scholarly journals Effectiveness of Self-selected Teams: A Systems Development Project Experience

10.28945/3042 ◽  
2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsje Scott ◽  
Michael Pollock
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Group Project ◽  
Effective Teams ◽  
Team Selection ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University ◽  
Development Group

The third year systems development group project forms an essential part of the Information Systems major at the University of Cape Town. The field of Information Technology / Information Systems requires the maintenance or development of large information systems which often involves complex tasks. As effective teams are at the core of high performance organizations exposure to teamwork is important in the preparation of students for the real world environment. To ensure high quality products and limit high failure rates of projects, teams should be carefully selected. This paper explores existing team selection approaches and discusses the mechanisms put in place in the systems development group project with the emphasis on self-selected teams as a sound base for team formation. It further reports on the incorporation of the criteria defining effectiveness and effective teams into the course to prepare individual members for the rigours of industry.

scholarly journals The Skills Gap as Observed between IS Graduates and the Systems Development Industry: A South African Experience

10.28945/2571 ◽  
2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsje Scott ◽  
Robert Alger ◽  
Simon Pequeno ◽  
Nicky Sessions
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
South African ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Importance Rating ◽  
Skills Gap ◽  
The South ◽  
African Experience ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University

This paper discusses the results of an investigation into the skills gap between Information Systems (IS) graduates at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African Systems Development Industry. Three objectives were defined for this study. Firstly to measure the alignment between the level of skills possessed by students and the level of skills demanded by development companies. Secondly to identify and compare the most prominent specific skills that industry requires with the skills of students and thirdly to determine whether the students obtained the skills directly through UCT. The study revealed that there was alignment between the importance rating of companies and the skills of students in some areas, but not in others. Although correlation exists between the specific skills and technologies that industry requires and those which students possess, knowledge of certain technologies is lacking from the formal IS curriculum.

Accommodating End-Users' Online Activities with a Campus Portal

2008 ◽  
pp. 611-622
Author(s):  
Tharitpong Fuangvut ◽  
Helen Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
End Users ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Development Methodology ◽  
Online Activities ◽  
Campus Portal ◽  
The University

A major objective of this article is to propose a framework for development of a campus portal accommodating the end-users’ online activities, especially students who are normally considered as a major group of users for the campus portal. By summarising between the literature review in the domain of traditional information systems development methodology and Web-based information systems development methodology and the findings of the research, an appropriate model can finally be concluded and recommended, and is presented in this article. Although this article can be considered as a standalone article, it is recommended that the reader read the article entitled “The Need for a Comprehensive Methodology for Campus Portal Development.” Additionally, the complete version of this research can also be obtained from the digital thesis section of the University of Wollongong Library (http://www. library.uow.edu.au).

Communities of Practice and Critical Social Theory

2011 ◽  
pp. 49-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Objective Reality ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Participants

In philosophical terms, a key issue of communities of practice (CoPs) can be located within one of the key philosophical debates. The need for CoPs is traceable to the inadequacy in certain contexts of the so-called scientific or problem-solving method, which treats problems as independent of the people engaged on them. Examples of this can be drawn from the management domains of information systems development, project management, planning, and many others. In information systems development, for example, the whole basis of traditional systems analysis and design requires such an approach. In essence, in undertaking problem solving, the world is viewed as though it is made up of hard, tangible objects, which exist independently of human perception and about which knowledge may be accumulated by making the objects themselves the focus of our study. A more human-centered approach would, by contrast, see the world as interpreted through human perceptions: the reason why the problem cannot be solved is precisely because it lacks the objective reality required for problem solving. In taking this perspective, it may or may not be accepted that there exists a real world “out there”, but in any event, the position adopted is that our world can be known only through the perceptions of human participants. This question of objective reality is one with which philosophers have struggled for at least 2,500 years, and an understanding of it is essential to determining the need for, and purpose of, CoPs. The next section therefore discusses some of the philosophical issues relevant to the subjective-objective debate: a search for what, in these terms, it is possible for us to know and how we might know it.

scholarly journals Informing South African Students About Information Systems

10.28945/2499 ◽  
2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Hart
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
University Students ◽  
South African ◽  
Education System ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
African Students ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University

At the University of Cape Town, females and students disadvantaged under the previous South African apartheid education system are under-represented in Information Systems (I.S.) classes. This research shows that these are also the groups most ignorant about I.S. at the school-leaving stage. After being informed about the discipline through a small intervention, a significant increase in enthusiasm for majoring in and being employed in I.S. occurred. This should result in a better educational fit and greater enrolment of these groups in I.S., and reduce some switching to I.S. from other subjects at a later stage. The key influencing sources for university students’ study decisions are also examined, and it is evident that a different approach is needed for each group in order to maximize the number of quality I.S. graduates.

scholarly journals The Need for and Contents of a Course in Forensic Information Systems & Computer Science at the University of Cape Town

10.28945/3058 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrie Stander ◽  
Kevin Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Computer Crime ◽  
Computer Data ◽  
Digital Investigation ◽  
End To End ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University

This paper aims to investigate the need for and contents of a course in forensic Information Systems and Computer Science at UCT. In order to do this, the reader is introduced to computer crime and shown how the forensic process of identifying, preserving, recovering, analyzing, and documenting computer data supposedly used in crimes committed using computers is helping in investigating and solving these types of crime. An actual forensic approach known as the End-to-End Digital Investigation is also discussed.

scholarly journals Selecting a methodology for business information systems development: Decision model and tool support

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damjan Vavpotic ◽  
Olegas Vasilecas
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Decision Model ◽  
Systems Development ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Information Systems Development ◽  
Tool Support ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Project Organization ◽  
Business Information ◽  
Is Development

The paper presents a decision model and a tool that helps to find an information systems development methodology (ISDM) for a computer-based business information system (IS) that is suitable to a certain IS development project or an organization dealing with IS development. The intention of the model is not only to suggest a certain ISDM, but also to propose the properties an ISDM should have to suite the project or the organization. It is designed in a way that facilitates experimentation with different project, organization and ISDM properties. Based on the model we created a tool that has been applied on several cases in which we validated the correctness of its recommendations and established that it can have a significant positive contribution in the process of ISDM selection and in the process of improvement of existing ISDM.

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