Ten Years in the Trenches of a Doubtful Science: An Autoethnographic Investigation of Five Challenges of Teaching in Information Systems

The field of Information Systems (IS) is characterised by a number of properties that combine to create particular challenges for teaching and learning. These properties include its close ties with rapidly advancing digital technology, its interdisciplinary nature and its general lack of a strong, broadly agreed-upon theoretical core. In the present study, I undertake an autoethnographic investigation of five key challenges for teaching in IS which result from one or more of these properties. To provide theoretical scaffolding for the investigation I adopt Weick’s theory of sensemaking and apply it to investigate both my own and my students’ processes of sensemaking. I propose that to effectively navigate these challenges and prepare students for careers in IS, lecturers should aim to develop their students’ technical and social skills sets such that they are able to navigate the uncertainty and ambiguity that characterise socio-technical systems in practice. To this end, I outline the strategies I have adopted in my attempts to achieve this aim.