Critical Thinking Perspectives on Work Integrated Learning in Information Systems Education

Authors: A. Harmse, R. Goede

Abstract:

Students with high level skills are in demand, especially in scare skill environments. If universities wish to be successful and competitive, its students need to be adequately equipped with the necessary tools. Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is an essential component of the education of a student. The relevance of higher education should be assessed in terms of how it meets the needs of society and the world of work in a global economy. This paper demonstrates how to use Habermas's theory of communicative action to reflect on students- perceptions on their integration in the work environment to achieve social integration and financial justification. Interpretive questionnaires are used to determine the students- view of how they are integrated into society, and contributing to the economy. This paper explores the use of Habermas-s theory of communicative action to give theoretical and methodological guidance for the practice of social findings obtained in this inquiry.

Keywords: Discourse, Habermas, Information Systems Education, Theory of Communicative Action, Work Integrated Learning.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1084450

References:

[1] S. Gregor, B. R. Von Konsky, R. Hart et al., "The ICT Profession and the Body of Knowledge," in Australian Computer Society, Sydney, 2008, pp. 34.
[2] Department of labour, ICT skills in the labour market: An occupationallevel analysis focusing on computer professionals and associate professionals 1996 - 2005, 2008.
[3] Council on Higher Education, "Work-integrated learning: Good practice guide," HE Monitor, C. o. H. Education, ed., Council of Higher Education, 2011, p. 81.
[4] C. Patrick, D. Peach, and C. Pocknee, The WIL (Work Integrated Learning) report: A national scoping study, Brisbane, 2009.
[5] J. Dimenäs, "Beyond dichotomization: A different way of understanding work integrated learning," Journal of Cooperative Education & Internships, (442, http://www.ceiainc.org/journal.asp?PageID=230&Document_ID=4209, (28 November 2011, 2010).
[6] C. Brooke, "What does it mean to be 'critical' in IS research?," Journal of Information Technology, vol. 17, pp. 49-57, 2002.
[7] W. Cukier, O. Ngwenyama, R. Bauer et al., "A critical analysis of media discourse on information technology: preliminary results of a proposed method for critical discourse analysis," Information Systems Journal, vol. 19, pp. 175-196, 2009.
[8] J. Habermas, On the pragmatics of commumication, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1998.
[9] S. Szczkulen, "Exploding cinema 1992-199: culture and democracy ", University of Westminister, London, 2002.
[10] R. J. Varey, and T. Wood-Harper, "A theoretical review of management and information systems using a critical communications theory," Journal of Information Technology, vol. 17, pp. 229-239, 2002.
[11] M. S. H. Heng, and A. de Moor, "From Habermas's communicative theory to practice on the internet," Information Systems Journal, vol. 13, pp. 331-352, 2003.
[12] S. K. Puri, and S. Sahay, "Participation through communicative action: A case study for GIS for addressing land/water development in India," Information Technology for Development, vol. 10, pp. 179-199, 2003.
[13] W. Ulrich. "A brief introduction to critical system heuristics (CSH)," 20 December 2011; http://projects.kmi.open.ac.uk/ecosensus/publications/ulrich_csh_intro.p df.
[14] G. Midgley, Systemic intervention: Philosophy, methodology and Practice, New York: Plenum, 2000.