Assessment and Development of Prior Knowledge for IS Learning Effectiveness: Reflections on Practice

Abstract

Ramsden (1992) suggests that excellence in teaching requires constant attention to how a subject is being understood by students and the ability to use the assessment to change instruction so that it more accurately addresses student's errors and misconceptions. This paper is therefore premised on the need to more accurately understand what students know about a subject (prior knowledge), to enrich their prior knowledge and to use this understanding to inform teaching. Based on an extensive literature review, an iterative learning model is introduced which incorporates this process of enrichment, evaluation and activation of prior knowledge on a particular subject or learning unit. The paper also reports on the adoption of the model in a first year introductory IS course and concludes with teacher reflections on the use of the model and suggestions for further work.