Information Technology Students Research Articles

The Academic, Social, and Professional Integration Profiles of Information Technology Students

Low retention rates in higher education Information Technology (IT) studies have led to an unmet demand for IT specialists. Therefore, universities need to apply interventions to increase retention rates and provide the labor market with more IT graduates. However, students with different characteristics may need different types of interventions. The current study applies a person-oriented approach and identifies the profiles of first-year IT students in order to design group-specific support. Tinto's [13, 14] integration model was used as a framework to analyze questionnaire data from 509 first-year IT students in Estonia. The students’ response profiles were distinguished through latent profile analysis, and the students were divided into four profiles based on their responses to questions about academic integration, professional integration, and graduation-related self-efficacy. The difference in academic integration was smaller among the profiles than the difference in professional integration. Knowing these profiles helps universities to design interventions for each student group and apply the interventions to increase the number of IT graduates.

The Effectiveness of Multimedia Courseware in Learning Data Modelling Concepts

Data modelling is a tough topic for students to learn in database courses or database related courses. The use of multimedia courseware with student-centred learning capability can help to enhance students learning and improve achievement on the subject matter. Accordingly, the objective of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of using multimedia courseware as a supplemental tool to enhance students learning in data modelling concepts among Bachelor of Information Technology students at Universiti Teknologi MARA, Perlis Branch. To achieve this objective, multimedia courseware was developed with three main sections: pre-test, tutorial and post-test. The courseware then tested on 20 students that have previously learned about data modelling. From the findings, it is discovered that the students’ post-test marks increased after learning using the tutorial courseware when compared with their pre-test marks. The finding results also showed a significant statistical difference between pre-test and post-test marks after using the tutorial. These findings indicate that the students have made significant improvement after learning with the multimedia courseware. As a conclusion, the multimedia courseware indeed can be effective to be used as a supplemental learning tool to enhance students learning and achievement in data modelling concepts thus, overcome the limitations of teacher- centred learning in a classroom environment.

A Student-Generated Video Careers Project

This article describes how in recent years, the multimedia recording capabilities of mobile devices have been used increasingly to create a more active, learner-centred educational experience. Despite the proven value of student-generated multimedia projects, there are still gaps in our understanding of how students learn during them. This article reports on a project in which first-year information technology students interviewed IT professionals in their workplace and video-recorded the interview to enable sharing with their peers. In order to understand the statistically significant increases found in students' learning, student diaries and reflections were analyzed qualitatively. Factors found to contribute to learning included: the iterative nature of student activities; the multiple, evolving representations of knowledge as students proceeded through the project; the importance of the workplace context in engaging students and enhancing learning; the affordance of mobile technology for capturing and sharing this context; and the collaborative and metacognitive processes fostered by the project.

Valued Academic Library Services Are Not Necessarily the Ones That Are Used Most Frequently, Students’ Service and Social Media Communication Priorities Should Also Be Considered

A Review of:
 Stvilia, B., & Gibradze, L. (2017). Examining undergraduate students' priorities for academic library services and social media communication. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 43(3), 257-262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.02.013
 Abstract
 Objective – To examine how undergraduate students rate the importance of different categories of library services and library social media postings.
 Design – Online survey.
 Setting – Large research university in the United States.
 Subjects – 159 undergraduate students enrolled in 3 information technology classes.
 Methods – Participants were asked to rate the importance of different library service categories on a 7-point Likert scale. The library service categories were (1) access to information and computer resources, (2) study support services, (3) support for club meetings, and (4) Q&A services. Participants were also asked to rate the importance of nine different categories of library social media postings, also on a 7-point Likert scale. The categories of social media postings were (1) event, (2) resources, (3) community building, (4) operations updates, (5) study support, (6) Q&A, (7) survey, (8) staff, and (9) club. Students were also asked to identify which library services they currently use.
 Main Results – Validly submitted surveys totaled 104 (response rate 65%). Respondents rated access to information and computer resources (M=5.9) and study support services (M=5.9) as being of the highest importance, with no statistically significant difference being found between these ratings. Respondents rated Q&A services (mean not reported) and support for club meetings (M=4.8) as being of significantly lower importance than the baseline (access information and computer resources). In terms of service usage, using the library to study (87%) and to access information and computer resources (59%), were the top two most reportedly used services.
 Respondents rated social media postings relating to operations updates (M=5.6), study support (M=5.5) and events (M=5.4) as being of highest importance, with no significant difference between the ratings of these three categories. Respondents rated all other categories of social media postings (survey, M=4.7; staff, M=4.4; means for remaining categories not reported) as being of significantly less importance than the baseline (operations updates). For just over half the social media posting categories (5/9, 56%) importance rankings found in this study agree with engagement rankings the authors found in a previous study (Stvilia & Gibradze, 2014).
 Conclusion – The results of this study suggested frequency of use alone cannot be used to determine the value students place on a library’s services, as students may perceive equal value in services they use at different frequencies. The authors, therefore, argued there is a strong need to inexpensively predict users’ perceptions of service value without relying on usage metrics alone. Because a level of agreement was found between social media engagement (determined in the authors’ 2014 study) and importance rankings (found in this study), the authors proposed further research be done to determine whether and how an analysis of library social media engagement can be used as an inexpensive way to predict the perceived importance and value of a library’s services. While the authors recognized it may not be appropriate to generalize the results of this study to a wider student population, they suggested the findings may be applicable to similar groups of students (i.e., undergraduate information technology students).

Understanding the career development and employability of information technology students

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the career development and employability needs of undergraduate information technology (IT) students at an Australian University, and their relation to students’ career interest. While many factors and stakeholders contribute to student career development, this study focused specifically on the student experience. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) is used as an approach to understand the students’ needs of career development and employability. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was completed by 126 IT students to record information about students’ career development and employability background and needs. Findings The results demonstrate that SCCT helps understand the factors that impact on IT students’ career development, with their outcome expectations and self-efficacy informed by prior studies in IT and their need for access to “IT professionals” to contribute towards their career interest. In addition, IT students rely on academic achievement and experiential learning, rather than career resources, to guide their career development and employability. Research limitations/implications The data collected in this study are limited to one discipline (IT) at one university, which necessarily limits the generalisability of the specific results. Practical implications Career development is a complex, life-stage-dependant and discipline-specific process that varies for every decision maker. This research makes an important contribution in presenting the IT student experience and demonstrates how an appropriate career development model can help understand students’ needs. This outcome will help educators better support IT students to build the career interest. Originality/value This study explored the often-overlooked student experience of career development, providing valuable insight into IT students’ needs.

A Study to Investigate Technopreneurship Talent for Higher Education Students [Engineering, Agriculture Engineering, and Information Technology Students in Universitas Andalas Indonesia

Lack of new business and jobs has led unemployed issues. This problem can be settled by increasing the number of new technopreneurs, entrepreneurs creating new business and jobs through technological innovations. The study is to find out technopreneurship talent of the students of faculty of engineering, agriculture engineering and information technology of Universitas Andalas. Then, they are compared by four criteria or dimensions: [1] Entrepreneurial Characteristics, [2] Absorptive Capacity, [3] Knowledge and Learning Skills, [4] Business and Communication Skills. A set of indicators is developed for each criterion and assessed qualitatively using questioners as tool. The assessments are carried out in three stages: indicators, criteria, and technopreneur talent assessment. Attitudes measurement technique is used for indicators assessment while Weighted Sum Model [WSM] is used for criteria and technopreneur talent assessment. The overall technopreneur talent assessments show that engineering students are relatively better with information technology students and agriculture engineering students are adept in some aspects of technopreneurship.

Fostering development of soft skills in ICT curricula: a case of a transition economy

ABSTRACTThis paper contributes to the adjustment of teaching methods to a rapidly changing business environment and the technology evolution in Poland, a transition economy. It focuses on information and communication technology (ICT) students who, apart from professional knowledge and skills, need to acquire the ability to work in a business environment. In the course of the design-based research that involved a multiple case study, a blended learning framework was proposed. It aims at delivering ICT courses that support both development of domain knowledge and soft skills. Besides the skills recognized by previous research (communication, interpersonal skills, self-learning), the framework supports the development of the following soft skills that might be useful for future ICT professionals: active attendance, systematic work, self-assessment, and peer review. Since soft skills largely contribute to the success of an organization, the implementation of the framework should considerably improve the students’ position in the labor market.

Problem-based Projects in Computer Programming: Students’ Cooperation, Responsibilities and Dependencies

This research reports on second-year students who designed and developed an integrated C# programming and database project as one of the course outcomes in a problem-based environment. Project teamwork involved three key actions, namely cooperation, taking responsibility and dealing with dependencies. For these actions, several competencies were required. Based on the literature, a framework was proposed involving five categories of competencies as well as associated mechanisms to manage team cooperation, responsibilities and dependencies in joint programming projects. The purpose of the research was to test the proposed framework of competencies using the data at hand. An interpretivist approach directed this research and a qualitative methodology was followed. Ninety-nine second-year BSc Computer Science and Information Technology students participated in the research at a South African university. Students worked mainly in teams of two members and selected the partners themselves. Data collection involved weekly project sheets, which indicated a team’s responsibilities and cooperation as well as their planning, design, development and reflection on project activities. The data were manually analysed. Several quotes provided supporting evidence of the proposed framework and it was validated by referring to instances of some mechanisms that team members used to manage their problem-based projects.

Business Continuity Management Put to the Test: A Drama in Two Acts

This teaching case brings the true story of a destructive fire at mobile phone company Vodafone in The Netherlands to life. The fire has had a huge impact on the company, its customers, and society at large. The story illustrates the impact of mobile phone communication disturbances, and crisis communication within organizations. The case is suitable for classes of bachelor students in business economics or information technology, and for executive education. The case is written as a play, which enables course participants to engage in experiential learning. Materials provided include actual communication material developed by Vodafone during the crisis.

Entrepreneurship and information technology businesses in economic crisis

This paper aims to identify the importance of Information Technology businesses and youth's interest in entrepreneurial initiatives in connection with IT based businesses. The data was collected using questionnaire from final year students of entrepreneurship and computer sciences enrolled in Bachelors, so as to get a profound picture of their intention, motivation and ability to enter in IT related entrepreneurial ventures. As descriptive statistics was used to analyze the findings, the study depicts great motivation among final year graduates to enter in entrepreneurial ventures. They are found to be motivated to establish ventures of their own even at small level. Therefore, SMEs can play vital role in assisting and fostering entrepreneurial activity with special focus on Information Technology businesses. In addition, the research limitation could be the fact that data has been collected from top universities/ institutes in which intellect level of students is competitively high, thus their liking to entre and understanding regarding SMEs and entrepreneurial initiatives is better than students of ordinary institutes. Also, the results could have been deviated if same research was applied in countries with varying demographics. As for practical implementations, the research may be vital for SMEs officials to foresee the entrepreneurial spirit among youth and to design policies accordingly. Also, it opens horizons for information Technology students to consider entrepreneurial careers other than simply applying for jobs in software houses/ organizations. Also, no prior research has been carried out in analyzing the mutual relation of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology businesses, neither the outcome/ joint effect of both has been studied together.

Information Technology Students’ Language Needs for their ESP Course

The purpose of this study was to find the needs of Iranian undergraduate Information Technology (IT) engineering students for their ESP course. To this end, a needs analysis questionnaire was administered to 30 undergraduate IT students to elicit information about their needs in English language at Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch. The results of data analysis revealed that among four skills reading was the highly needed skill followed by writing. It was also found that a majority of participants were dissatisfied with the current ESP courses for undergraduate students. This, in fact, indicated that ESP curricula have not yet been successfully developed in satisfying the students’ professional needs in target situations. Findings point to the fact that ESP and its teaching in Iran has to undergo serious rethinking not only in the content of the course but also the whole process of teaching the language. The findings can help course designers to both put much more credit for ESP courses, and consider appropriate and suitable materials which can give useful information to the students. It can also help ESP teachers to meet the language needs of their students.

