PhD Thesis

For more years than I care to remember I have been working (or more correctly not actively working) on my PhD thesis. The topic of the thesis is “An Information Systems Design Theory for E-Learning”.

Background

The origins of the thesis are in work at CQUniversity in the design, development and support of Webfuse a system to support e-learning. The early design thinking behind Webfuse is outlined in a 1996 ASCILITE paper The design of an integrated, online learning environment

A more recent presentation gives a summary of what I think is wrong with existing e-learning practice within higher education and the suggestions that have arisen from my research. The presentation page has a range of resources including video. It is wrapped around with a brief experiment with technology for presentations, ignore that.

Summary

At the moment, it looks like the thesis will claim that the implementation of e-learning within universities is currently constrained by an orthodoxy. Using the Ps Framework the thesis will illustrate that the orthodoxy significantly constrains effectiveness, innovation and perhaps efficiency by adopting conceptualisations of the Product (e-learning = a Learning Management System), Process (teleological design), People (that we’re rational), Place (very much informed by simplistic versions of “business”), amongst others.

Based on this premise, ideas from the literature and the experience of designing, developing and supporting Webfuse over 10+years the thesis proposes an Information Systems Design Theory (Gregor and Jones, 2007) that offers an alternate approach. This alternate approach is based around an ateleological design process and a “product” that focuses “fusing” together best of breed technologies into the specifics of the institutional context (“Place”). It is suggested, that such an approach is more likely to increase innovation, increase adoption of effective pedagogies and, in the long term, be more efficient than current practices.

Now all I have to do is write the thesis and justify all of that.

Other resources, that expand on the above include:

Aims

This thesis aims to be a demonstration of the ability identified by Alavi and Leidner (2001) in that it seeks to offer a vision on the structures, processes and technology that can be drawn upon to effectively implement technology-mediated learning within universities. The specific aim of this thesis is to provide one answer to the following research problem.

How do you design, implement and support an information system that effectively and efficiently supports e-learning within an institution of higher education?

One approach to this problem has been generated through the application of an iterative, action-research process to the implementation and support of an information system to support e-learning within an existing HEI. The resulting real-world information systems has been used by thousands of staff and students and has informed the formulation of three generations of an Information Systems Design Theory (Gregor and Jones, 2007; Walls, Widmeyer, & El Sawy, 2004; Walls et al., 1992).

The intent is that the resulting ISDT provides guidance that is “better” than much of the existing practice.

Outputs

The major outputs of the thesis includes:

  • Webfuse – an information system still being used at CQUniversity.
    A system that, at last count (late 2005), had been used by 12000+ students, and 400+ staff.
  • Publications describing Webfuse and its design
  • Publications around e-learning and the use of IT in tertiary education.
    The distinction between publications in this category and the previous category is somewhat blurred.
  • Publications contributing to the practice of design research within information systems.

My publications page contains pointers to the papers.

Current status

I’m currently writing up the thesis. The following blog categories give some insight into the current outputs for the various thesis chapters

56 Responses to “PhD Thesis”

  1. The Ps Framework - avoiding perceptual blindness? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    October 24, 2008 at 3:48 pm

    [...] e-learning within universities. It’s main aim is to serve as the structure for chapter 2 of my thesis. This blog post seeks to summarise some of the origins and potential futures of the Ps framework [...]

  2. Readings on Design-based research « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    October 30, 2008 at 8:50 am

    [...] on Design-based research My thesis is an example information systems design research. However, since the aim of the thesis is to [...]

  3. Kant - separation of reason and experience « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    November 21, 2008 at 10:03 am

    [...] slowly working through some PhD related work (the post on the paper I’m reading will come out later today) and that brought me across the [...]

  5. Webfuse usage statistics - Quizzes « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    January 5, 2009 at 11:52 am

    [...] usage statistics - Quizzes As part of my PhD thesis I’ll be generating some statistics about the usage of the Webfuse e-learning system that has [...]

  6. Reflections and Implications from Webfuse - Domain languages « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    January 7, 2009 at 4:32 pm

    [...] and Implications from Webfuse – Domain languages As I am currently writing up the PhD I have banned myself from working on any new papers. However, as I work through the PhD I will get [...]

