SIS Learning Outcomes Framework
We are sending this letter to the following stakeholders of the BSc (Information Systems Management) degree program of SMU's School of Information Systems (SIS):
The purpose of this letter is to explain the importance of our eight SIS Learning Outcomes.
1. Integration of business & technology in a sector context
2. IT architecture, design and development skills
5. Collaboration (or team) skills
6. Change management skills for enterprise systems
7. Skills for working across countries, cultures and borders
Our SIS Learning Outcomes Framework shapes the way we design and deliver our courses, and at the same time shapes the student's overall educational experience.
The pamphlet provides a quick glance of the learning outcomes and the supporting Learning Outcomes Management System (LOMS). The white paper provides additional explanation.
The other objective of this letter is to elaborate how the three communities of stakeholders mentioned above could play their role within this Framework.
To the organizations in industry and in government who employ our students:
Whenever your organization interviews an SMU School of Information Systems (SIS) student for an internship or for a full time position, please have your interviewers and HR personnel ask the student for his or her LOMS self-assessment. Any SIS student could allow the employers access to their LOMS self-assessment through the same SMU Office of Career Services System Interface you use to view student CVs (the SMU OnTrac System).
LOMS is our Learning Outcomes Management System. All SIS bachelors' students are supposed to use LOMS to do a learning outcomes self-assessment at the end of each term throughout their undergraduate studies. The LOMS self-assessment is not a replacement for the student's CV. Rather, the combination of the student's CV and the LOMS self-assessment provides you with a more comprehensive view of the student. It also provides the student with a more informative way to portray their experiences, skills and skill development targets.
To our SIS faculty and staff who educate and advise our undergraduates:
We thank all of you for participating in the development and implementation of our Learning Outcomes Framework. This effort has been underway for nearly six years now, and the SIS Dean's Office re-affirms its commitment to supporting and strengthening the LOMS implementation effort.
All SIS faculty and staff should make use of our Learning Outcomes Framework when designing and revising the undergraduate courses. And, we should be communicating to our students on how each course maps against the Learning Outcomes.
In the first lesson of each SIS undergraduate course, SIS faculty and instructors should take the time to comment on the Learning Outcomes Table for that particular course and explain the mapping between course content and learning outcomes. Similarly, at the end of each term, while we are doing a final review of the course content, we should review with the students on how each of the learning outcomes specified for that course were achieved.
We would also need your help in motivating all of our students to do their LOMS self-assessment at the end of each term (including the end of the summer break).
To our BSc (IS Management) degree students:
The community of employers who select you for internships and full time employment like the capabilities, passion and positive work attitude of our SIS students. They realize that the SIS students are indeed a special breed within SMU. They know you can be especially helpful to them because of your ability to leverage IT in business settings, and your ability to help their organization innovate and adapt to change. They also realize the connection between our SIS Learning Outcomes and the special bundle of capabilities that define our students.
To sharpen your understanding of your current capabilities and your skill development, please make sure you complete your LOMS self-assessment at the end of each academic term, and also at the end of the summer break.
Each periodic LOMS self-assessment gives you a way to reflect on what you have achieved to-date and helps you to understand how your skills, experiences and interests are evolving. The self-assessment also provides you with a benchmark on where you stand with respect to the full set of Learning Outcomes.
By doing this LOMS self-assessment at the end of each term, you will get very good at explaining your capabilities in terms of the eight SIS Learning Outcomes. This gives you a powerful and well-structured way to communicate your individualized portfolio of experiences and skills to potential employers.
We encourage each SIS student to make your LOMS self-assessment accessible to your potential employers by granting them access to view it through the ONTrac System in SMU's Office of Career Services.
To all Stakeholders:
This multi-year effort to implement and improve our Learning Outcomes Framework is critically important to the quality and success of our BSc (Information Systems Management) program.
For the implementation to keep improving and succeed over time, each of us needs to support the effort in the ways noted above.
Thank you for your participation and support.
Best regards,
Practice Professor Steven Miller
Dean,
School of Information Systems
Singapore Management University