Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter XXV
Business Students as
End-User Developers:
Simulating “Real-Life”
Situations through Case
Study Approach
Sandra Barker
University of South Australia, Australia
ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the introduction of “real-life” scenarios to undergraduate business
students to enhance their understanding of end-user development of databases is
investigated. The problems experienced with end-user development due to incomplete
information, incorrect design procedures, and inadequate software knowledge are
identified. It is the hope of the author that by identifying the design issue relevant to good
database production and using “real-life” case studies as insight into how businesses use
and store data, the students will be more aware of good practice for their future employment.
INTRODUCTION
With the increasing number of PCs available in business and the proliferation of
relatively inexpensive application (4GL) software, employers are increasingly requiring
business graduates to have some knowledge of the concepts of application development
(Barker & Monday, 2000; Monday, 2001). Edberg and Bowman (1996) defined user-devel-
oped applications (UDAs) as “any computer-based application for which non-IS profession-
als (end-users) assume primary development responsibility.”
