Note: This website is under development. The concepts expressed here are still under development and may be revised substantially before the journal prints its first issue.

TJIS: The Teaching Journal of Information Systems

General Editor: Patricia Sendall, Merrimack College
General Editor: Wendy Ceccucci, Quinnipiac University
Supervising Editor: Don Colton, Brigham Young University Hawaii

The Mission of the Teaching Journal of Information Systems is to make available peer-reviewed teaching materials in the field of Information Systems for the benefit of new teachers and others desiring to improve their teaching approach.

The Classical TJIS Article

The classical example of a TJIS article would address a single IS course actually taught during one or more semesters or terms, and authored by one or more of the faculty members that did the teaching. The paper would be written for an audience of teachers who are confronting the task of teaching a similar course, and who feel unprepared or who want to look at alternate approaches for inspiration. The article would generally include the following elements:

The title will begin with identification of the IS 2002 (or other year) model curriculum course that most nearly matches the course being taught, then the word "at", then the abbreviated name of the college or university at which the course was taught, then a colon, then the course title used. For example:

IS 2002.8 at BYUH: Data Bases and Data Files

An abstract is provided. It is a single paragraph and its length is 1000 characters or less. It identifies important conclusions.

Keywords may be provided, but should not say anything that is obvious from the course number or knowledge of its objectives.

Section 1 is entitled "1. Target Outcomes" and identifies the desired outcomes of teaching this course at this university at this time. Where the outcomes differ from model curriculum outcomes, this difference is made explicit. If it seems relevant, a brief justification may also be provided.

For example: ... At our university, students taking this course are expected to learn the following objectives when taking XXX course before taking this course.

Or: ... We also felt it important to include the following objectives in this course. ...

Section 2 is entitled "2. Our Setting" and identifies the major variables going into this course. Here are some examples of variables. (1) Is the course taught in a semester format, a quarter format, an open entry open exit format, or an online format? (2) How many credit hours are awarded for its completion? (3) What book is being used? (4) What is a typical class size? (5) What is the age of a typical student? (6) What is the ratio of males to females in the class? (7) What is the language of the class, and what is the ratio of native speakers to non-native speakers in the class? (8) What other background issues might be important, such as economic background, typical parental educational background, or attitudes toward work or homework. These examples are meant to be suggestive, not perscriptive. The guiding principle should be a belief that the characteristic helps explain the particular outcomes achieved, or a belief that other people may expect it to influence the outcomes achieved.

Section 3 is entitled "3. Our Special Approach" and states anything special or unusual about the approach you are taking, and includes some clarification for why you are using this approach and/or what you hope to gain by this special approach.

Thereafter the paper includes such information as the following: (1) a timeline for the course, (2) a list of readings for the course, (3) a list of assignments for the course, (4) a complete statement of important assignments, (5) a rubric for grading the assignment, (6) the contribution (weight) of each assignment toward the total grade, (7) a statement of any unexpected difficulties or surprising successes achieved, (8) a statement of lessons learned by the teacher about how to teach specific concepts or achieve specific goals.

The main body of the paper should be written in largely narrative form, as if talking to an audience. Examples of the syllabus and handouts distributed to students woul be appropriate in one or more appendix, but are generally not appropriate in the main body of the paper. Small tables of, for example, results may be appropriate in the main body, but larger tables of results should be expressed in the appendices.

Double blind review will be conducted using at least three reviewers. By double blind we mean that the reviewers will not be told the identity of the authors or institution, and the authors will not be told the identities of the reviewers. Reviews, sanitized as appropriate, will be returned or made available to the authors. Final approval of an article for publication will be based on the judgment of one or more assigned editors, based on the reviewer comments and on his or her own subsequent reading of the paper. In cases of substantial doubt, additional editors will also review the paper.

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