  7. Open source learning management systems - the latest fad in e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    January 21, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    [...] systems – the latest fad in e-learning The following is forming up as something to go into my thesis as part of the “Past experience” component of the Ps [...]

  8. The “dominant” and problem assumptions underlying university-based e-learning - introduction « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    January 25, 2009 at 1:53 pm

    [...] assumptions underlying university-based e-learning - introduction As part of working on my thesis I’m working on chapter 2. As the traditional literature review one purpose of the chapter is [...]

  9. Alternatives for the institutional implementation of e-learning: Lessons from 13 years of Webfuse « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    February 15, 2009 at 10:54 am

    [...] topic of the submission is essentially a summary of the results of my PhD work. I’ve been working on this submission, in part, to prepare for a presentation on the PhD at [...]

  10. An information systems design theory for e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    February 21, 2009 at 3:58 am

    [...] for e-learning Yesterday I gave a presentation at the Australian National University on my PhD. I’m doing it through ANU and this 30 minute presentation is a standard requirement of study. [...]

  11. “An ISDT for e-learning” - Audio is now synchronized « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    February 22, 2009 at 1:35 pm

    [...] – Audio is now synchronized On Friday the 20th of Feb I gave a talk at the ANU on my PhD. A previous post has some background and an overview of the [...]

  12. Branding and universities - a mismatch of purpose and place? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    February 24, 2009 at 12:34 am

    [...] interest in this paper arises out of some recent local experience, but mostly because of my PhD Thesis and the Purpose and Place components of the Ps Framework that is arising from the [...]

  13. Task corruption in teaching @ university - negative impact of Place? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    March 4, 2009 at 8:08 am

    [...] in teaching @ university – negative impact of Place? Busy being a good boy working on the thesis, currently reading a collection of literature to flesh out Chapter 2 which is drawing on the Ps [...]

  14. Place - the industrial society’s impact on schools - and universities? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    March 5, 2009 at 10:17 am

    [...] the thesis, I’m currently planning to organise the multitude of factors within “Place” into [...]

  15. Comparing VLEs/LMS to the past: flaws and implications for development models « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    March 15, 2009 at 11:20 pm

    [...] working on chapter 2 of the thesis and, in particular, on the “Past Experience” section. As part of the Ps Framework, [...]

  16. “Blame the teacher” and its negative impact on learning and e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    March 18, 2009 at 9:38 am

    [...] learning and e-learning The following post is sparked by reading Findlow (2008) as part of my PhD work. I’m about halfway through it and finding it very interesting. In particular, this post is [...]

  17. The Ps framework « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    March 18, 2009 at 9:21 pm

    [...] Ps framework The following is a section of my thesis – chapter 2. As I get first drafts of this stuff done, I’m going to post it to the blog – [...]

  18. Technology will *not* change the way we teach - an example why we’re an amnesiac field « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    March 19, 2009 at 4:27 pm

    [...] – an example why we’re an amnesiac field I’m currently working on chapter 2 of my thesis, which is an explication of some of what is known about “e-learning” through the lens [...]

  19. “One ring to rule them all”: Limitations and implications of the LMS/VLE product model « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    March 27, 2009 at 11:21 am

    [...] to rule them all”: Limitations and implications of the LMS/VLE product model As part of the PhD I’m developing the P Frameworks as a theory for analysing/understanding the factors the [...]

  20. Implementing an institution-wide learning and teaching strategy: lessons in managing change « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    March 31, 2009 at 7:13 am

    [...] on Newton (2003). I’m still trying to decide if, as I read literature associated with the PhD, if I should take the time to produce these summaries. I wonder if, instead, I should concentrate [...]

  21. Birnbaum’s fad cycle in higher education « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    April 6, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    [...] on as part of the “Past Experience” section of the Ps Framework – chapter 2 of my thesis. In this post I try and give an overview of a similar cycle already well established: [...]

  22. A history of technology-mediated learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    April 17, 2009 at 11:49 am

    [...] history of technology-mediated learning The following is a section from my PhD thesis. It is part of the “Past Experience” section of the Ps Framework. It aims to give a [...]

