Abstract
Purpose Teaching management information systems (MIS) fundamental course remains a challenging task to date, encountering several continuing complaints from students as well as instructors, as per several studies. Several reasons are reported, some of which are related to little embrace of more innovative non-traditional techniques, and limited literature guidance on selection and effective use of appropriate strategies to various settings. Toward instructional innovation, this paper proposes and tests a pedagogical instrument. By introducing this tool, the ultimate objective is to minimize the confusion that students usually encounter during this course and to empower the instructors in the delivery of its interdisciplinary knowledge. Design/methodology/approach A triangulation of four methods is being employed: conceptual development, experimentation for 12 years, assessment in light of the self-regulated learning theory, and empirical analysis. For the latter method, an open-ended questionnaire as well as group interviewing were carried out. Findings The proposed instrument (need-function instrument [NFI]) was found to be in support of self-regulated learning to a promising extent in terms of its four core aspects. The participants were more inclined to accept as well as appreciate the instrument than report drawbacks. Yet, there are few complaints for the inability to distinguish between two introduced terms, 'Information Problem' and 'Operations Problem'. Therefore, a future effort is deemed necessary to explore this aspect. Research limitations/implications The results are based on a single case of educational institution which is not enough to generalize for other educational environments. Future research is necessary for testing in a variety of settings in terms of type of classroom, number of students enrolled, type of institution (public or private), etc. Practical implications Whereas the instrument is anticipated to render improvements in the students' understanding of MIS content and to alleviate the task of the course leader in delivering the course, there are possible practical implications that should be paid careful attention to. They were analyzed in terms of four dimensions: the Instructor, the Student, the Classroom and Time. Originality/value The paper introduces a new pedagogical instrument/tool for teaching the MIS fundamental course.