Teachers of vocational agriculture students should focus on developing problem-solving and decision-making capacities, rather than on rote learning. Such preparation would include instruction in transferring lessons learned to today's and tomorrow's problems. Several factors are involved in facilitating transfer: experiential learning, adequacy of…

Noting that a distinction can be made between the different types of problems faced by managers in today's organizations, and that managers increasingly face problems of a more complex nature, this paper suggests that an interactive management approach is best for solving complicated problems. Following an introduction that distinguishes between…

This module, developed by the Research Applications for Teaching (RAFT) project, introduces the undergraduate student to practices of teachers in effective schools which facilitate the climate for learning in the classroom. Used with Canter's materials on assertive discipline, the preservice teachers should have an opportunity to reflect carefully…

Students must make decisions about their lifestyle, future careers, academic pursuits, and classroom and school issues. Learning to make effective decisions for themselves and for society is an important aspect of competence. They can learn decision making through interacting and solving problems with others. A central ingredient for successful…

Since negotiations are continually taking place around the world, speech communication departments would be wise to update their curricular offerings by adding a course in negotiation theory and practice, or by supplementing courses with a unit in negotiation. An initial technique for introducing students to negotiation involves brainstorming. As…

This paper addresses the future role of the Ford Foundation in helping to improve society's capacity to resolve conflicts. Part I discusses the problem. In recent years America has had many sorts of conflicts and disputes. Examples are racial equality, energy allocation, environmental protection, consumer rights, and equal educational opportunity.…

The bulk of this conference report is made up of three papers. In the first, J. A. Riffel argues that there are two polar orientations to the problem of evaluation in education--the independent empirical and the participatory problem-solving. To date, education has been dominated by the former approach. Only the latter allows for a variety of…

Researchers who have attempted to study the functioning of the jury in the United States have been hampered by the absolute confidentiality of jury deliberations. Research methodologies have tried to circumvent this difficulty by using simulated juries, and have focused largely on the influence of the social status of jurors during deliberations.…

By reading fiction designed for adolescents, teachers can learn how to help middle school children to resolve the conflicts characteristic of their lives. Analyses of 23 such books that focused on the ways that 10- to 16-year-old characters cope with a variety of problems and on the roles that adults play in causing or helping to alleviate those…

The current status of student government's role in the school decision making of a New York junior high school is examined in this case study. The student body, faculty, and administration responded to a 37-item questionnaire which examined their attitudes toward student government activities and importance in school decision making. The results…

The House Judiciary Committee debates over the Articles of Impeachment during the Watergate hearings provided the unique opportunity for citizens to observe the process of congressional decision making. Emphasizing diversity, compromise, and reasoned argument, members defined their role as a combination of judge, juror, and average common-sense…

This study examined the effects of a cross-age training program on the interpersonal conceptions of the students serving as trainers. A total of 24 sixth graders participated in the study, 12 in the training group and 12 in the control group which received no training. The training group met twice a week, once to lead dilemma discussion groups…

The case study analysis system was designed to increase student analytical skills while focusing on social conflict situations. The analysis system is a systematic means of identifying, classifying, and clarifying factors found in social conflict situations. Students are also expected to gain insights into forces that change social structures.…

The Alpha Crisis Game, a simulation for secondary students about the outbreak of World War I, is intended as an introduction to a case study of the July 1917 crisis. Playing in teams while deciding among the action choices to solve the crisis situation, students act as heads of state and ministers of five mythical European countries, when an…

Survey feedback and problem solving processes can be applied to increase the effectiveness of task-oriented structural approaches to educational organization development. One such approach involves the superimposition of complementary collective decision structures over the existing authority decision framework of the school. Collective decision…