Mohammad A. Rob
Management Information Systems
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Houston, Texas 77058
rob@uhcl.edu
 Introduction
 Theoretical Background
 Motivation
 Engagement and Learning
 What the Accreditation Agencies Say?
 Taxonomy of Significant Learning
 Designing the Learning Environment
 The Role of Technology
 The Central Question
 The Leading-Learning Framework
 The Basic Concepts or Guidelines
 Distribution of Learning Activities
 Designing the Learning Activities
 Application in an MIS Course
 Student Reflection
 Results
 Conclusion
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 Teaching undergraduates can be more
challenging than graduates
 Teachers complain:
 Undergraduates are not motivated towards learning
 However they are critical in evaluating instructors
 Research show that engagement of students
can lead towards motivation
 Also the art and practice of engagement is
primarily the responsibility of the teacher
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 Motivation means to be moved to do
something
 People are intrinsically motivated to do
something for reward or satisfaction
 Most students are extrinsically motivated to
complete tasks with resentment & disinterest
 Researchers have been investigating what
task characteristics make an activity
interesting
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 Engagement is an extrinsic motivational
task that fosters learning in the educational
environment
 Engagement theories suggest that students
must be meaningfully engaged in learning
activities through interaction with others
and in worthwhile tasks
 Engagement is not just a student-oriented
activity
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 The National Survey of Student Engagement, AACSB
Standard of Teaching and Learning, and ABET
Standards for Engineering and Technology suggest:
 Student engagement to enrich learning
experience
 Active involvement of students and
collaboration and cooperation among
faculty-student and student-student
 Collaboration along with oral and written
communication skills development and
application in the IS programs
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 Leading Pedagogical Researchers say:
 The art and practice of engaging students
towards learning is principally the
responsibility of the teacher
 The teacher becomes less imparter of
knowledge and more a designer and facilitator
of learning experiences for students
 The real challenge in teaching is not covering
the material for the students; it’s uncovering
the materials with the students
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
Foundational Concepts and principles of a subject matter:
Knowledge facts, terms, formulae, concepts, principles, etc.
Application Involved in various kinds of critical thinking
and problem-solving skills
Integration Connection between ideas, subjects, people,
etc. that improve intellectual power
Human Learning about self and enabling interaction
Dimension with others in the society
Caring Identify and changing one’s feelings: energize
Learning how Self-directed learners: furthering one’s
to Learn knowledge towards the next level
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
Knowledge What we want students to know and be able
Centered to do when they finish a course: the
foundational knowledge, skills, and attitudes
Learner Connecting to the strengths and interests of
Centered learners and helping them learn about
themselves
Community Providing an environment where students feel safe to
Centered ask questions, learn to use technology, work
collaboratively to develop lifelong learning skills
Assessment Providing multiple opportunities to make
Centered students’ thinking visible, provide feedback
and give chances to revise
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 In the era of high-technology, engagement is also
seen as a framework for technology-based
teaching and learning.
 When students use technology as a tool to
communicate with others, they take on an active
role versus a passive role of transmitting the
information by a teacher, a book, or broadcast.
 Instructors and students are constantly making
choices on how to obtain, display, or manipulate
information appropriate and useful for others.
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 What role an instructor can play in setting up a classroom
and course-related activities that motivate students to
value their learning and self-regulate their activities, to
carry them out on their own?
 The 21st century teachers acts as leaders :
 to engage students in important activities and challenges
them with fun,
 in an environment conducive to learning, with technology,
 and guides them towards the goal of mastering the subject
matter, and with an end product –
 the knowledge of which will endure a human life beyond
the academic environment.
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 It is based on the concepts of:
 motivation and engagement,
 active and collaborative learning,
 taxonomy of significant learning,
 designing the learning environment, and
 the role of technology, as discussed before
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
Reduce Burden of
Teaching
Increase Efforts by
Students
The concept of “teaching by instructors” is
changed to “learning by students:” teacher leads
The burden of learning goes to students:
students learn through “active engagement”
Define a Clear Outcome
or Product for a Course
The outcome is a significant document binder or
a business information system
Formulate a Group
Project around the
Outcome
Incorporate a “semester-long” group project that
applies most important concepts of the subject
Make All CourseRelated Materials
Freely Available
Maintain Dedicated
Computer Classrooms
Empower students by providing lecture notes,
past presentations & systems through a website
Easy access to database servers & web servers to
develop applications & use multiple tools/course
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
Teacher
Teacher
Leading
Lecturing
Student
Student
Assessment
Assessment -Centered
Teaching
Engagement
Engagement –Centered
Learning
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 Concept-Based: Developing
individual student’s knowledge on
the subject matter
 Project-Based: Understanding the
relationship between various
concepts of a subject matter
 Multi-Dimensional: Going
beyond the subject matter and
improving on human dimension –
collaboration, cooperation, crosscurriculum, communication,
research, multi-culture, career,
Growth of Knowledge in Dimensions
etc.
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
Instructor
Input
•Demonstration
•Work assignment
•Work assignment
•Lecture
•Work assignment
Student
Process
•Monitor & Control
Student
Output
•Document
•Presentation
•Research Paper
•Program Code
•Design/Model
•Web site
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
Purpose
Concept-Based
 Learn the
primary
concepts of a
subject
matter



