About
Ian has worked as a research assistant and part-time lecturer in
the Faculty of Information Technology, QUT, since 2001. He has been
involved in a number of phenomenographic research projects - of the
views of IT students, academics and professionals on IT and IT research;
and of the views of students on learning to program. His teaching at QUT
has predominantly been in IT ethics. His core interest is in ethics and
he is pursuing doctoral studies in IT ethics education.
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Current Research
Ian's PhD research is titled: IT professionals' experience of ethics and its implications for IT education.
His supervisors are: ASPRO Christine Bruce, Dr Sylvia Edwards, Dr Trevor Jordan and Prof. Alan Underwood
The rapidly changing information technology environment presents IT
professionals with significant ethical challenges. The aim of this research is to contribute to our understanding of how to best equip
professionals to practice ethics in such a milieu. The research will supplement existing studies, which are predominantly quantitative,
focussed on students and theory-based, by investigating in detail practicing IT professionals’ lived experience using the phenomenographic
approach. This will result in a model of IT professionals' experience of ethics, which will be compared with the IT ethics literature to discern
how each informs the other. The educational Variation Theory will be employed to help identify educationally significant aspects revealed by
this comparison, for application in IT professionals' continuing education. Though primarily intended for use in professional
development, it is anticipated that the research will offer insights useful for all levels of IT ethical formation.
Ian expects to complete this project by the end of 2008.
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Publications
Some of Ian's recent publications are available from the QUT ePrints database.
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