1,721,017 research outputs found
Nature's enduring patterns: a path to systems literacy
No full textThe theme of this special issue, Nature's Enduring Patterns: A Path to Systems Literacy, was celebrated at the 63rd Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences in Corvallis in July 2019. In a world dominated by the artificial, 2019 ISSS President Peter Tuddenham in his presidential address, took conference attendees on a journey, going back to nature, its patterns and the identification of our individual spiritual purpose, towards fulfilment of our joint responsibility to manage natural resources for future generations. In making sense of our world and our purpose, we use specific literacies. We use ocean literacies to make sense of the ocean, climate literacies to make sense of climate change and many more literacies including earth science literacy, data literacy and network literac
A critical social research perspective on self-directed learning and information technology practitioners
No full textWorld Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 64, Paris, France, 28-29 November 2012Information systems practitioners are frequently required to master new technology, often without the aid of formal training. They require the skill to manage their own learning and, when this skill is developed in their formal training, their adaptability to new technology may be improved. Self- directed learning is the ability of the learner to manage his or her own learning experience with some guidance from a facilitator. Self-directed learning skills are best improved when practiced. This paper reflects on a critical social research project to improve the self-directed learning skills of fourth year Information Systems students. Critical social research differs from other research paradigms in that the researcher is viewed as the agent of change to achieve the desired outcome in the problem situation.http://www.waset.org/Publications/?path=Publication
Listening to the affected
No full textThe development of a successful module in data warehousing for 4th year IT students requires involvement of various stakeholders. Critical systems thinking and especially critical systems heuristics promote the involvement of those affected by an intervention, in the design of the intervention. In the development of a data warehousing module the students, who selected the module as part of their 4th year programme, are viewed as "affected" by the design of the module. This paper reports from a critical systems heuristics point of view, on the perspectives of these students who selected the module. Interpretive data collection by means of written interviews were done. Data were analysed using content analysis. Critical systems heuristics differs from other critical systems methodologies in terms of the requirements of rational argumentation. This paper provides examples of polemical argumentation and how these non-rational arguments are the voices we as faculty members (course designers) should hear. The paper concludes with aspects to take into consideration for the development and instruction of data warehousing based on the views of students after they have selected the modul
Addressing the total human being: work-integrated learning for ICT student
No full textProceedings of the IADIS international conference on ICT, society and human beings 2013 and IADIS International Conference e-Commerce 2013, Prague, Czech Republic, 22-26 July 2013Information and communication technology (ICT) is essential to the operation of business, and create many employment opportunities. High volumes of students graduate in ICT however students struggle to find job placement. To address the need for ICT skills, universities must create programs that meet the demands of a changing ICT industry. This requires a partnership between industry, universities and other stakeholders. The researchers explore a work integrated learning (WIL) approach where practical and theoretical knowledge are united and linked to industry needs. This paper explores the applicability and suitability of the work of Maslow and Dooyeweerd respectively to foster a holistic understanding of the student and his/her situation. The above methods provide tools for understanding softer issues beyond the technical skills required. This paper uses the Maslow hierarchy of needs and the aspectual analysis of Dooyeweerd to reflect on the total being of students registered for ICT WIL at Vaal University of Technology in South Africa. The study’s findings suggest that besides skills requirements, a deeper understanding and empowering students from being a student to a professional need to be understood and addressed.www.sifo.no/files/file79112_proceedings-praha-ict_ec_2013.pd
Understanding work integrated learning in ICT: a systems perspective
No full textWorld academy of science, engineering and technology 76, Johannesburg, South Africa, 29-30 April 2013Information and communication technology (ICT) is essential to the operation of business, and create many employment opportunities. High volumes of students graduate in ICT however students struggle to find job placement. A discrepancy exists between graduate skills and industry skill requirements. To address the need for ICT skills required, universities must create programs to meet the demands of a changing ICT industry. This requires a partnership between industry, universities and other stakeholders. This situation may be viewed as a critical systems thinking problem situation as there are various role players each with their own needs and requirements. Jackson states a typical critical systems methods has a pluralistic nature. This paper explores the applicability and suitability of Maslow and Dooyeweerd to guide understanding and make recommendations for change in ICT WIL, to foster an all-inclusive understanding of the situation by stakeholders. The above methods provide tools for understanding softer issues beyond the skills required. The study findings suggest that besides skills requirements, a deeper understanding and empowering students from being a student to a professional need to be understood and addressed.https://www.waset.org/http://www.waset.org/Publications/?path=Publications&p=7
A practical application of critical systems thinking to improve a business intelligence system’s business requirements
Full text linkEfficacious decision-making requires relevant, intelligible information. Organisations implement data warehousing/business intelligence systems to provide required information timeously for improved decision-making capabilities. Unfortunately, more than half of these systems fail. Data warehousing/business intelligence systems are multi-faceted and have a technical as well as social dimension. Failure to incorporate these systems’ social dimensions lead to low adoption rates and, ultimately, failure of these systems.
