation process and provided a detailed description of relevant source data. The practical value is that the investigation suggests approaches to provide balance in the regional labor market, and considers the need for concerted action of regional authorities, educational and manufacturing companies in the region.

The purpose of this study is to examine specific features of the traditional Kazakh dances as the methodological foundation of training specialists in the culture and art universities. The article describes the main typologies of Kazakh dances, such as ritual and ceremonial, combative-hunting, work dances, household-imitative dances, festive and ceremonial dances, mass-thematic dances. National dance performs cultural, historical, aesthetic and semantic functions. Relevance of this problem is determined by the fact that in the present globalized world, national culture and traditions are oppressed by the multicultural environment; consequently, there is a need to train high-quality specialists in the field of cultural studies, who will be able to teach national culture. The authors used structural-functional, institutional and phenomenological approaches as well as methods of typological, historical, logical analysis. Research results show theoretical ways to address this problem. These include improvement of teaching and learning technologies, introduction of uniform terminological apparatus of the Kazakh dance, as well as various proven and advanced training technologies, in-depth study of the national dance, traditional culture, and heritage of the Kazakh dance art. This work can be used as a theoretical basis to develop the methodology of training future specialists in the field of cultural studies.

This paper utilizes the theoretical framework of complexity theory to compare and contrast leadership and educational change in two urban schools. Drawing on the notion of a complex adaptive system--an interdependent network of interacting elements that learns and evolves in adapting to an ever-shifting context--our case studies seek to reveal the complexities, tensions, characteristics, and related implications for school leadership derived from using this heuristic to understand adaptive change. In particular, we highlight the need to disrupt the status quo as a precursor to adaptive change, the power generated by distributing authority through decentralized networks, the importance of relational trust, and the impact of school culture.

In this study, classrooms were regarded as systems in which the teacher and students interact in context and behaviors of the teacher and students affect each other mutually in a cyclical or spiral manner. We attempted to capture nuances of interactional pattern that are not readily visible through the product-oriented approaches. To analyse classroom interaction dynamically and in real time, the State Space Grid technique was applied. Two pairs of teachers were especially focused on. One pair involved most versus least experienced teachers and the other was teachers whose students have highest versus lowest mean scores in motivation. The content and structure of teachers' interpersonal behaviours in the class were analysed in terms of Communion and Agency based on the Model on Interpersonal Teacher Behaviour. It was found that, for students' motivation, the effects of Communion were somewhat stronger, although Agency had its own role as the identified attractors imply. Additionally, classes of less and more experienced teachers differed primarily with respect to their structure and predictability (i.e. behaviours of the less experienced teacher had higher dispersion and entropy and behaviours of more experienced teacher were more predictable and consistent even to the extent that they sometimes seemed monotonous, especially when they were compared with the behaviours of the teacher of the most motivated class. This study has implications for enhancing the communicative ground of the class and teachers' and students' wellbeing and motivation.

The authors provide a detailed analysis of a continuous improvement process for an information systems master's program at an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-accredited university. The authors sought to inform the literature on the improvement process used to satisfy quality standards and improve learning outcomes in a degree program. Empirical evidence from five years of assessment data a presented. Success is demonstrated by recent top-tier rankings and through improvements in outcome measures. The results inform the audience on how to design and blueprint curriculum changes for improvement. A literature review supporting the implemented process is also presented.

The goal is to provide a robust and challenging problem statement for a capstone, advanced systems analysis and design course for CIS/MIS/CS majors. In addition to the problem narrative, a representative solution for much of the business modeling deliverables is presented using the UML paradigm. A structured analysis deliverable will be the topic of a second paper on this subject. The authors teach the systems analysis and design course(s) or the systems development course(s) at their university. The CIS senior capstone course that the primary author teaches requires that the student complete one or more business modeling case studies. The authors have used some cases/problem statements from various systems analysis and design texts; however, the authors wanted a problem statement that would challenge a systems team at the senior undergraduate level to produce a complete static, functional and behavioral business model that could be designed and implemented. The authors believe that the narrative should include enough detail to enable the team to use either Unified Modeling Language (UML) or Structured Analysis.

Information system professionals strive to determine requirements by interviewing clients, observing activities at the client's site, and studying existing system documentation. Still this often leads to vague and inaccurate requirements documentation. When teaching the skills needed to determine requirements, it is important to recreate a realistic environment to develop analytical thinking skills. To address this, we developed a simulation for students to learn requirements gathering and analysis where they experience the requirements by operating a fictitious manufacturing firm. The students manage and operate the company, taking on a variety of employee roles from the physical "manufacturing" to the order-taking to the purchasing of component parts. With this pedagogical approach, students deal with the messiness of the problem by drawing on their own experience working in the manufacturing firm, making assumptions, and having the opportunity to verify their assumptions and analyses by working with their classmates. The simulation was implemented across two courses in an undergraduate information systems program.

Problems associated with the ubiquitous presence of technology on college campuses are discussed and the concept of the flipped classroom is explained. Benefits of using the flipped classroom to offset issues associated with the presence of technology in the classroom are explored. Fink's Integrated Course Design is used to develop a flipped class approach to the author's Systems Analysis & Design course, and a resulting classroom module is provided as an example. Results of the initial use of this approach are discussed. It is concluded that the use of the flipped classroom in systems analysis and design definitely increases in-class student focus and engagement and as a result helped to increased student learning of both program specific and course specific student outcomes. Further longitudinal studies are suggested to determine effects of employing the flipped classroom approach on the continuing attainment of student learning outcomes.