Hallgeir Nilsen

• Purao, Sandeep; Sein, Maung Kyaw; Nilsen, Hallgeir & Larsen, Even Åby (2016). Setting the Pace: Experiments with Keller's PSI. IEEE Transactions on Education. ISSN 0018-9359. PP(99). doi: 10.1109/TE.2016.2588460. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Larsen, Even Åby (2011). Using the Personalized System of Instruction in an Introductory Programming Course. In Fallmyr, Terje (Eds.), Proceeding from Norsk konferanse for organisasjoners bruk av informasjonsteknologi, 2011. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. ISSN 9788251928458. p. 27–38. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Dertz, Willy (2009). ICT in Home Care Services: Understanding Motivation for Use and Competence. In Krogstie, John (Eds.), Proceedings fra NOKOBIT 2009 - Norsk konferanse for organisasjoners bruk av informasjonsvitenskap. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. ISSN 9788251924931. p. 109–118. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Hallgeir (2007). Motivation and Learning Strategies of IS Students: From Theory to Practice, CSITED Computer Science & IT education Conference, Mauritius, November 16-18, 2007. Informing Science Press. p. 52–52. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  All universities experience students with low motivation, insufficient work effort and low persis-tence, which lead to low learning outcome and high student dropout. In the bachelor studies in Information Systems at Agder University College (AUC), this has been a problem, with a dropout rate of more than 60%. Knowledge about and actions taken are needed to increase motivation, effort and learning. It is well known that motivation and learning strategies are important for stu-dent?s learning outcome and student retention. The purpose of this paper is to better understand student motivation and study behaviour in general, and through an action research project investi-gate how to influence student?s awareness of their own motivation and learning strategies. Sur-veys and interviews will be used to measure motivation and learning strategies among first year bachelor students in Information Systems. Students will be given feedback on their own score and an overview of the score compared to an average in the course. The results from the survey will be the background for interviews and class discussions. The goal of the survey, interviews and discussions is to develop deeper understanding of student motivation and learning strategies.

• Nilsen, Hallgeir (2006). Action research in progress: Student satisfaction, motivation and drop out among bachelor students in IT and information systems program at Agder University College, Tapir. Tapir Akademisk Forlag. p. 155–163. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The recent years Agder University College have experiences a drop out rate up to 50% in the bachelor program in IT and information systems. The main reason for drop out is lack of motivation and a study program not as expected. Students are generally more satisfied with core courses like programming, databases etc, and they report that the most important for course satisfaction is that ? course is relevant for future work, - course is challenging and that students themselves feel what they learn is useful. At the same time, these courses also increase motivation among students. Motivation is requirement to learn, a central challenge will be to develop the study program and the pedagogy to maintain and increase motivation among students.

• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Purao, Sandeep (2005). Balancing Objectivist and Constructivist Pedagogies for Teaching Emerging Technologies: Evidence from a Scandinavian Case Study. Journal of Information Systems Education. ISSN 1055-3096. 16(3), p. 281–292. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper describes some of the problems that IS faculty encounter, when they attempt to teach emerging information technologies. We conceptualize these problems as a dilemma: between an objectivist perspective for teaching the basics of tools and syntax and a more enlightened, constructivist and socio-cultural pedagogical perspective that emphasizes principles and application of the technology. In this paper, we explore this dilemma drawing on a specific case study, where the authors were engaged in teaching eXtensible Markup Language (XML) at a Scandinavian institution. We follow a multi-method research approach drawing on our own critical reflections throughout the term, and feedback obtained from the students at the end of the term. The data indicates that for teaching emerging technologies, educators face challenges at several levels including class content, class conduct, and designing of educational experiences. The students appear willing to pay the cost of fragmented approaches for the benefit of getting an early start on learning emerging technologies. Integrating these with perspectives afforded by the learning theories leads us to strategies that may be useful for designing and conducting courses in emerging information technologies.

