This page contains details of how you can contact me, my qualifications, teaching, supervision, publications, research interests, seminars given, other activities, consulting, at play and photography.

How to contact me

Business Building, room 1.14
ph: +61 03 54447340
fax: +61 03 54447998
email: c.cope@latrobe.edu.au

Qualifications

B.Sc (Hons) (Melbourne)
Dip. Ed. (Melb. State College)
Grad. Dip.Data Proc. (FIT)
M. Ed. (Tasmania)
PhD (La Trobe)

Teaching

I teach in the Programming and Information Systems streams. Specific subjects I have taught recently are:

Information Systems, Information Systems Development, Information Systems Practise, Management Information Systems, IT Teaching Method, Programming Environment, Programming Concepts, Object Oriented Programming Funadamentals, Research Methods, Business Communication (similar to Professional Environment), Business Programming, Industry Based Learning, Industry Experience Year, Major Projects and Minor Projects.

My experience also allows me to teach Database, IT Fundamentals and Multimedia.

Supervision

I am currently supervising:

Bill Davey (PhD) - Understanding the critical capabilities needed by information system consultants to construct effective conversations with clients.

Bill is no ordinary PhD student. He is a senior lecturer in the Department of Business IT at RMIT. He has a long publication record and has supervised PhD students himself. He is progressing well towards a timely completion.

I have recently supervised:

Jeremy Fowler (MSc) - Failure to success: A case study of an imperative information system. (Now successfully completed).

Publications

Refereed Books

Cope, C.J. (2006). Beneath the Surface: The Experience of Learning about Information Systems, Santa Rosa, CA: Informing Science Press.

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International Journals

Cope, C.J. & Staehr, L. (2008). Improving teaching and learning about a threshold concept in the IS discipline. Informing Science, 11, 349-364.

Cope, C.J. & Prosser, M. (2005). Identifying didactic knowledge: An empirical study of the educationally critical aspects of learning about information systems. Higher Education, 49, 3, 345-372.

Cope, C.J.& Staehr, L. (2005). Improving students' learning approaches through intervention in an information systems learning environment. Studies in Higher Education, 30, 2, 181-198.

Cope, C.J. (2004). Ensuring validity and reliability in phenomenographic research using the analytical framework of a structure of awareness. Qualitative Research Journal, 4, 2, 5-18.

Cope, C.J. (2003). Educationally critical characteristics of deep approaches to learning about the concept of an information system. Journal of IT Education, 2, 415-427.

Cope, C.J. (2002). Educationally critical aspects of the concept of an information system. Informing Science Journal, 5, 2, 67-78.

Cope, C.J. (2002). Successfully integrating technology into classrooms: The importance of teachers' perceptions. Educational Technology and Society, 5, 1, 67-74.

Cope, C.J., Horan, P. & Garner, M. (1997). Conceptions of information systems and their use in teaching about IS, Informing Science Journal, 1,1,8-22.

Cope, C.J. & Horan, P. (1997). The Role Played Case: An Experiential Approach to Teaching Introductory Information Systems Development, Journal of Information Systems Education, 8,67-74 2&3, 33-39.

Refereed Chapters in Edited Books

Cope, C.J., Staehr, L. & Horan, P. (2002). Towards Establishing the Best Ways to Teach and Learn about IT, in Cohen, E. (Ed.), The Challenge of IT Education in the 21st Century, Idea Group Publishing.

International Peer-refereed Conferences

Davey, B. & Cope, C. (2009). Consultants' Experience of Requirements Elicitation Conversations - An Empirical Model. 17th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS2009, Verona, Italy, 8-10 June.

Davey, B. & Cope, C. (2008). Requirements Elicitation. What's Missing? Journal of Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology (IISIT), 5, 543-551.

Fowler, J., Horan, P. & Cope, C. (2007). How an “Imperative” IS Development was Saved from a Failing Course of Action – A Case Study, Journal of Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology (IISIT), 4, 395-406.

Cope, C.J. (2006). Improving teaching and learning about threshold concepts: the example of confidence intervals. Symposium on Threshold Concepts, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, August 29 - September 1.

Cope, C.J. (2002). Seeking meaning: The educationally critical aspect of learning about information systems, Proceedings of IS'2002, Cork, Ireland, 19th - 21st June.

Cope, C.J. and Ward, P. (2001). Teachers' perceptions of learning technologies: An informing issue in high school education. Proceedings of IS'2001, Crakow University of Economics, Cracow, Poland, 19th - 22nd June.

Staehr, L. & Cope C.J. (1999). A New Model for Teaching Information Systems? Proceedings of ISAS'99, Florida, USA.

Cope, C.J. & Horan, P. (1994) An Alternative Curriculum for Introductory Information System Students, Proceedings of the Eleventh Information Systems Education Conference, Louisville, US, October 28-30, pp. 167-173.

National Peer-refereed Conferences

Taylor, C. and Cope, C.J. (2007). Are there educationally critical aspects in the concept of evolution. Proceedings of UniServe, University of Sydney, 28th - 30th September.

Lister, R., Berglund, A., Box, I., Cope, C. J. et al. (2007). Differing Ways that Computing Academics Understand Teaching. Proceedings of the 9th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE2007), University of Ballarat, Ballarat, January 30 - February 2.

Cope, C.J., (2003). A framework for using learning technologies in higher education to enhance the quality of students' learning outcomes . Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE), (Eds. Crisp, Thiele, Scholten, Barker and Baron), ASCILITE, Adelaide, December 7-10, 134-141.

Cope, C.J. (2000). Educationally critical aspects of a deep understanding of the concept of an information system. Proceedings of the Fourth Australasian Computing Education Conference, Monash University, 4 - 6 December 2000.

Cope, C.J. and Horan, P. (1998). Toward an understanding of teaching and learning about information systems, Proceedings of the Third Australasian Computer Science Education Conference, Brisbane, July 8-10th, 188-197.

Other Conferences

Cope C.J. (2006). Improving teaching about threshold concepts. In C. Rust (Ed.) Improving Student Learning: Improving Student Learning Through Teaching, Proceedings of the 14th Improving Student Learning Symposium, 229-239, Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development: Oxford University.

Cope, C.J. (2002).Using the analytical framework of a structure of awareness to establish validity and reliability in phenomenographic research. Proceedings of Current Issues in Phenomenography Symposium. Canberra: CEDAM, Australian National University.

Cope, C.J. (1997). Learning about information systems: A relational perspective, Proceedings of HERDSA'97, Adelaide, July 8-11.

Cope, C.J., Garner, M. & Prosser, M. (1996). Using phenomenographic perspectives in the classroom, Research and Development in Higher Education, 19, 125-129.

Keynote talks

A "simple" framework for using ICTs in learning activities to enhance the quality of students' learning outcomes. Leading Schools Fund Forum, Geelong, November 3rd, 2006.

Research interests

Current projects

Improving understanding of requirements elicitation conversations

Conversations between systems analysts and their clients as part of requirements elicitation are crucial to the success of IS development projects. There is evidence of problems with these conversations. Exisiting research into these conversations invloves considering the analyst's mind as a black box, applying treatments and measuring outcomes. This project investigates analysts' perceptions of the conversations. A phenomenographic research approach is being used by a PhD student to investigate analysts' experiences of what the conversations are about and how they are approached. The research aims to identify critical aspects of the types of conceptions and approaches likely to lead to successful outcomes. These critical aspects can then be used to improve IS practice and education. A publication reporting the justification for this study can be found here.

Organisational sub-cultures, information systems development and their associations

The high failure rate of information system development projects remains not fully understood. A number of aspects of development projects are known to be critical to success. However this knowledge has not lead to a reducation in the failure rate. A recent stream of research has been to investigate the role of organisational culture on the success of IS development projects. As part of this research a Masters student of mine has studied an IS development case to seek associations between organisational culture and the known success factors. The study uncovered a number of important associations. Future research is planned to improve understanding of these associations.

