The current paper describes a first experiment in the use of TED talks and open tagging exercises to train higher-level comprehension skills, and of automatic logging of the student's actions to investigate the student choices while performing analytical tasks. The experiment took advantage of an interactive learning platform--LearnWeb--that…

This report details an ongoing investigation of the decision-making processes of a group of secondary school students in south-eastern Australia undertaking information search tasks. The study is situated in the field of information seeking and use, and, more broadly, in decision making. Research questions focus on students' decisions about the…

This document is a compilation of materials from a presentation on ethical decision making. These components are included: (1) four sample moral dilemmas; (2) graphs of Kohlberg's six stages of moral growth; (3) graphs of Gilligan's Theory of Moral Judgments; (4) graphs of Kitchner's Theory of Ethical Principles; (5) a discussion of the four…

Policy makers use past experience and history to think about current and potential problems and to explain policies and problems to others. Decision makers may be overly influenced by significant personally-experienced events that loom so large in their eyes that details and related relevant information may pale in comparison. Deficiencies in…

Since the ability to make good decisions and take appropriate actions is dependent upon the accuracy of relevant information, it is important to understand the ways in which knowledge of the world can be distorted or biased. This paper is a systematic review of the literature concerning three ways in which distortion or bias can be associated with…

In response to rising public criticism of the media and demand for accountability, leaders among professional journalists are calling for a renewed emphasis on codes of ethics and deliberate attention to moral action. In examining the importance and relevance of ethics to high school journalism, three principles for the teaching of ethics emerge:…

This paper discusses some of the central issues involved in philosophizing about rhetoric by raising two primary questions within the context of three traditional branches of philosophy: ontology, axiology, and epistemology. The two questions raised are: What are dialectical tensions in a philosophy of rhetoric? and How does a person try to cope…

Based on existing theory and research on cooperation and competition and on process studies of group decision making, a two-part study was conducted on the communication patterns in four groups of college students. In the first part of the study groups one and three were induced to behave competitively and groups two and four were induced to…

Failure to separate judicial reasoning (the application of rules) from legislative reasoning (the justification of rules) in earlier studies is claimed to invalidate most previous developmental research using moral dilemma interviews. Two studies used a novel method of scoring moral dilemma interviews that separates judicial from legislative…

A fact-finding exercise used in a study of principals' problem-solving behaviors is analyzed in this paper. Forty-two subjects with varying degrees of administrative experience participated in fact-finding and thinking-aloud exercises prior to responding to a case study. Problem definition, a key component of the problem-solving process, was a…

Information is the framework connecting technology, leadership, and the common work of education, namely, responsive situational decision making. Decisions are based upon some form of information perceived, taken in, and acted upon. The ways that administrators and teachers process information is the variable associated with effective educational…

Factors influencing decision making are reviewed, and strategies which a school psychologist can use to increase parent involvement in decisions about their handicapped children are delineated. It is explained that four types of interventions are effective in promoting parental involvement: decision counseling, the balance sheet schema to help…

There is a lack of empirical evidence describing the actual problems encountered by school leaders and the knowledge that they use to find solutions to those problems. This paper presents findings of a study that explored the problems faced by members of a graduate educational-administration class. The participants, 22 practicing public school…

A study examined the impact of gender on administrative decision making. Do males and females make different decisions? The study tested 56 practicing and aspiring administrators in a graduate program. Of these, 36 were women and 20 were men. The study presented the participants with 15 scenarios often encountered by school administrators. The…

Decision-making in general and policy decisions in particular are the prime responsibility of school boards because policies are control mechanisms by which trustees assert local control. Policy decisions differ from others in their concern with values and purposes and the legitimization of the organization to society at large. Additionally, they…