This paper presents a practice-based theory of administrative, supervisory, and organizational decision-making, which views the organizational decision-making process as a social enterprise. It also describes how to facilitate organizational change by promoting faculty involvement and shows how to increase the potential success of reform efforts.…

This book presents 20 projects for technology education students. The emphasis is on problem solving and hands-on learning through projects dealing with a wide variety of technologies/industries, including the following: robotics, information storage and retrieval, communications, transportation, electronics, manufacturing, construction, materials…

This book is designed to help students understand the nature of scientific inquiry by involving them in doing science rather than merely reading about it. The content of the text emphasizes science process skills, mathematical skills, and the use of theories and models that are fundamental for learning the various science disciplines. The…

This book shows how to use evaluation to find effective solutions. The first two chapters introduce evaluation as an administrative function at the school level. Chapter 1 draws on two kinds of literature--educational-administration literature (to survey administrative practices) and educational-evaluation literature (evaluation practiced by…

A methodological framework is presented for representing tradeoffs among alternative combinations of training and aiding for personnel in complex situations. In general, more highly trained people need less aid, and those with less training need more aid. Balancing training and aiding to accomplish the objectives of the system in a cost effective…

The purpose of this study was to characterize the prior conceptions of molecular structure that organic chemistry students expressed as they learned to interpret nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, and to describe the problem-solving strategies that students employ as they determine molecular structure. The two questions that frame this study…

This paper presents a model for systematic instructional design that includes mental model analysis together with the procedures used in developing computer-based instructional materials in the area of statistical hypothesis testing. The instructional design model is based on the premise that the objective for learning is to achieve expert-like…

This report characterizes human problem solving in digital circuit design. Protocols of 11 different designers with varying degrees of training were analyzed by identifying the designers' problem solving strategies and discussing activity patterns that differentiate the designers. These methods are proposed as a tentative basis for assessing…

Since 1991, the problem-based learning (PBL) approach has been incorporated into the distance education program culminating in a Bachelor of Building degree from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Newcastle, Australia. The Newcastle conceptual PBL model for on-campus courses was adapted to the special needs of distance learners. The…

This booklet was developed by early education teachers to help parents teach their children values necessary for learning and for living. The introduction identifies six lifelong values, discusses the important role played by parents in teaching these values, and offers a checklist of positive ways parents interact with their children. Each of the…

Reports about U.S. schools have indicated the need for improvement of science teaching and learning. One of the solutions advocated calls for classroom contexts that allow for authentic practice under the guidance of teachers who model pertinent skills as practitioners in the field of study. The metaphor used to describe such teaching-learning…

This paper describes a 3-day workshop designed for Wisconsin Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education instructors who taught technical/occupational coursework and focused on problem-solving techniques used in business and industry. Problem-solving techniques were identified through personal and telephone interviews in a sample of 200 training…

An interview protocol was devised to determine whether demands on working memory are reduced by the use of drawn or telegraphic formats. Students were chosen because some aspect of their group testing on presentation formats was provocative (e.g. high spatial score, but low reading comprehension score; high drawn score and low verbal score, etc.).…

The primary task in solving a physics problem is to select ways of viewing the problem in terms of physical systems whose behavior is described by physical laws. The physical systems are, in general, only approximate models of the real-world systems. As models of real-world systems are made more accurate, the equations involved quickly become…

This volume is an exposition of a mathematical modeling technique for use in the evaluation and solution of complex educational problems at all levels. It explores in detail the application of simple algebraic techniques to such issues as program reduction, fiscal rollbacks, and computer curriculum planning. Part I ("Introduction to the…