Student Projects as a Funding Source
Authors: Kerry L. Henson
Year: 2010

1. INTRODUCTION General trends in information systems curricula include greater exposure to technology and expanded exposure to real-world experiences. As business needs demand an ever dynamic set of development tools and technology platforms (Lee and Mirchandani, 2009), the impetus for information systems programs to expose students to a variety of tools and technologies has also increased. Regardless the amount of emphasis an academic information systems program places on technical vis-a-vis managerial abilities, exposing students to technology-based tools is necessary. Acquisition and support for such technology can be costly, prompting institutions to look to new funding sources, especially in lean economic times. This paper will describe an approach taken at one institution in building loose relationships with businesses and agencies at the convergence of real-world student projects and external funding. While providing rationale and reflections upon real-world student projects based in the literature and personal experience, the primary focus here will be the impact of requesting contributions from the external client upon the project experience from the student's, client's and instructor's perspectives. Its context is lessons learned in incorporating group and individual real-world projects into Internet development courses. Emphasis is placed upon how this project structure has been adapted to create a funding source for a student computer lab. This adaptation faces many of the same issues associated with any real-world project structure; however, when external funds are requested, certain issues are accentuated and new concerns are introduced. The strategy can be successful, yet it also has several inherent pitfalls that should be avoided. 2. NEEDS: EXPOSURE TO THE REAL-WORLD Exposing IS/IT students to the applied, in addition to the theoretical, has been thoroughly documented with root of the discussion traced back to Reginald Revans and David Kolb. Revans' (1971, pp. 105-106) action learning proposes that learning occurs as one reformulates existing knowledge through application when challenged by examining a real-time problem. Kolb's (1984, pp. 42) experiential learning theory suggests a student learns by testing concepts derived from reflecting upon "experience" or applying the conceptual. Information technology curriculum guidelines recognize non-lecture learning activities in that "students are unlikely to acquire the practical knowledge described in the learning outcomes without a significant experiential learning component in their program of study" (Lunt et al., 2008, pp. 28-29). Instructors put the theory to practical use in the classroom using a variety of exercises and activities. For instance, Czajkowski et al. (2001) describe student groups examining the usability of mechanical designs and instructors at the author's institution have used Bill Geraats' Bridge Game in project management classes. For more comprehensive experiences, term-long case studies and hypothetical, in-class projects are often used. Examples include Harris and Vaught's (2008) as well as Steiger's (2009) database projects. However, the "experience" in experiential and active learning can also be facilitated through partnerships with entities outside the classroom in a variety of ways. Semester and summer internships have long been a valuable path for students to gain job experience both within the institution (Van Over and Dangerfield, 1993) and in conjunction with external firms (Goddard, 1974). As a class project, students have developed applications for administrative departments at their institution (Stutzman, 2004; Magboo and Magboo, 2003) and for-profit businesses external to the university (Parker and Holcombe, 1999). Service learning, although obtaining recent emphasis, has for some time facilitated student projects (Erickson and Leidig, 1997; Heinrichs, 1987; Jamieson, 2002; Tan and Phillips, 2005). …