Threshold concepts

The notion of threshold concepts is a recent development in the student learning literature. Threshold concepts have been described by Erik Meyer of Durham University, UK and Ray Land of Strathclyde University, UK as portals which open up new and previously inaccessible ways of thinking about something. Threshold concepts are those concepts which bind a subject together and represent the pathway to new and more powerful ways of seeing and practising in a discipline. As such, threshold concepts represent crucial transformative points in curricula and students' learning experiences. Examples of threshold concepts include the concepts of complex numbers and limits in pure mathematics, opportunity cost in economics, recursion in computer programming and the concept of an information system as a social system with embedded IT rather than an IT-only system in information systems development.

Given the importance of threshold concepts it seems an efficient use of research resources to investigate how teaching and learning about threshold concepts can be improved. I have proposed an approach to researching teaching and learning about threshold concepts. This approach involves researching the educationally critical aspects of learning about a threshold concept, devising learning activities to address the educationally critical aspects, evaluating students' prior levels of understanding, implementing the new learning activities, and evaluating students' post levels of understanding. The following 3 research projects are implementing this approach.

Improving teaching and learning about threshold concepts: Information Systems

This research project has tackled all steps in my approach for improving teaching and learning about threshold concepts. Multiple previously unreported educationally critical aspects of the experience of learning about information systems have been identified. Learning activities based on a role played case study have been devised. The learning activities have been implemented. A short answer questionnaire has been completed by 30 students before and after the implementation of the learning activities. Analysis of the questionnaires is currently underway. A paper which has been accepted for publication in the journal Informing Science can be found here.

Improving teaching and learning about threshold concepts: Entity Relationship modelling

Along with my colleague Lorraine Staehr, I am currently interviewing 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students, academics and IT practitioners about their experiences of drawing Entity-Relationship (ER) diagrams. ER diagrams are a tool for desigining databases. The interviews are part of a research project funded by the School of Business and Department of IT investigating the educationally critical aspects of drawing ER diagrams. We have identified ER diagrams as a threshold concept in the development of deeper understandings of information systems. Threshold concepts are concepts which must be understood by students if their bigger picture understanding is to improve. They are also a concept which proves troublesome for students. Threshold and troublesome concepts are terms described by Professor Eric Meyer of Durham University, UK. Our research aims to improve teaching and learning about ER diagrams. Our search of the international IT education research literature indicates that very little is known about the best ways to teach ER diagrams.

Improving teaching and learning about threshold concepts: Confidence intervals

Along with two staff from the Mathematics Department I am investigating the educationally critical aspects of learning about confidence intervals. One textbook claims that confidence intervals is the big idea in statistics - equivalent to a threshold concept. The Maths staff are of the opinion that confidence intervals is a troublesone concept for students. So we are going to analyse students' answers to exam questions about confidence intervals to identify different levels of understanding of confidence intervals. We will then analyse the different student understandings in the light of the target understanding desired by the academic staff to identify the educationally critical aspects of learning aboiut confidence intervals. A paper reporting this research can be found here.

Improving teaching and learning about threshold concepts: Evolution

I am assisting Charlotte Taylor from the University of Sydney to investigate whether the concept of evolution as taught at the undergraduate level has educationally critical aspects. The suggestion in this project is that evolution may be a threshold concept in the biology discipline. If it is (or even if it isn't), identifying the educationally critical aspects can lead to improved teaching and learning. A phenomenographic research approach was used to analyse the exam answers of undergraduate students. The analysis sought to identify the apsects of the the concept of evolution in which there was a variation in understanding underlying the students' exam answers. Through comparing the variation in the students' understanding with a target understanding appropriate for undergraduates, the educationally critical "jumps" in understanding necessary to achieve the target understanding are identified. A conference paper reporting this research can be found here.

