Armstrong and Hardgrave (2007, p.455) make a case that there is a real-world problem encountered in many organisations whereby software developers have difficulty in moving to new software development forms. The particular example explored in their paper is the shift to object-oriented development (OO) by developers from a traditional development background.
The authors note that previous research “has not answered the question of why software developers have difficulty making the transition” (Armstrong & Hardgrave, 2007, p.455). But they conclude that “individual’s had higher scores on the OO concepts they perceived as novel or carryover rather than those they perceive as changed” (Armstrong & Hardgrave 2007, p.487). Whilst this conclusion provides a more refined understanding of the circumstances under which “mindshift learning is more difficult” (Armstrong & Hardgrave 2007, p.487), it hardly amounts to an explanation that is unique to the software development domain.
In short, this study takes a series of strands from learning, cognition theory and so on (Armstrong & Hardgrove 2007, pp.455-457) to generate a theoretical model dubbed “mindshift learning theory” (MLT), and then applies it to a particular case. Whilst this provides further support for the learning and cognition models drawn on and further suggests that the MLT model may be a useful framework, it does little to enhance understanding of information systems development.
REFERENCES:
Armstrong, DJ & Hardgrave, BC 2007, ‘Understanding Mindshift Learning: The Transition to Object-Oriented Development’, MIS Quarterly,
September, vol.31, no 3, pp.453-474.
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