A new conceptual approach to the analysis of educational systems is defined. It centers attention on the instructional management decision making process, which serves to mediate the activities of the students and learning environment, so that much of the present confusion surrounding the design of educational systems is eliminated. Instructional…

The true state of the system described here is characterized by a probability vector. At each stage of the system an action must be chosen from a finite set of actions. Each possible action yields an expected reward, transforms the system to a new state in accordance with a Markov transition matrix, and yields an observable outcome. The problem of…

Introduces human performance technology (HPT) by answering the following questions related to: what systems does; practical issues and questions to which systems thinking is relevant; research questions and answers with respect to systems thinking; how HPT practitioners can do systems thinking; systems thinking tools; what is and is not known…

Four alternative designs for educational systems are sketched consonant with existing and potential scientific and technical knowledge and are contrasted with the prevailing generic educational system and each other. Systems are compared for relevance and productivity, for information contained in their proficiency tests, and for their capability…

The Chipley Project was initiated to ascertain if PPBS procedures developed in establishing a private school mathematics curriculum could be applied to a public school social studies curriculum. This document reports the experiences of the Chipley Middle School teachers involved in the project. The project focused primarily on creating,…

The professional development process can be organized as a continuous, multifaceted, proactive, and integrated system that is futures-oriented and focused on adaptation as an essential organizational function. A systems model employing a university professional school as an example is presented. It focuses on professional schools because they lend…

Teachers need a framework for decision-making; this book supplies criteria against which they can weigh choices about alternative courses of action and encourages systematic instructional design by encouraging them to think about the overall educational effort. The underlying assumptions are that teachers overteach, that poor organization by the…

A cognitive task analysis was performed to analyze the key cognitive components of the en route air traffic controllers' jobs. The goals were to ascertain expert mental models and decision-making strategies and to identify important differences in controller knowledge, skills, and mental models as a function of expertise. Four groups of…