  23. The paradigms of e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    April 20, 2009 at 10:04 pm

    [...] paradigms of e-learning I’m currently working on chapter 2 of my thesis – the literature review. Mine is using the Ps Framework as the organising structure and also as [...]

  24. E-learning usage - quality « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    April 22, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    [...] post is a continuation of posts from the “Past Experience” section of chapter 2 of my thesis. It follows on from previous posts including: Ps Framework, History of technology-mediated [...]

  25. Usage of e-learning - quantity « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    April 23, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    [...] post is a continuation of posts from the “Past Experience” section of chapter 2 of my thesis. This part of chapter 2 is looking at the usage of e-learning within higher education. A previous [...]

  26. Lessons for e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    April 25, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    [...] content of what (I hope) will become the “Past Experience” section of Chapter 2 of my thesis. Previous content for this section is already on the blog, including: History of [...]

  27. Integration with professional lives of academics - why industrial e-learning fails and why post-industrial might work « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    April 29, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    [...] with writing the “Place” component of the Ps framework as part chapter 2 of my thesis. In wondering the literature, as I tend to do while writing, I’ve come across an article [...]

  28. Place - component of the Ps Framework « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    May 6, 2009 at 8:06 am

    [...] of the Ps Framework The following is the introduction to a section of Chapter 2 of my thesis. It introduces the examination of the Place component of the Ps Framework. Hopefully, the remaining [...]

  29. Society – an aspect of Place impacting on e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    May 8, 2009 at 9:32 am

    [...] Society – an aspect of Place impacting on e-learning The following, finally, is a first draft of the sector section of the “Place” component of the Ps Framework. This is all meant to be part of chapter 2 of my thesis. [...]

  30. Institution – another part of place « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    May 15, 2009 at 3:16 pm

    [...] to remember, I’ve been working on the Place component of the Ps Framework for chapter 2 of my thesis. This post brings the penultimate section for the Ps component – institution. The last [...]

  31. Lessons from place « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    May 17, 2009 at 9:55 pm

    [...] from place The following is the last part of the Place section of chatper 2 of my thesis. It’s not that good, but enough has been done to get it out and await [...]

  32. Purpose – a component of the Ps Framework « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    May 20, 2009 at 11:02 pm

    [...] a component of the Ps Framework The following is yet another section from chapter two of my thesis. As with previous sections, this is an early first draft, it will [...]

  33. What are the conditions that are conducive to the creation of a variety of new ideas? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    May 25, 2009 at 2:51 pm

    [...] creation of a variety of new ideas? I’m currently working on the Process section of my thesis. As part of that I’m referring back to a book chapter (that was a conference paper) by Bo [...]

  34. The LMS/VLE as a one word language – metaphor and e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 2, 2009 at 9:44 am

    [...] – metaphor and e-learning I’m currently back from a holiday restarting work on my thesis and in particular on the process component of the Ps Framework. I’m currently working on the [...]

  35. Teleological design – definition and weaknesses « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 5, 2009 at 8:58 am

    [...] here’s the next installment of the process component of the Ps Framework for chapter 2 of my thesis. A previous post gave a brief overview of teleological and ateleological processes. The purpose of [...]

  36. Ateleological processes – definition and weaknesses « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 5, 2009 at 9:09 am

    [...] It’s a version 1 draft from the process components of the Ps Framework for chapter 2 of my thesis. A previous post gave a brief overview of teleological and ateleological processes and another [...]

  37. The teaching/research nexus – an example? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 5, 2009 at 9:47 am

    [...] Almost all of my research over the last 13 years or so has been focused or connected with my thesis and the Webfuse system/process being used at my current institution. The aim of the thesis is to [...]

  38. Institutional e-learning strategies « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 17, 2009 at 11:41 am

    [...] e-learning strategies The following contains the next section from chapter 2 of my thesis and the section on Processes. It follows on from the section on institutional learning and teaching [...]

  39. Learning and teaching processes « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 19, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    [...] The following is the penultimate section from the Processes section of chapter 2 of my thesis. It aims to talk about the types of processes used for learning and teaching (including [...]

