Papers by Alanah Mitchell
Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice
Aim/Purpose: This paper provides a review of previously published work related to active learning... more Aim/Purpose: This paper provides a review of previously published work related to active learning in information systems (IS) courses. Background: There are a rising number of strategies in higher education that offer promise in regards to getting students’ attention and helping them learn, such as flipped classrooms and offering courses online. These learning strategies are part of the pedagogical technique known as active learning. Active learning is a strategy that became popular in the early 1990s and has proven itself as a valid tool for helping students to be engaged with learning. Methodology: This work follows a systematic method for identifying and coding previous research based on an aspect of interest. The authors identified and assessed research through a search of ABI/Inform scholarly journal abstracts and keywords, as well as additional research databases, using the search terms “active learning” and “information systems” from 2000 through June 2016. Contribution: This...
AIS Transactions on Replication Research
There is a considerable controversy regarding laptop usage in the classroom, with some studies ar... more There is a considerable controversy regarding laptop usage in the classroom, with some studies arguing the benefits of laptops in the classroom and others suggesting that a laptop free environment is superior. In an effort to address this controversy, Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) conducted three different experiments to determine whether typing notes on a laptop or handwriting notes in a notebook impacted academic performance. This research replicated the first of these experiments in a classroom environment as opposed to a lab environment. The original study found that students who did not use laptops for note-taking in class performed better on conceptual application questions, while our study found that students who do not use laptops for note-taking in class performed better on factual recall questions instead. Our updated findings suggest there is more work to do to understand the longhand versus laptop debate.
Journal of the Midwest Association for Information Systems
Small-scale retail and service businesses often do not have the knowledge, skills, time or money ... more Small-scale retail and service businesses often do not have the knowledge, skills, time or money to develop an online web presence. These small businesses recognize that in order to be competitive they need to use technology and have an online presence in order to attract customers. At the same time, research suggests that students can benefit from projects that provide real world experience. Community-based, experiential service learning offers a way for students to work on realistic and valuable projects while benefitting small-scale retail and service business owners. Therefore, this research uses experiential service learning as a way to meet the web development needs of small businesses while providing students with a real world educational experience. This study presents the findings in terms of impact and lessons learned from a student partnership with small-scale businesses from a small community for experiential service learning website development.
Information Systems and e-Business Management
Communications of the Association for Information Systems
Study abroad courses are becoming an important part of an information systems and technology educ... more Study abroad courses are becoming an important part of an information systems and technology education. These types of courses provide students with rich educational experiences, introducing them to different cultures, languages, and work practices that prepare them to work in the global market, as well as providing them the opportunity to use collaborative team skills. While the research suggests that these study abroad experiences are necessary and valuable, coordinating these types of study abroad experiences from the faculty perspective can be a difficult task. This research presents an example case of one such study abroad experience in the form of an academic exchange; it also highlights the findings and lessons learned. The findings in this instance may be generalizable to other academic exchange and study abroad experiences.
Communications of the Association for Information Systems
As global, virtual teams become more prevalent in the workplace, it is imperative that we, as edu... more As global, virtual teams become more prevalent in the workplace, it is imperative that we, as educators, prepare IS students for this trend. Offshoring, virtual teams, and globalization are themes often discussed in the classroom, but students rarely experience these concepts. This paper is a case study of three globally distributed universities worked together on a project in order to equip students with knowledge and experience about these trends in an IS context. In spring 2008, students from a technical management course in the USA, a project development course in the USA, and a programming course in India worked in teams to propose, design, develop, and test software prototypes. The case study in this paper presents the three phases of this project: 1) planning, 2) execution, and 3) reflection. The planning phase includes the identification of teams, tasks, and technology. The execution phase includes challenges and successes that can be avoided or enhanced in future iterations. Finally, the reflection phase presents lessons learned from the student and instructor perspective as well as perceived value of the project across students, instructors, and industry representatives. In general, students perceived this project to be quite valuable for their future careers and successful as a learning experience, but the project was not without its challenges throughout.
Journal of the Association for Information Systems
Metaverses are immersive three-dimensional virtual worlds in which people interact as avatars wit... more Metaverses are immersive three-dimensional virtual worlds in which people interact as avatars with each other and with software agents, using the metaphor of the real world but without its physical limitations. The ubiquitous availability of high speed Internet access has spurred enormous interest in virtual worlds like Second Life and World of Warcraft, both in terms of user gaming and as a new technological platform for global virtual collaboration. These environments have potential for richer, more engaging collaboration, but their capabilities have yet to be examined in depth. Of particular interest in this paper is the use of metaverses for virtual team collaboration. We develop a conceptual model for research in metaverses that is based on five key constructs: (1) the metaverse itself, (2) people/avatars, (3) metaverse technology capabilities, (4) behaviors, and (5) outcomes. We present an indepth characterization of metaverse technology capabilities from a socio-technical view that recognizes the potential for variation in emergent interaction and in outcomes. Example propositions and a discussion of key issues and challenges show how the model can be used to further research and practice in virtual teams in the context of these new environments.
