I have a problem with an assignment in my face-to-face Management Information Systems
class. At the end of each 2-week module, the current out-of-class assignment has student
teams creating a summary of the key topics from the chapters and cases in the module.
They are supposed to relate each of approximately 6-8 key topics to the theme of the
module, demonstrate an understanding of the topic, and give examples of how businesses
have used or can use the topics to compete in the market place. The goals are for students
to be able to separate the important from the less important, and to give them the tools to
make better decisions in the future. The problem with this assignment is that teams have
taken a divide and conquer approach, and freeloading has become a problem, even in the
face of impending peer evaluations. I am also getting brain dumps and summaries of entire
chapters and cases, instead of the summaries of a few key topics. In order to reach my
goals for the assignment and to eliminate the freeloading problem, I need your help to
redesign it while I still have 3 modules yet to cover. If I could somehow find a way to
revise the assignment then I am confident I could dramatically improve the class.
Ken Gunnells, Ph.D.
COLLAT School of Business, Management Information Systems & Quantitative Methods
UAB | The University of Alabama at Birmingham
205-222-0871