A "simple" framework for using ICTs in learning activities to enhance the quality of students' learning outcomes

I am a critical friend of Portland Secondary College. In 2004 I helped the School put together an application for a Leading Schools Fund grant. The application was based on using partnerships in student learning, ICT and changes to assessment to improve students' engagement and learning approaches. The application was successful.

Since 2006 I have been helping teachers at Portland to incorporate ICTs into their learning activities in such away that students will be more likely to use deep learning approaches. A number of learning activities have been designed, implemented and evaluated. I am currently writing a paper reporting this research.

Past projects

Organisational sub-cultures, IS development and their associations.

IS development projects continue to fail despite an understanding of the development factors which influence success and failure. It has been proposed that knowledge of these factors has not improved the proportion of successful IS development projects because the impact of organisational culture has not been studied as part of the existing research. A Masters student has conducted a critical hermeneutic case study of an IS development project that went from success to failure. The study highlighted the importance of the knowledge of the project manager in IS development. As well as understanding the technicalities of IS development, project managers need an understanding of he impacts of organisational, be able to identify the cultures at play andinfluence thos cultures where necessary. A publication reporting this research can be found here.

Educationally critical aspects of the experience of learning about information systems

In February 2000 I completed a PhD which investigated the educationally critical aspects of the experience of learning about the concept of an information system. A PDF version of the thesis is available. Normal copyright resrtictions apply. A paper reporting the main results of the thesis has been published in the respected international journal Higher Education (see my Publications). A book based on the thesis has been published.

Improving students' learning approaches through intervention in an information systems learning environment.

I am more generally interested in developing and evaluating experiential ways of teaching and learning about information system development. Colleagues Pat Horan, Lorraine Staehr and I have recently had a chapter published in the book - Challenges of IT Education in the 21st Century - published by Idea group Publishing. Our chapter is titled Towards Establishing the Best Ways to Teach and Learn about IT and collates our research in the area since 1994.

I have also been involved with Lorraine in an action research project to evaluate changes we have made to the subject IS Development over the past 6 years. The teaching strategy for this subject has been altered from a lecture/tutorial to a small student group teaching approach. A paper on our successful changes has been published in the top international journal Studies in Higher Education (see my Publications).

Secondary school teachers perceptions of learning technologies

I have completed a research project at Euroa Secondary College with my friend Peter Ward aimed at monitoring and improving the use and understanding of learning technologies by staff and students. Executive Summary   Full Report. This research has also been published in two conference proceedings and an international journal article (see my Publications).

Seminars given

Other Activities

• editor of the Journal of Information Technology Education
• reviewer for the Journal of Information Systems Education
• on the Program Committee for the Fifth and Sixth Australasian Computing Education Conferences in Dunedin in January, 2004.
• on the Program Committee of the IRMA2005 International Conference (Information Resources Management Association)
• involvement as a track chair in the organisation of the Informing Science conferences in Krakow, Poland (2001) and Cork, Ireland (2002)
• on an international Reference Group for a research project titled Learning, Learning resources, and Learning environments in Computer Science and funded by the Committee for Educational Science of the Swedish Research Council. This research project funded my trip to Lund and Uppsala Universities in Sweden in 2003.
• engaging in the never-ending battle to keep my office semi-tidy.

Consulting

During 1988 and 1989 I was involved with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (or whatever it was called in those days) in developing an information system for the Freshwater Fisheries section. This IS stored details of the fish that anglers had caught in various waterbodies around Victoria and produced statistical data about the catches. The IS is used to assist with decisions concerning the stocking of the State's waterbodies with fish for angling purposes.

I was involved between 1990 and 1997 with the Rural Water Commission (now Coliban Water) in the analysis, design, construction, implementation and on-going maintenance of an information system which records details of the landowners around Bendigo who are entitled to use irrigation water and the amount of water they use. The system helps with the planning of the amount of water required for irrigation purposes and the billing of irrigators.

In 2001 I was involved with BenCon, developing a system to audit the skills, licences and certificates of their employees.