• Nilsen, Hallgeir (2005). Kvalitetsreformens bidrag til oppfyllelse av målsettingene for bachelorstudiet i IT og informasjonssystemer, Didaktikk, dannelse og data. Artikler om høgskolepedagogikk. Universitetet i Agder. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Arbeidsmåtene og målsettingene i kvalitetsreformen (KR) er med på bidra til de ambisiøse målene i studieplanen for bachelorstudiet i IT og informasjonssystemer, ved at KR bidrar til mer selvstendig arbeid, til kreativitet, samarbeid, oppøve analytiske evner og til å oppøve kritisk sans overfor eget og andres arbeid. Faglig ansvarlige skal ha en tettere oppfølging av studentene enn tidligere. Men evalueringsformene trekker dels i motsatt retning, de er mer tradisjonelle, mer ?bulemiske?, dvs at studentene skal komme med riktig svar. Selv om faglig ansvarlig har tett oppfølging av studentene kan ikke denne kunnskapen brukes som grunnlag for evaluering. Istedenfor kommer ofte en tradisjonell eksamen med måling av studentenes faktakunnskaper eller studentenes evne til å kopiere. Undervisnings- / arbeids- former og målsetting er godt i samsvar, men målsetting og noen evalueringsformer er IKKE i samsvar. Dette påvirker læringsutbyttet, og er ifølge pedagogen Stefan Hopmann et alvorlig problem: ?Undervisningskvaliteten forklarer 20% av variansen i resultatene. Vurderingsformer styrer utbyttet og studentenes læringsaktivitet i langt høyere grad enn selve undervisningsformen? (S. Hofmann) Det er viktig for studentene at verden på Høgskolen er forutsigbar. Det er den ikke dersom vi sier en ting i målsettingene for et studium eller et kurs mens på eksamen er det helt andre ting som etterspørres.

• Sæbø, Øystein & Nilsen, Hallgeir (2004). The support for different democracy models by the use of a web-based discussion board, Electronic Government, Third International Conference. Springer. p. 23–26. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Different initiatives are initiated to utilize ICT to maintain and develop democracy. Democracy models are developed to explain differences between different democracies. This paper reports from a case study where a web-based discussion board is developed and implemented. The findings indicate that politicians and citizens add support to different democracy models by their contributions to the web-based discussion board. Contributions from the citizens add stronger support for the neo-republican model where as politicians mainly support the demo-elitist model. These differences might become obstacles to the utilization of the technology. Identifying potential differences early on in a project may increase the opportunity to develop services capable of handling requests from different stakeholders.

• Moe, Carl Erik; Nilsen, Hallgeir & Ørvik, Tore (1999). Understanding IS strategies implementation. A process theory based framework, Systems development methods for databases, enterprise modeling and workflow management. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 157–168. Full text in Research Archive

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• Nilsen, Hallgeir (2011). IKT i læring. Er IKT i læring mer enn overgang fra overhead til PowerPoint? Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Larsen, Even Åby (2011). USING THE PERSONALIZED SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION IN AN INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING COURSE. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Hallgeir (2009). Influence on student academic behaviour through motivation, self-efficacy and value-expectation: An action research project to improve learning. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Pedagogic research have found that motivation, self-efficacy and value-expectancy are the most influencing factors on student academic behaviour (Bandura, 1997; Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002), which again are heavily influenced by how students experience success, confidence and well-being, lecturers motivation and enthusiasm and how theory and practice is tied together. Universities will increase, maintain or decrease motivation, self-efficacy and value-expectancy. The author believes that in order to increase student learning Universities need more focus on and more use of pedagogical knowledge, to even more positively influence student academic behav-iour. Through implemented actions and interviews of bachelor students in IT and information systems, valuable information is collected on what influence motivation, self-efficacy and value-expectations. The good news is that by simple means we can more likely have students that - ex-perience success, - are confident and well-being and who see the value in what they work on, which in turn will influence academic behaviour and academic success.

• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Sein, Maung (2004). What is really important in supporting end users? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  As end-user computing enters its third decade, the question of how best to provide support to the end users remains a vexing management challenge. In this paper, we address this issue. We use the problem definition phase of an action research project at an institution of higher learning in Norway toexamine a variety of factors that are suggested in the literature to influence user satisfaction with end-user support. We also sought to gauge user preferences regarding support provider characteristics and location of support services. Ourresults provide interesting implications to organize user support.

• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Sein, Maung (2003). Research in progress: What is really important in supporting end users? An ongoing action research project. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we present a research-in-progress study that is the first phase - problem diagnosis - in an ongoing action research project. The aim of the project is to first determine the status of user support at an institution of higher learning inNorway, and in the next phase suggest actions in order to improve the end user support function. The study employs both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interviews, document analysis) methods in the problem diagnosis phase. We will also examine a variety of factors that are suggested in the literature to influence the user satisfaction with end-user support. The data collection phase is over and is being currently analyzed. We will have completed the analysis in the next several weeks and present the findings at NOKOBIT.

• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Sein, Maung (2003). IT competence of Norwegian Business Managers: A proposed model. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The last two decades business organizations have become increasingly more dependent on information technology (IT) to survive in competitive environments, and as IT has become an important asset to support and improve business processes, the need for IT competent business managers is critical. Business managers have a thorough understanding of their business processes and are in a position to identify the best possible use of IT in their business segment, provided that they are IT competent

• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Sein, Maung (2002). Determinants of User Satisfaction with the Support Function. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we present a research-in-progress study that In this paper, we present a research-in-progress study of the problem diagnosis phase of an action research project. The aim of the project is to improve the end user support function of a local municipality in Scandinavia. Five years ago, the municipality initiated a program of using unit personnel to train and support end users. Now, it is becoming apparent that the much acclaimed program is not functioning as well as it used to or as expected. We were called in by the municipality to help them improve the support function. That led to the ongoing action research project. As part of the problem diagnosis phase, we are conducting a three-step study using quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interviews, document analysis) to tease out any systematic patterns about success or failure of LM's user support program. The survey and several interviews have already been conducted. We are analysing the data to determine which of a variety of factors: social, organisational, political and individual are related to dissatisfaction with the support function. The findings will seek to explain what can go wrong with a best practice when factors blend.

• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Sein, Maung (2002). End User Support: Where best practices can go wrong An (ongoing?) action research project. Full text in Research Archive
• Sein, Maung & Nilsen, Hallgeir (2001). End user support: Where best practices can go wrong. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Hallgeir (2001). End User Support: Where best practices can go wrong. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we present a research-in-progress study that is the first phase - problem diagnosis - in an action research project. The aim of the project is to improve the end user support program of Kristiansand kommune. The current study will employ both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interviews, document analysis) methods to determine what went wrong with Kristiansand kommune's accalimed program of using unit personnel to train and support end users. We will use several theoretical and empirical premises to interpret the data collected. The findings to be presented at NOKOBIT will seek to explain what can go wrong with a best practice when organisational, social, political and individual factors blend.

• Nilsen, Hallgeir & Purao, Sandeep (2000). XML: The Next Enabling Technology ? Full text in Research Archive
• Purao, Sandeep & Nilsen, Hallgeir (2000). Teaching XML in a Business School; Lessons learned from the Agder Experience. Full text in Research Archive
• Nilsen, Hallgeir (2000). Intranett -Bruk, strategi, nye muligheter for norske politidistrikt. Full text in Research Archive
• Purao, Sandeep & Nilsen, Hallgeir (2000). Teaching XML as a Database Technology in a Business School: Experiences and Lessons Learned. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  With the introduction of XML as a meta-tag language with the potential to impose structure over much unstructured data, there is a possibility that the traditional database course structure may be changed. We are experimenting with teaching a course in XML as a Database Technology - positioned as an Advanced Database Management course - at Agder Universiy College in Kristiansand, Norway. In this paper, we outline the approach we took for structuring the course, the results we have achieved so far along with student and colleague feedback and reactions. Based on our personal experiences as well as the feedback and reactions, we outline the lessons learned.

• Moe, Carl Erik; Nilsen, Hallgeir & Ørvik, Tore Udd (2000). Understanding IS Strategy Implementation: A Process Theory Based Framework. Full text in Research Archive
• Moe, Carl Erik; Nilsen, Hallgeir & Ørvik, Tore U. (1999). Understanding IS Strategy Implementation: A Process Theory Based Framework. Full text in Research Archive

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