Problem-based Redesign of the BIS Curriculum

Teaching Business Information Systems programs faces increased pressure from several sources. On the one hand the underlying field of IT and technologies change rapidly, on the other future employers of BIS graduates have diverging expectation (which has also been changing). Furthermore, digital savviness of students and their expectations towards highly technological teaching solutions is increasing, while new pedagogical methods gaining ground as well. To meet these challenges - further complicated with the demand for blended learning solution by the recent pandemic - require higher education institutions to find new ways of delivering BIS degree programs. The approach reported in this paper proposes the redesign of the full curriculum (instead of just 'fixing' individual courses). Such redesign is organized around the TOGAF framework and utilizes problem-based learning and online education pushed to the extreme. Elements of the proposal (called BIPER) has been tested in the context of a Summer School using VR technology and online collaboration tools. © 2022 IEEE.

Reconsidering the Challenges of BIS Education in Light of the COVID Pandemic

So far, the biggest challenge for a comprehensive Business Information Systems (BIS) education curriculum was the fast-changing nature of its target market and the resulting demand for a combination of up-to-date technical knowledge, organization-centred mindset, and adaptive skills. However, advances in pedagogical methods, changes in the skills of high-school graduates, and widening online options in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic brought on a new set of expectations. This situation may be considered an opportunity to address the threat of potentially increasing mismatch and misalignment between competences required by the IS industry labour market and current training contents offered and methods used by higher education institutions. This paper provides a systematic and comprehensive overview of the challenges BIS programs have to face and address. It considers everyday experiences of BIS educators and current best practices as starting point. Then provides an overview of employer and alumni opinion, as well as reviews up-to-date teaching methods related to teaching soft computer skills. It also considers the requirements and opportunities related to an increasingly online-centred situation. Based on these challenges the paper lays down the foundation for a potential curriculum design approach intended to address all of the above issues in an integrated framework. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.