Internet of things as a solution for production and disaster activities in the province of Los Ríos

Teaching strategy presented aims to provide the contextualized learning computational intelligence in correspondence with the needs of the information technology students. This proposal is the output of a theoretical model that structure the process of teaching and learning of computational intelligence, from the dialectical relations between its components and it is manifested as a set of actions structured in three stages, defining their respective goals to transform the work, being done in the traditional way, towards new demands of renewal in the continuous improvement that is required, in correspondence with the needs that the learning of mathematical content has for the College student, social significance, and practical value. Assumes the contextualization as a contextual approach to the teaching of computational intelligence. The application of the teaching strategy in teaching practice confirmed its relevance, feasibility, and effectiveness through the use of empirical methods: evaluation by expert criteria, consultation with users and the pedagogical experiment in its pre-experiment variant, demonstrating favor the contextualized learning of the subject computational intelligence in the information technology students.

Estrategia didáctica para el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de Las Matemáticas Discretas como Fundamentos en Computacional Inteligencia

La estrategia de enseñanza presentada tiene como objetivo proporcionar el aprendizaje contextualizadointeligencia computacional en correspondencia con las necesidades de la información estudiantes de tecnología. Esta propuesta es el resultado de un modelo teórico que estructura el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje de la inteligencia computacional, desde la dialéctica relaciones entre sus componentes y se manifiesta como un conjunto de acciones estructuradas en tres etapas, definiendo sus objetivos respectivos para transformar el trabajo, que se realiza en manera tradicional, hacia nuevas demandas de renovación en la mejora continua que es necesario, en correspondencia con las necesidades que el aprendizaje de contenido matemático tiene para el estudiante universitario, importancia social y valor práctico. Asume elcontextualización como un enfoque contextual a la enseñanza de computacional inteligencia. La aplicación de la estrategia docente en la práctica docente confirmada su relevancia, viabilidad y efectividad mediante el uso de métodos empíricos: evaluación por criterios expertos, consulta con los usuarios y el experimento pedagógicoen su variante pre-experimento, demostrando favorecer el aprendizaje contextualizado del sujeto de inteligencia computacional en los estudiantes de tecnología de la información.

Entrepreneurship as a Career Option for Information Technology Students: Critical Barriers and the Role of Motivation

Entrepreneurial intention (EI) is attracting research interest as a valid predictor of actual entrepreneurial activity, and a growing number of articles are approaching the subject both from theoretical and experimental perspectives. Motivation is considered the major driver of EIs. However, entrepreneurial barriers may hinder the formation of EIs and even cancel the realization of EIs into entrepreneurial activity. The constraints perceived by the prospective entrepreneurs (e.g., students) and the motives forming their intentions, analyzed in the literature, up to now, deliver some disparate findings about the significance and the relative power of the effects. The need for a unified instrument for the systematic investigation of the impact of barriers and motives on EIs is imperative. On the other hand, research on the EIs of students in the field of information technology (IT) is very rare, although the field consists a fertile ground for entrepreneurial activity and innovation. In order to fill this gap, a structured questionnaire was used to reveal the perceptions of entrepreneurial barriers and motivation, in a sample of 174 tertiary IT students. The data were subjected to statistical regression in order to identify causal relations between the barriers, motives, and EIs. The results indicated that the lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills have a major impact on EIs of students. On the contrary, self-motivation towards entrepreneurship acts as an antidote. Finally, the differences in the perception of barriers and motivation, between the two genders and role model groups, were also examined. The findings have valuable implications for educators in the IT field, due to the opportunities expected, in the context of Industry 4.0. Additionally, there are useful implications for policy makers, due to the ongoing economic crisis.

