Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1. E-Biz team process model
Core Business
& Technical
Courses
New
Technical
Skill Sets
Structured Engagement Process
Active
Communication
with Clients
Team-
building
Exercises
Scheduled
Milestones
Consulting
Role Play
Project Buy-in
from Students
Well-Defined
Expectations
PROJECT OUTCOMES AND CONCLUSIONS
The actual prototype projects and the responses of the client companies to them have
been very good. Students are able to understand and implement basic e-commerce business
models, and show a high degree of interest in learning and applying Web technologies.
Beyond that tangible outcome, however, student learning and attitudes toward team projects
were of interest in the ongoing development of this class.
Data Gathering Methodology
To statistically gauge the effect of process changes, a simple pre and post project
anonymous survey was conducted for the Fall 2000 and 2001 classes. Of the 47 students who
took the class in 2000, results were mixed about past projects, but expectations were positive
going into the project on the potential for learning with live companies. Representative
questions on expectations and outcomes are shown in Table 1.
Section 1 is the day class and consists of more traditional students. They typically
reflect lower expectations going into the project and lower perceived learning outcomes than
the evening section, consisting of more working students. This could be a reflection of
additional maturity in the evening section as well as more actual work and team experience.
Participation was judged to be more equal for this project than on others students had
experienced in their major, although obviously not to the level the instructor would have liked.
Outcomes for the Fall 2001 semester with 58 students are shown in Table 2 but reflect
few changes that can declare the new processes successful. The students' state of mind given
the difficulties on the economic and world fronts could certainly have impacted their entire
