These five papers are from a symposium that was facilitated by Susan Dougherty at the 1995 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD). "The Relationship between Productivity and Work Team Autonomy and Team Process Effectiveness" (Candice L. Phelan) reports that correlation analysis of results of a study of 21 work teams revealed…

This paper examines how visual information strategies may be used to facilitate the development of mental models. Topics covered include: definition of mental models; mental models and visual information; mental modeling concepts; power of modeling, including examples related to physical science, mathematics, writing, and depth of processing;…

Although most models of connected discourse are strikingly similar in the types of relationships they describe, they are strikingly different in two areas: the unit of analysis and the dimensions on which cohesion versus coherence are described. Common systems for analyzing written text use the sentence, T-unit, clause, or proposition as the unit…

A three-dimensional Consultation Intervention Model is used to illustrate the potential for broad-based counselor impact within a university campus community. Based upon community mental health principles, consultation is described as a complex but efficient function whereby counselors may maximize the scope of their interventions. (Author)

The conceptualizations of morphogenic processes suggested by systems theorists provide a useful framework for describing growth and development in complex adaptive self-directing organisms. These processes involve changes in (1) a system's structure, state, or functioning; (2) discontinuities in development; and (3) at least two kinds of…

Program advisory committees in vocational education have traditionally been charged with the responsibility of evaluating programs for the purpose of keeping them up to date with business and industry practices and current technology. Rapid technological development and accountability requirements have led to state mandates that the advisory…

This document proposes the adoption of a rules-based theoretical perspective for the study of family interaction. In the first section, Logical and Empirical Requirements, concepts and basic assumptions pertinent to rules theory are considered. The concepts of coordination and determinacy, as used in a rules framework, are explained, and logical…

An approach that uses diagrams to illustrate systems of influence is described and proposed as a medium for cross-cultural communication. The approach, entitled System Dynamics, facilitates representation of complex interactions, and has been used in a variety of scientific and professional fields since its inception in the 1950's. Influence…

This booklet begins by examining the role played by evaluation in course and curriculum development, and then shows how the basic "error elimination" approach advocated by the philosopher Karl Popper can be used as a basis for the on-going evaluation of instructional systems. Next, two contrasting paradigms of evaluation are described,…

The systems approach used at the University of Michigan to prepare vocational/career educators of handicapped and nonhandicapped students is described. Activities conducted in each of three stages of the model--planning, implementation, and evaluation are described. Program planning is seen to include identification of target population, review of…

During 1974-75, a nine-month field study of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) was performed. Researchers observed MDE members at work, attended meetings, conducted interviews, and read documentary material. Attention was focused on the MDE at a system level and on the top 30-40 persons whose actions both caused and reflected…

The problems that pervade professional schools are not dissimilar to those of undergraduate education. Graduates emerge from both with questionable levels of preparation; also, similar problems exist in professional development and curriculur improvement. However, three major differences are found between these two levels of education with respect…

This paper reports a procedure used for the design of management information systems at the school board level. It was developed in cooperation with two Ontario boards--a large board with access to computer facilities and a small board with a manual record-keeping system. (Author/IRT)

Researchers review the theoretical and empirical literature to investigate how models of organizational effectiveness can be applied to the study of school effectiveness in public elementary and secondary education. The authors consider nine models grouped into two sets: goal-centered models and systems-oriented models. The goal-centered group…

Although the Instructional Systems Development (ISD) model, based on behavioral theory, has been in use for several years, especially in military training, applying the systems approach to the curriculum development of on-the-job training material is a new use for it. The ISD model consists of five steps: (1) analyze system requirements; (2)…