This study examines the implementation of a management information system (MIS) designed to assist with the collection of student performance data. An inductive qualitative approach was employed to yield four assertions related to the implementation. Data sources included interviews with various members of the teacher education faculty, email correspondence with users and task completion rates. Five assertions were developed through the analysis: (1) The technical infrastructure, support mechanisms and the technical expertise of the users were adequate for the successful use of the Internet as a mechanism for MIS implementation. (2) Faculty members' adoption of the Open Portfolio information system reflected a higher degree of reinvention than replication. This was consistent with the decentralized nature of the Eastern School of Education. (3) The factors of accreditation that relate to collection and aggregation of student performance data from field experiences were not a central determinant of faculty practices. Consequently, accreditation did not play a role in decisions regarding adoption of the Open Portfolio system. (4) Factors that facilitate familiarity with the performance of Teaching Associates during their field placements, such as small program size and ability to engage in frequent interpersonal communication, decreased the perceived need for a centralized management information system. (5) The number of lesson plans posted by Teaching Associates appeared to have an association with the frequency with which University Supervisors provided feedback when the posting requirements were extensive.; The findings of this study point to some potentially significant implications. The decentralized nature of the Eastern School of Education had a significant effect on the adoption and subsequent use by faculty members. The process paradigm approaches MIS implementation from the perspective that systems address organizational and user change needs by providing a mechanism for those changes to occur. Of the different approaches outlined by the process paradigm, the emergent perspective is the most useful for implementing an information system during the initial phases in a highly decentralized organization with a relatively flat hierarchy.
展开▼
