Volume 11

V11 N1 Pages 25-32

February 2013


Using Mobile Apps to Entice General Education Students into Technology Fields


Xiang (Michelle) Liu
Marymount University
Arlington, VA 22207, USA

Diane Murphy
Marymount University
Arlington, VA 22207, USA

Abstract: It is of national importance to increase the number of college students pursuing degrees in information systems/information technology (IT/IS) subjects. The primary focus at many institutions is renovating or enhancing existing IT/IS programs and the target audience is the students who have selected to major in IT/IS subjects. This paper looks at general education students and how exposure to mobile app development may change their attitudes toward IT/IS and entice them into pursuing a technology major or minor. The research setting is a liberal arts university with a large female population and a diverse ethnic basis. The authors develop a new pedagogical strategy, teaching students to develop mobile apps using an easy-to-use tool, with the objective of transforming students from technology consumers to technology creators and increasing the number who choose technology as a career path. Techniques for the evaluation of the project outcomes are also discussed.

Keywords: computational thinking, general education, mobile apps, technology consumer, technology creator

Download this article: ISEDJ - V11 N1 Page 25.pdf


Recommended Citation: Liu, X., Murphy, D. (2013). Using Mobile Apps to Entice General Education Students into Technology Fields. Information Systems Education Journal, 11(1) pp 25-32. http://isedj.org/2013-11/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2012)