Building Automation and the Contextualization of Information Technology: The Journey of a Midwestern Community College in the U.S.

The buildings in which people work, live, and spend their leisure time are increasingly embedded with sophisticated information technology (IT). This article describes the approach of Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Omaha, Nebraska of the United States to provide an occupational context to some of their IT coursework by organizing IT instruction around the context of building automation systems (BAS). This contextualization allows IT students not only to study IT as a standalone discipline but also to study its integrated use within a specific occupational context. The article also describes MCC’s focused curriculum design efforts funded by the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education program. These efforts toward BAS-contextualization of the IT curriculum have become a catalyst for systematic contextualization of IT instruction at MCC and support the institution’s broader efforts to become a national model in IT instruction and interdisciplinary engagement within the United States. The research-based approach, activities, and outcomes of this project are all described here, as well as the lessons learned by one community college seeking to make their IT program increasingly relevant to their students and the IT workforce of today.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATIONAL INFORMATICS COURSE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STRENGTHENING OF EDUCATION

Problem and goal. The article deals with the historical aspects of teaching information technology in a school course of computer science, approaches to teaching information technology in the conditions of the fundamentalization of General education, the problems of teaching information technology to schoolchildren. The aim is to determine the possibility of development of the methodical system of information technology training in the context of the fundamentalization of education, the consideration of information technology as a content-methodical line and as a section of the General course of Informatics, the description of the stages of the organization of training in information technology students. Methodology. The scientific and methodical literature in the field of Informatics is studied, the analysis of educational programs on Informatics and methods of teaching Informatics is carried out, the analysis of school textbooks and teaching AIDS, educational and methodical support of the educational process in Informatics is made; the generalization and systematization of own experience of teaching Informatics and methods of teaching Informatics, including information technologies is made. Results. It is revealed that the training of students in information technology, the rational use of their tools to solve educational and practical problems can purposefully form the information culture of students, so necessary for life in modern society. It is proved that the process of teaching information technologies in the framework of General education course of Informatics is advisable to build, based on the principles of the fundamentalization of education (science, invariance and universality, consistency and integrity, continuity and continuity, integration, etc.), on the basis of system-activity approach. Conclusion. The results of the study allowed to conclude that it is necessary to apply the fundamental and system-activity approaches to the implementation of the content-methodical line “Information technology” and the relevant section in the General course of Informatics.

Assessment of Student Performance for Course Examination Using Rasch Measurement Model: A Case Study of Information Technology Fundamentals Course

This paper describes a measurement model that is used to measure the student performance in the final examination of Information Technology (IT) Fundamentals (IT280) course in the Information Technology (IT) Department, College of Computer & Information Sciences (CCIS), Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU). The assessment model is developed based on students’ mark entries of final exam results for the second year IT students, which are compiled and tabulated for evaluation using Rasch Measurement Model, and it can be used to measure the students’ performance towards the final examination of the course. A study on 150 second year students (male = 52; female = 98) was conducted to measure students’ knowledge and understanding for IT280 course according to the three level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The results concluded that students can be categorized as poor (10%), moderate (42%), good (18%), and successful (24%) to achieve Level 3 of Bloom’s Taxonomy. This study shows that the students’ performance for the set of IT280 final exam questions was comparatively good. The result generated from this study can be used to guide us to determine the appropriate improvement of teaching method and the quality of question prepared.