  40. Lessons from process for university e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 21, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    [...] you haven’t been following along, this is the last section of a part of chapter two of my thesis. Chapter 2 is meant to be a “review” of the literature around e-learning in an attempt [...]

  41. Confirmation bias, the Tolstoy Syndrome and pattern entrainment « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 23, 2009 at 10:08 am

    [...] I’m currently working on the People component of the Ps Framework as part of my thesis. One of the sections of the People component will be “People and cognition”. It will [...]

  42. Students and e-learning – a start to the People section « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    June 29, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    [...] The following is the first step in the People component of the Ps Framework from chapter 2 of my thesis. The first bit (”People”) is the introduction to the thesis section and the following [...]

  43. Occupational stress in Australian University Staff « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    July 17, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    [...] in Australian University Staff Currently reading Winefield et al (2003) as part of writing my thesis, thought I’d share some of the points and reflections [...]

  44. Leaders and managers – the next bit of People « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    July 17, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    [...] managers – the next bit of People After a bit of an absence, time to get back to the thesis. The following continues the recent work on the People component of the Ps Framework. So far, [...]

  45. Thinking about evaluating Webfuse (1996 through 1999) – evaluation of an LMS? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    July 31, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    [...] evaluation of an LMS? For the last couple of weeks I’ve been working on chapter 4 of my thesis. I’ve worked my way through explaining the context (general context and (use of e-learning), [...]

  46. How do you measure success with institutional use of an LMS/VLE? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    August 5, 2009 at 11:16 am

    [...] do you measure success with institutional use of an LMS/VLE? My PhD is essentially arguing that most institutional approaches to e-learning within higher education [...]

  47. Breadth of Webfuse use: 1997 through 2009 « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    August 7, 2009 at 11:40 pm

    [...] in the Webfuse system from 1997 through 2009. Webfuse is the system I designed as part of my PhD and has been used at Central Queensland University since 1997. At least the “LMS” part [...]

  48. Support staff – continuing with the People component « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    August 9, 2009 at 11:40 am

    [...] I’m back to working on the People component of the Ps Framework for chapter 2 of my thesis. The last post in the blog from this section was back in mid July and examined leaders and [...]

  49. The chasm « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    August 9, 2009 at 11:52 am

    [...] The following is the next section for the People component of the Ps Framework for chapter 2 of my thesis. It starts the trend away from specific roles/groups within e-learning to some more abstract [...]

  50. People, cognition, rationality and e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    August 16, 2009 at 3:12 pm

    [...] The following is the second to last section for the People component of chapter 2 of my thesis. The basic aim of this section is to establish that people are generally not rational and methods [...]

  51. Lessons for e-learning from people « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    August 17, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    [...] for e-learning from people This is the last section from the People component of chapter 2 of my thesis. It is an attempt to derive some lessons from the previous sections that are relevant to the [...]

  52. What is an LMS? « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    August 21, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    [...] The following post is the next step in completing the Product component of chapter 2 of my thesis. An earlier post started off the Product component. This post is the first section in a broader [...]

  53. Procurement and software: alternate models for e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    August 31, 2009 at 10:52 am

    [...] for e-learning And here’s the next bit of the Products component for chapter 2 of my thesis. The aim of this section is basically two argue that the LMS approach to e-learning embodies one [...]

  54. Lessons from product for e-learning « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    September 2, 2009 at 10:03 am

    [...] This post contains the last section of the “Product” component of chapter 2 of the my thesis, at least a rough first draft version of it. This is getting to the crux of my argument and problem [...]

  55. Getting started with CCK09 « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    September 14, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    [...] last couple of years and have only recently started to read a bit deeper (as I work on finishing the thesis). From the start the concepts have been attractive to me because of an existing [...]

  56. Thoughts on “Insidiuous pedagogy” « The Weblog of (a) David Jones Says:
    October 6, 2009 at 11:04 am

    [...] I’ve been struggling with keeping up with reading, but this topics is closely connected to my thesis and the presentation I’ll be giving [...]

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