The critical systems thinking paradigm is founded on the idea of emancipation through methodological pluralism and critical awareness. The total systems intervention strand of critical systems thinking embraces pluralism, i.e. the idea that different methodologies, from different paradigms, can be applied during different phases of interventions, to enrich the ultimate solution. This study applies an action research approach to incorporate critical systems thinking principles, operationalised by total systems intervention, to critically reflect and choose a suitable methodology whereby to elicit a richer set of business requirements.
This paper starts by introducing and motivating the study. It then discusses the theoretical concepts of the study, i.e. action research, business requirements elicitation and the critical systems thinking strand that is total systems intervention. The remainder of the paper is structured according to the action research phases, i.e. diagnosis, action planning, action taking, evaluation and specification of learnin
Industry needs for data warehousing students: using SSM as hermeneutic data analysis tool for interpretive interview data
No full textThe soft systems methodology was developed by Peter Checkland over an extended period of time to assist organisational improvements. It provides tools to assist different stakeholders to articulate their perspectives on the best action to be taken in problem environments. It is grounded in the ideas of soft systems thinking, where systems are viewed as conceptual models to make sense of a messy real world environment. The original focus of soft systems methodology is organisational use rather than academic use. In this paper we demonstrate how the soft systems methodology can be used to guide and analyse interpretive interviews with participants in an academic research project in the context of interpretive research methodology.
We reflect on the hermeneutic nature of interpretive qualitative data collection and analysis and then we show that an activity diagram as used in the soft systems methodology, is a valid data analysis technique in terms of the epistemological context of interpretive data analysis.
We demonstrate our proposal by means of the data analysis of interpretive interviews of data warehouse practitioners on their perspectives of the required skills of information technology students majoring in data warehousing. We compiled activity diagrams and used them in communication with our participants, thus enabling our participants to verify our data analysis and enhance our understanding of their perspectives. We show how different perspectives can be represented and reflected upon after compiling activity diagrams and how different perspectives can be accommodated to develop a single strategy for change.
Our main contribution is to demonstrate the suitability of the soft systems methodology in data collection and analysis in interpretive cases studies where strategies for changes are studied.
The paper is organised in four main sections, starting with a discussion on the ontological and epistemological assumptions of interpretive case studies in order to show that it is possible to use the soft systems methodology from an interpretive research perspective. The second section provides a very brief discussion of the soft systems methodology. Our main contribution is in section three, providing justification and guidance for using the soft systems methodology to guide data collection and analysis in the context of interpretive research methodology. We demonstrate our proposal in the fourth section, where we show how we analysed interpretive interview data. Our paper concludes with reflection and recommendation
Widening students’ perspective: empowering them with systems methodologies
No full textWorld academy of science, engineering and technology 76, Johannesburg, South Africa, 29-30 April 2013Benefits to the organisation are just as important as technical ability when it comes to software success. The challenge is to provide industry with professionals who understand this. In other words: How to teach computer engineering students to look beyond technology, and at the benefits of software to organizations? This paper reports on the conceptual design of a section of the computer networks module aimed to sensitize the students to the organisational context. Checkland focuses on different worldviews represented by various role players in the organisation. He developed the Soft Systems Methodology that guides purposeful action in organisations, while incorporating different worldviews in the modeling process. If we can sensitize students to these methods, they are likely to appreciate the wider context of application of system software. This paper will provide literature on these concepts as well as detail on how the students will be guided to adopt these concepts.https://www.waset.org/http://www.waset.org/Publications/?path=Publications&p=7
Using critical social heuristics and project-based learning to enhance data warehousing education
No full textThe aim of this paper is to demonstrate how project-based learning can be used from a critical systems perspective in data warehousing education. Data warehousing is a discipline in information technology focusing on providing data-driven decision support systems for strategic decision making. In this study we used action research from a critical (emancipative) perspective to reflect on our current instructional design of the data warehousing module before redesigning it to better serve the needs of the involved and affected. We used critical systems heuristics and project-based learning as frameworks of understanding to guide our intervention. Project-based learning is a learning/teaching approach aimed at organising the learning experience in terms of a project. We used written interpretive interviews in the diagnosis and evaluation of success phases of our action research cycle. Our reflection is according to the action research model of Checkland reflecting on our success in the area of application (data warehousing instruction) as well as our methodology (action research from a critical social theory perspective) and our framework of ideas (project-based learning and critical social heuristics
Communication between information system development team members from different cultural contexts: a case study
No full textProceedings of the IADIS international conference on ICT, society and human beings 2013 and IADIS International Conference e-Commerce 2013, Prague, Czech Republic, 22-26 July 2013The aim of this study was to investigate how communication is affected by the different cultural contexts of information system development (ISD) team members in order to achieve ISD project results. The study investigated the level of difficulty of communication with ISD team members from different cultural context such as cultural affiliation, job class distinction, language, non-verbal communication, group size, gender, age, and profession. A qualitative, interpretive multiple case study was conducted in Gauteng province of South Africa where ISD team members were interviewed. The results may show that South Africans have made big strides since the first democratic elections of 1994.www.sifo.no/files/file79112_proceedings-praha-ict_ec_2013.pd
- …
