Doing it better: Matt McCarthy wins award for classroom innovations

Last month, the school awarded Lecturer Matt McCarthy the Huizingh Award for Classroom Innovation -- an honor given annually to a faculty member who develops creative methods of delivering educational content. McCarthy's achievement was moving the lab portion of CIS 105 online. The result has been better learning outcomes for the students in this baseline class required for every business major. And because many business students transfer from other schools, he coordinated the roll out of this new curriculum with the community college system and the other two state universities. "This is more than just an infrastructure partnership that saved costs," said Michael Goul, chairman of the Department of Information Systems. "It also allows us to do things a lot better than we did before. We were able to add content that's really germane to what happens in the upper division courses and in the world of business. And we were able to get all of the state schools involved in one big push."

When he began teaching the first-year student class CIS 105 eight years ago, lecturer Matt McCarthy saw clearly his biggest challenge: how to deliver an effective, hands-on lab experience in business computing to hundreds — soon-to-be thousands — of youngsters, most just out of high school. He was lecturing to nearly 400 undergraduates at a time, and with enrollment at the W. P. Carey School on the rise, the school kept adding classes. The computer lab, meanwhile could accommodate only 33 students at a time. "I had 15 labs with 15 different graduate assistants," said McCarthy, a senior lecturer in information systems. "The delivery in the labs was incredibly inconsistent. I looked at it financially, as well. It was costing us a fortune." McCarthy decided to explore offering the computer lab content online. This held the promise of eliminating the space problem, reducing the number of staff required, and allowing students to study when and where they desired at their own pace. McCarthy considered software programs offered by various educational publishers before finally settling on Pearson Education's MyITLab as the best one for the W. P. Carey School and its students. McCarthy got permission from his department to proceed and then worked with the publishing company to tailor the online program for his classes. To accompany the lab, he wrote a textbook, "Black and White Business Applications," now in its 5th edition. MyITLab is used by all of the approximately 4,000 students who take basic business computing each year at W. P. Carey School of Business. Last month, the school awarded McCarthy the Huizingh Award for Classroom Innovation — an honor given annually to a faculty member who develops creative methods of delivering educational content. Aligning Arizona's higher education The award is apt, because McCarthy's work has ramifications far beyond the Information Systems department. "This is more than just an infrastructure partnership that saved costs," said Michael Goul, chairman of the Department of Information Systems. "It also allows us to do things a lot better than we did before. We were able to add content that's really germane to what happens in the upper division courses and in the world of business. And we were able to get all of the state schools involved in one big push." McCarthy worked with Arizona's community college system and other state four-year universities to align their introductory business computing courses with the W. P. Carey School's offerings. The coordination is necessary because the W. P. Carey School, as well as the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University, accept credits from state community college students who transfer. While some of the other state schools have adopted MyITLab or are considering adopting it, others have chosen to offer the same content using other methods. "There are plenty of ways to teach databases, and plenty of ways to teach spreadsheets," said McCarthy. "All we want to know is, 'Are your students coming out ready?' " Teaching skills for success Goul said that one of the important features of MyITLab is that it lets students review material repeatedly, allowing them to take as long as they need to master a business computing skill. "Before if they didn't get something and failed the test, they probably would have had to take the course over," Goul said. "This pedagogical approach lets you stay with it until you master the concepts." The online lab has been popular with students, according to Goul. "These students are first-year students. They're attuned to this. Many of them quite prefer it," he said. The switch from computer labs to online learning for CIS 105 students occurred four years ago. As part of the transition, McCarthy altered the content of the class, which is designed to teach students the essential computing skills they will need in higher level courses and in business. The course and the computer lab had included instruction in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, as well as databases and spreadsheets. McCarthy decided that teaching students how to use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint was no longer necessary, and a more intense focus on the business intelligence areas of databases and spreadsheets made more sense. "When these students come to us, they already know Word. We would be wasting our time teaching them Word, and we would wasting their time, which is even worse," he said. "As far as PowerPoint goes, my feeling was, 'If you can't figure out PowerPoint, you're probably not going to do well here anyway.' " Applying what they learn Now that the online program gives students the hands-on computer experience they need, McCarthy said he has more time in the classroom to talk to students about how these programs are used in business. "One of the biggest things that happened is that with this technological change we are able to teach why you would use a spreadsheet, why you would use a database," McCarthy said. "In the past, it was pure syntax — hit this key, hit that key — and it was really up to the students to figure out how to apply it." McCarthy said he explains to students how databases and spreadsheets are used in budgeting, calculating return on investment, and other business activities. "I tell all of my students, 'If you learn more about computing than you do about business in this class, then I'm doing this wrong,' " McCarthy said. "You're in a business school." Goul said the partnership with Pearson Education to deliver MyITLab to students is one of many such arrangements the Department of Information Systems has established in recent years. "We have a lot of opportunities to partner with different firms in delivering software experiences to our students," Goul said. "Over time we've gotten pretty good at working with companies through academic licensing. We have to do it for almost every course." A key to a successful partnership is to fine-tune the technology so that it meets the needs of the school, according to McCarthy. "You don't just get a package and say here you go," he said. 25,000 students in eight years McCarthy is known as a dynamic and passionate teacher. In addition to the seven or eight CIS 105 classes he has in the fall, he teaches another three in the spring. "A person who teaches 4,000 students has to be inspiring but at the same time has to manage the governance aspect of classes that large," Goul said. "I think Matt does both extremely well." McCarthy said he goes into each class prepared. "I never talk without a microphone. I always make sure my buttons are buttoned and my zippers are zipped. In the fall, with seven or eight classes, my hair is on fire. In the spring, I'll see about 1,100 more kids." For many first-year students, McCarthy is their introduction to college academic life. He said he tries to impress on them his expectations for them, and he encourages them to succeed. "That's a big part of dealing with an 18 year-old first-year student," he said. "We're not in high school anymore. I tell them, 'I need to see that you can do this, and I'm going to do my best to see that you do this very, very well.'" McCarthy said he truly enjoys his job of introducing first-year business students to the skills they will need for the rest of their education and for the world of business after they graduate. "I like to see the student outcome. The outcome could be doing well in business. It could be becoming a computer information systems major or doing well in a supply chain 200 level class because they got skills from me," McCarthy said. McCarthy calculates that over the years he has taught about 25,000 students. He said he would not trade his teaching assignment for any other. "I hope it doesn't come off that I have a big ego because I like talking to a zillion kids, but I've really found my sweet spot at Arizona State University," McCarthy said. "I am very fortunate to have the job that I have." There are some strange things that happen though because of his teaching assignment, according to McCarthy. "When I go out to a restaurant, people come up to me and say, 'Mr. McCarthy, I had you in class.' I get that constantly. It's even happened out of town. It drives my wife crazy."