Abstract
From 1991 to 1993, I conducted a qualitative investigation of the influence of open discourse on technicism in a University Business Computing Course. I discontinued the research on realizing, through a reflective self-study, that I had acted unethically. To address this breach of ethics, I conducted a psychology-oriented inquiry, from 1993 to 1996, to delve deeply, using heuristic reflection, into the nature, and possible healing, of the causes of my research short-comings both in theory and practice. The change in research approach and direction rested upon my growing awareness of the importance of art, symbolic interpretation of experience, and spirituality. In this paper, I outline background theory and reflective heuristically on both the teaching reform and its failure.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Campbell Williams received two bachelor’s degrees in science and architecture (honors). He began his career in the architecture and building industry. After his research degrees, Dr. Williams moved into tertiary, secondary and community computing education, followed by computing consulting and training, in Australia and in the Republic of Kiribati. Dr. Williams spent nine years lecturing in management information systems and business computing at Edith Cowan University (ECU). Currently, in addition to researching, teaching, and administration, he is part of the team for the new Doctorate of Business Administration (Information Systems) at ECU, which is based around electronic commerce, co-coordinating an “Information Warfare and Security” unit, in Perth, Singarpore, and Hong Kong. His research interests are in the use of soft systems methodology in education and management and information systems practice, the self-study of teaching practice and professional practice, symbolic interpretationer.
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Williams, M.C. A self-study of teaching reform in a University Business Computing Course: “...it all went wrong...”. J. Comput. High. Educ. 12, 31–56 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03032713
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03032713