Fink’s

Taxonomy
Foundational 
Knowledge

Project-Based
Get a clear picture
of the subject
matter
Get a practical
experience through
integrated
application of the
concepts
Provide a significant
learning experience
Application
Integration

Multi-Dimensional
Learning the people, the
society, and other cultures
Know the purpose, value,
and prospect of education
Learn about the job market
in the subject area
Gain knowledge towards
higher education
Apply technology



Learning how to Learn
Human Dimension
Caring




A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
Knowledge Area
Concept-Based •
•
•
Project-Based •
Multi-Dimensional •
•
•
Engagement
In-class writing, In-class case study
In-class design, In-class programming
Homework
Semester-Long Group Project:
• Apply SDLC Methodology
• Student-student meetings
• Group deliverables – documents & systems
• Group presentations, Web Site
• Redo presentations until clear concept
• Student –teacher meetings
• Outcome: Project Binder or System
Research papers (Job, MIS topics, cross-curricular)
Use of multiple software tools per subject
Use network servers & electronic submission
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING

SDLC Methodology should be
used on the group project
throughout the semester and
apply overall knowledge learned
from various course concepts to
produce a significant outcome
from the course

Development of a major website
by each student or group to house
all course-related documents and
programs is important in this
technological era.
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 The teacher acts as a leader in engaging students in
multiple activities and directs them towards the goal
 He/She is mainly focused on course “planning” as well as
“monitoring & controlling” the student activities in a
“Project Management” style
Initiating
Planning
Execution
Monitoring & Control
Closing
•Course
concept
•Syllabus with deadlines
•Web site update
•Network access update
•Group project definition
•Presentation schedule
• Research paper
definition/schedule
•Short Lectures
•Demonstration
•In-class
assignments
•Listen to presentations
•Discussion on
presentations
•Meeting with groups
•Monitor Revised
presentation
•Mid-Term Test
•Final Test
•End Product
•Survey
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING

We apply the concepts of
Leading-Leading Framework
by engaging students in five
main activities:
 In-class programming
 Homework assignments
 Group-project: Apply
overall knowledge to
develop a business
information system
 Three group presentations
 Two in-class hands-on tests
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 An assessment of the course activities as seen by
students was performed through a survey
questionnaire under the following conditions:
 The same question was asked three times in various
word formats to get a better reflection from students
 The first assessment was done after the first group
presentation and after the mid-term
 The second assessment was done after the second
group presentation and before the final test
 Answer to questions are organized in five broad areas:

Instructor activities, Group Project, Programming, and Motivation
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
Syllabus, web site, class demonstration
Downloading sample code, class
attendance, course challenge,
grade expectation
Motivation
3.4
In-class assignments, homework, inclass test
Group project, group presentation
Programming
Group Project
Instructor
Activity Groups
3.8
2.5
3.7
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 The result is different is the Systems Analysis & Design, Project
Management, Data Warehouse and other graduate courses.
 Given the course activities, students are to define and justify
which three activities provided significant knowledge in their
learning:
Group Project
Top Tier
Research Papers
Top Tier
Lectures
Top Tier
Project Documentation
Middle Tier
Presentation
Middle Tier
Web site
Next Tier
Use of software
Next Tier
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING
 We have discussed various methods of student engagement to





motivate them towards learning
We put forward a Leading-Learning Framework that is built
upon the concept that the teacher becomes the leader to engage
students in various course activities.
The Framework divides the student-knowledge development
into three different groups: each one is built upon the other
The types of engagement may not be same for all courses.
In the programming course, it is best to engage students mainly
in programming activities
However, group project is very effective for non-programming
courses that have consistent relationship between various
concepts of a course
A FRAMEWORK OF LEADING TOWARDS LEARNING