Improving the quality of learning is basic to raising academic standards. Research on postsecondary learning improvement has provided a base of practical knowledge to guide faculty and planners. Successful learning improvement programs share two essential characteristics: they are more comprehensive in the range of students' needs met, and they…

The Discrepancy Evaluation Model (DEM), developed in 1966 by Malcolm Provus, provides information for program assessment and program improvement. Under the DEM, evaluation is defined as the comparison of an actual performance to a desired standard. The DEM embodies five stages of evaluation based upon a program's natural development: program…

A study was conducted to identify the factors that secondary and postsecondary vocational education administrators use as the basis for their decisions to add, terminate, or modify their programs. Data were collected through a telephone survey of 115 secondary and postsecondary administrators and by face-to-face interviews with an additional 25…

A project was designed to develop a methodology to identify, select, and disseminate information on innovations in occupational education programs of Oregon community colleges that were developed and implemented without the use of vocational research and exemplary fundings. A methodology for identifying, selecting, and disseminating information…

This module is one of a series of learning modules designed to help vocational education administrators to improve their skills. The module addresses two types of information-gathering or inquiry skills that will help an administrator collect information for decision making: (1) developing and using questionnaires and structured interview…

This report describes results of the first year of a three-year program to develop and evaluate a new Adaptive Computerized Training System (ACTS) for electronics maintenance training. (ACTS incorporates an adaptive computer program that learns the student's diagnostic and decision value structure, compares it to that of an expert, and adapts the…

This report describes a project to develop a system for community colleges to delineate, obtain, and provide information for judging whether to continue, modify, or terminate occupational education programs. The report reviews the project's background, objectives, procedures, accomplishments, problems, evaluation, and conclusions/recommendations.…

Five workshop presentations on career development--trends and implications are "Work and Society: Implications for Counselor Education" (Herr); "Major Trends in Career Development Theory and Practice: Implications for Counselor Education" (Gysbers); "Career Development: The Home and Family" (Otto); "Career Development in Business and Industry"…

These 18 papers were presented at a conference designed to share the diversity of ways that the Career Orientation and Planning Profile (COPP) is being used to conduct effective career guidance programs by selected career guidance educators throughout the United States. The publication begins with a brief tribute to Dr. Shigekazu Fukuyama…

This paper describes an information system designed for data-based decision making by a state vocational education agency in prioritizing courses for instructional materials development or acquisition. This needs assessment system is the second part of a project which focused attention on the need for competency-based instruction. The information…