Three basic orientations to problem solving are defined and related to four profiles of problem environment. The contingency between problem-solving orientations and problem environment is presented by means of three formal models that are translated to fit the students' learning environment. Implications for further studies are discussed. (JD)

Examined possible subtypes of undecided students through cluster analysis. Undecided (N=87) and decided (N=26) college students were interviewed and completed career planning and problem solving instruments. Revealed four distinct subtypes of undecided students: planless avoiders, informed indecisives, confident but uninformed, and uninformed.…

Clinical applications of statistical process control (SPC) in human service organizations are considered. SPC is seen as providing a standard set of criteria that serves as a common interface for data-based decision making, which may bring decision making under the control of established contingencies rather than the immediate contingencies of…

Interviews with 12 senior administrators (8 college, 2 business, 2 hospital) who kept a journal for a year or more revealed 3 major journal-keeping functions: sorting through administrative chaos; generating solutions to problems; and documenting the past by recording details of decisions, personal data, responses to situations. Implications for…

Argues that fostering thinking across the curriculum can be affected by engaging students in complex, meaningful, long-term tasks such as decision making, naturalistic inquiry, scientific inquiry, problem solving, and composing. Notes that these tasks require an instructional format (workshops) that provides a new role for teachers and students.…

Describes educational collaboration and its relationship to school consultation as structured planning, decision-making, and problem-solving process. Identifies characteristics of collaborative school and its organizational structures. Articulates roles and skills counselors can use to provide leadership in developing and implementing…

Presents an accessible method to help adolescents become thoughtful decision makers, which combines social decision-making/problem-solving activities with the literature of the eighth-grade English classroom. (SR)

Explains how the process of creating a database provides opportunities for business instructors to use teaching strategies that promote higher-order thinking skills. Describes a project at a school of business in which each student must build an original database and apply functions of tables, queries, forms, and reports. (JOW)

Explores the process of ethical decision-making in counseling research and examines to what extent decision-making is based on intuitive thinking. Reviews and considers several models of ethical problem solving. Argues that ethical decisions are reached through intuition, informed by ethical principles, codes of practice, and reference to the laws…

This issue of "Early Developments" examines a relatively new phenomenon in the early childhood field called "evidence-based practice," defined herein as "a decision-making process that integrates the best available research evidence with family and professional wisdom and values." This issue of "Early Developments" includes the following articles:…

Background: Games centred approaches (GCA) such as TGfU, Game Sense, and Tactical Games are widely promoted as alternatives to traditional forms of teaching games within physical education. These approaches are promoted on the basis of their capacity to engage students in meaningful and enjoyable physical activity and to promote problem-solving…

To identify and describe the basis upon which instructors make curricular and pedagogical decisions, we have developed an artifact-based interview and an analysis technique based on multilayered concept maps. The policy capturing technique used in the interview asks instructors to make judgments about concrete instructional artifacts similar to…

Problem solving is one of the most important skills that new and developing professionals must learn. The process is complex, involving information scanning, problem identification, and feedback processes requiring synthesis, interim assessments, problem error recognition and rectification, and timely and appropriate conclusions. This study used…

The title of this book is an acronym that serves to describe the mental activity the games of the book are intended to bring about. Each of the seven letters in "scamper" is the initial letter for the word phrases making up the checklist used to create the Scamper games. Sections of the book include: (1) "Scampering with the Experts--Thinking and…

This study reviews the literature regarding the theoretical rationale for creating a computer-based school system simulation for educational leaders' use in problem solving and decision making. Like all social systems, educational systems are so complex that individuals are hard-pressed to consider all interrelated parts as a totality. A…