Moral conflicts in project‐based learning in ISD
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of moral conflicts in information systems development by studying student perceptions in an information systems (IS) project course implemented in close collaboration with information technology firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on an empirical case study. Students' perceptions of moral conflicts were gathered through diaries, drawings, and questionnaires; and the analysis was inspired by phenomenography.
Findings
The analysis reveals six types of moral conflicts. Students face conflicts related to their work tasks and to human and outside parties, and inherent in them is an inclination to moral failure in terms of doing something they perceive to be morally wrong, and also the desire for moral success in resolving the conflicts as well as possible. Students practicing the project manager's job confronted the most difficult moral conflicts.
Practical implications
The just IS student project community is suggested as a way of integrating ethics into IS education, and extending the research on moral conflicts to the business context is recommended.
Originality/value
The paper offers two contributions. First, it develops the research on IS and project‐based learning (PjBL) from a moral perspective and second, it facilitates ethics integration into IS education in the PjBL context.
Keywords
Citation
Vartiainen, T. (2010), "Moral conflicts in project‐based learning in ISD", Information Technology & People, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 265-280. https://doi.org/10.1108/09593841011069167
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited