In 2003, Terrence Martell, a finance professor at the City University of New York's Baruch College, encountered a classroom of 80 seniors who could navigate the complex intricacies of the futures markets and commodities trading. But when he asked them to write a report explaining to a commodity pool operator why he or she should retain the student…

Reviews three areas of knowledge needed to select an appropriate needs assessment strategy: (1) the criteria for selecting the method, (2) nine needs assessment methods, and (3) a means of categorizing methods. Provides an example of an assessment activity conducted in a small rural hospital. (LRA)

Describes a rationale, instrument, and methodology to improve the practice of organization needs analysis. The approach involves the author's "career of the organization" exercise for the trainer's use in identifying organization problems and in conceptualizing the nature of needs-analysis problem solving relating to both individual and…

Several models of curriculum and staff development are described to provide guidance toward the goal of harmoniously blending a humanized curriculum and humanized instruction. The author compares the "explosive" and "implosive" designs for program development and instruction and argues that the implosive design should be adopted and that…

The purpose of the project is to identify goals for vocational education in Florida through the year 2000 and to develop a system plan for achieving them. Project components are leadership and project coordination, staff development, a planning team, needs assessment surveys, futures research, an economic utility model, and dissemination and…

Designing an EAP course requires collaboration among various concerned stakeholders, including students, subject teachers, institutional administrators and EAP teachers themselves. While needs analysis is often considered fundamental to EAP, alternative research methodologies may be required to facilitate meaningful collaboration between these…

Software collection development recommendations from principals and educational computing specialists focus on district control of software collections, budgeting, what to purchase (e.g., games versus educational programs), computer literacy, and computers as time savers for instructors. Recommended software programs are profiled, and an annotated…

A description of the state of the art regarding Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Education Information, with special emphasis on computer assisted information, is provided. A survey of BIA Central Office was conducted to: determine the total scope of Education Information currently being reported; identify the methods being used in developing the…

Argues that information management calls for development of an organizational strategy that encompasses users, information resources, and the available and appropriate technology. Discussion of factors involved includes the nature of information and information resources, variance in information usage, and guidelines for developing a strategy to…

The Western Washington State College Teacher Corps Project (WWSC/TC) has developed a teacher designed inservice model as part of its Ninth Cycle program. The model is based on a collaborative approach to inservice education, in which the teacher is able to draw on the resources of an institution of higher learning, a local education association,…

An Inter-agency Panel of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) experts, drawn from seven United Nations and other international agencies, was one of the highlights in the programme of UNESCO's International Experts Meeting "Learning for Work, Citizenship and Sustainability" (Bonn, Germany, 25-28 October 2004). The Panel…

This 5-year strategic plan (prepared in 1994) from Pellissippi State Technical Community College in Tennessee examines macro environmental factors (including social, government, economic and technological trends); internal and external market share trends and opportunities; micro environmental factors (including organizational structure, financial…

Working with the Philadelphia-based Institute of Interactive Management, several teams at Jackson Community College (JCC), in Michigan, set out in 1994 to learn and apply an interactive design methodology to selected college subsystems. Interactive design begins with understanding problems faced by the system as a whole, which in the case of JCC…

The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges has repeatedly identified the strengthening of communications as a key component to developing the California Community Colleges (CCC) as a system. The genesis of communications planning, activities and priorities took place in 1989 with the Burson-Marsteller Communications Action Plan,…

This report reviews the eight-month process of planning for library automation undertaken by the Cleveland State University libraries late in 1984. Following an overview of the planning process, a listing of goals is presented, and six documents developed as a result of the process are provided. "Review of Current Systems" includes…