Android-based Agricultural Insect Trap Monitoring System Using Solar Panel and Arduino Technology

The project was conducted to monitor the voltage level of the battery and weight of the insect trapped through Desktop Application and Android- based monitoring system. The study used Voltage Sensor and load cell in monitoring the voltage of the battery placed beside the prototype as-well-as the volume of trapped insect. The NRF24L01 was used in sending data and receiving from the voltage sensors to the projects’ server in order to save it to the database. Real-time data gathering of voltage using nRF24l01 has been conducted. The data stored in the server was then used for Graphical Representation using the Android phone for ease of understanding. Wi-Fi was used in order to connect the server and the android phone. Random selections of respondents have been conducted. Twenty (20) respondents having ten (10) representatives from Information Technology Students, five (5) representatives of farmer experts, and (5) five randomly selected representatives from Faculty and Staff of SPAMAST-Digos Campus as a respondent. Overall result of the ratings of evaluation on android-based agricultural insect trap monitoring system using solar panel and Arduino technology was conducted in a farm at Purok 6, Matti, Digos City, owned by Mr. Dominador Gomez Jr., with an area 0.25 hectare. On favourability of the project as it performed well and was proven good has a combined mean of 4.3. This means that majority of the evaluator agreed on the functionality, and reliability of the project. Thus, its usability and the user satisfaction are greatly acknowledged.

Analysis of the essential factors for the adoption of mobile learning in higher education: A case study of students of the University of Technology

This paper analyzed the adoption of using mobile learning (m-learning) in higher education. Mobile Learning as a model of e-learning refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes by utilizing mobile technologies. With the increasing coverage of mobile networks, learning services can play the increasing and effective role in education at any time and place. Continuous access via mobile devices creates special facilities like sending and saving the learning content to learners etc, it is accompanied with continuous education. This paper, with a study of “what is the impact of the mobile phone usage in education?” provides approaches and theories of mobile learning in training. The paper aimed to evaluate the essential factors for the adoption and application of education information system that has been created by students. The survey was based on the history of technology adoption and covered students. Furthermore, a case study from students of K. N. Toosi University in Iran was presented to indicate the performance of this method in practice. The statistical society included 300 members from Information Technology students of Iran's K. N. Toosi University of Technology. The factors related to adoption of mobile learning in higher education was classified into seven main categories as: ease of use, trust, characters and personal qualities, context, perceived usefulness of using, behavioral intention, and culture of using a research model. From the results, mobile learning could be one of the promising educational technologies for development in educational environments and culture of using. The context of applications has a significant positive effect on the ease of use factor and usefulness and the ease of use has a positive effect on the usefulness factor. The trust factor has a positive and significant effect on the behavioral intention. The personal features and characters factor have a significant positive effect on the culture of using and the culture of using the application has a significant positive effect on the behavioral intention.

LEARNING MATERIALS SELECTION FOR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES OF FUTURE PROFESSIONALS IN THE FIELD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

In conditions of differentiation the learning materials selection will optimize the training English for Specific Purposes of the future professionals in the field of information technology at university level. The purpose of the article is to define the basic unit of learning material, the factors of influence on the learning material selection, principles, criteria and the procedure of learning material selection in this paper. Reviewing the scientific achievements in the learning material selection in teaching English has become a basis for defining the factors of influence, principles and criteria in the research. The basic unit of learning material (learning English text for professional purposes) is outlined. The factors of influence and principles (correspondence of learning materials to professional interests and needs of information technology students; necessary ability and accessibility; regarding the linguistic and stylistic necessity and sufficiency; availability of Internet sources information) of the learning material selection are defined. Also, the qualitative criteria (authenticity; professional significance, relevance and informativeness; conformity of foreign language level and intellectual development of students; variety of genres and forms of speech, their sufficient filling by linguistic material; coherence, integrity, consistency, semantic completeness; topic conformity; situation conformity; unlimited access, reliability and exemplarity of Internet sources) and the quantitative criteria (the amount of material) of the learning material selection are highlighted. The process of English for Specific Purposes material selection (defining the disciplines of different cycles; defining spheres and related topics; outlining situations, communicative roles and intentions of professional communication; specifying the sources of selection; evaluating the texts; analysis of the knowledge, skills and sub-skills required for the formation of competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing of English for Specific Purposes) is determined. So, the defined learning material selection will serve as a basis for consideration of stages in the differentiated instruction of English for Specific Purposes of future professionals in the field of information technology at university level.