ENGAGING AND INFORMING BUSINESS STUDENTS THROUGH GROUP WORK IN THE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS COURSE

Mohammad Dadashzadeh
Oakland University

ABSTRACT

Primarily lecture-oriented, survey courses such as the required business core curriculum
course in Management Information Systems (MIS) can be shaped to include collaborative
assignments that complement lectures with additional research that will resolve some of the
conflict between coverage and depth inherent in a survey course. This study describes a group
project that has been used effectively in the introductory MIS course since 2010. Students with
structured help are guided towards greater autonomy for active, deep learning of an assigned
Information Technology (IT) topic and question. The project’s initial individual deliverable
structured as a low-hanging fruit emphasizes team building and participation with group
cohesiveness as an implicit reward that carries to subsequent group project and class activities. A
clear path to extending the project for emphasizing critical thinking skills is also described that
makes the project equally useful in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) version of the
MIS course.

Keywords: Introductory MIS course, IS curriculum, active learning, collaborative learning, project-based
learning, pedagogy, teaching approach