Metaverses, like Second Life and Teleplace, and the inherent technology capabilities that they of... more Metaverses, like Second Life and Teleplace, and the inherent technology capabilities that they offer continue to be of interest for rese:u-chers, practitioners, and educators. Due to this trend, and the uncertainty regarding immersive virtual experiences as contrasted with face-to-face experiences, there is a need to further tmderstand the ethical challenges associated with this virtual context. Tllis paper presents a starting point for discussing ethics in virtual worlds. Specifically, we review virtual worlds and their unique technology capabilities as well as the ethi.cal considerations tl1at arise due to these tulique capabilities.
Trust in virtual teams: solved or still a mystery?
Acm Sigmis Database, 2009
Trust was one of the most prominent topics of early research in virtual teams, highlighted by the... more Trust was one of the most prominent topics of early research in virtual teams, highlighted by the emergence of the theory of swift trust. As researchers continue to study this topic, it is important to understand what problems have been solved as well as what aspects of trust in virtual teams remain a mystery. We address this goal by presenting
Understanding Methodological Differences to Study Convergence in Group Support System Sessions
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2008
... LM, Nunamaker, JF: Electronic brainstorming and group size. Academy of Management Journal 35(... more ... LM, Nunamaker, JF: Electronic brainstorming and group size. Academy of Management Journal 35(2), 350369 (1992) 15. Bouchard Jr., TJ, Hare, M.: Size Performance, and Potential in Brainstorming Groups. Journal of Applied Psychology 54(1), 5155 (1970) 16. Brennan, RL ...
2007 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'07), 2007
Organizational change brings about a number of behaviors that are seen to run counter to the impl... more Organizational change brings about a number of behaviors that are seen to run counter to the implementation of the information systems. These behaviors may be seen as jeopardizing the success of the change process and the success of the information system. This paper investigates the resistance to change using a change management game conducted with senior level employees and partners of a top four consulting company. While the task was based on a real organizational transformation, the participants were also going through the same real experiences. Following analysis of resistance to change behaviors, this paper provides insight into the ways in which resistance to change can be mitigated. The contribution of this paper is in the discovery of change management behaviors as they relate to organizational transformation and information systems development.
Member Engagement Types in Online Communities
Innoflation: Crowding out basic marketing thinking
Getting the measure of online peer-to-peer communication: The internet and social networks may have opened up new channels for buzz marketers, but they must play by the first rile of marketing
Developing a Technology Supported Collaborative Strategic Planning Process for Higher Education
ABSTRACT The process of strategic planning generally requires a large group of individuals work t... more ABSTRACT The process of strategic planning generally requires a large group of individuals work together to diverge and converge on a vision, mission, and core values. Research suggests these activities are critical for the advancement of a group task. However, this type of group work is time consuming and it has been shown to be a slow and painful process. The goal of this research is to develop and test a repeatable collaborative process for strategic planning in an Information Systems department within a College of Business at a medium-sized U.S. public university. The repeatable collaborative process in this research uses group support system technology and facilitation. Survey results and qualitative comments from the IS department participants show that satisfaction related to the strategic planning experience was high and that that the process was a success both from an individual and group perspective.
American Journal of Business, 2007
This paper describes the concept of mutual knowledge and its potential impact on virtual team per... more This paper describes the concept of mutual knowledge and its potential impact on virtual team performance. Based on an analysis of extant literature, we argue that there is a gap in our understanding of what is known about mutual knowledge as it impacts team dynamics and virtual team performance. Supporting literature, anecdotes, and case studies are used to discuss the importance of mutual knowledge for virtual team performance and the research issues that need to be addressed in the future.
Understanding Continuance of Using VoIP Applications to Improve Intercultural Communication
International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2012
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a cost-effective medium to help learners improve their int... more Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a cost-effective medium to help learners improve their intercultural communication competency. However, the proliferation of VoIP applications has not accelerated the mass adoption of VoIP technology by users for the purposes of intercultural communication training. This study investigates the possibility of using VoIP technology as a learning tool to educate and train individuals to improve their intercultural communication. The perspectives of information and system qualities are adopted to investigate how to enhance users’ satisfaction and intention to reuse a VoIP technology for intercultural communication competencies. Information quality, system quality, and perceived task technology fit are important predictors of satisfaction. Satisfied users are more likely to continue using a VoIP technology. To test the authors’ expectations, 93 American and 45 Taiwanese subjects participated in a four-week experiment to virtually converse with each ...
Engineering for Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, 2009
Engineering for Interdisciplinary Collaboration (9781605666525): John D. Murphy, Alanah J. Davis,... more Engineering for Interdisciplinary Collaboration (9781605666525): John D. Murphy, Alanah J. Davis, Justin M. Yurkovich: Book Chapters.
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Papers by Alanah Mitchell