Nonadversarial approaches to conflict resolution should receive increasing attention from educators facing increased government regulations, stable budgets, and diminished spending power. Mediation, with its emphasis on accommodation and cooperative problem solving, can reinforce the education community's commitment to reasoned discourse and…

The development of anasynthesis--the process of analysis, synthesis, modeling, and simulation--as applied to decision making and problem solving in education and training is explored, and its future with regard to education is discussed. (RAO)

Describes a problem solving method, in five basic steps, for training managers to develop problem solving skills. The net result is to help organizations survive and grow while helping the manager cope with his situation. (Author/RK)

Instructional exercises were applied in an attempt to increase children's problem solving skills; performance in two training groups was greater than in that of a control group. (KS)

Examines decision making in educational organizations, focusing on problems associated with identifying and labeling issues. Factors influencing labeling include decision maker characteristics such as filtering ability, aspiration level, capabilities and experience, stress, "satisficing" proclivity, anchoring and adjustment, selective…

Tested conceptual model of context, processes, and outcomes of joint marital decision making of married couples (N=188) which specified spouses' process variables as individual-level measures and partners' consensus as a couple construct. Found context factor of spouses' emotional interdependence influenced both partners' coerciveness and degree…

Examines whether problem solving, decision making, and other thinking skills depend more on deep expertise in a specialty or on reflective awareness and general strategies. General and specialized knowledge function in close partnership. The partnership's nature and implications for educational practice are explored. (Author/BJV)

Discusses a framework for identifying organizational processes or models within the context of the organization's decision-making processes. Five organizational models appropriate to academic libraries are presented: rational, political bargaining, garbage can, bureaucratic, and participatory. Guidelines for managers include how to distinguish…

Explains the concept of environmental auditing as analogous to financial auditing, as manifested through the six guiding principles of environmental excellence, and as utilized by industrial and commercial interests. Presents a questionnaire-based method to introduce students to the techniques involved in environmental auditing. (seven references)…

The impact of 15 hours of medical decision-making instruction (provided during a clinical preceptorship) on ratings of students' problem solving during subsequent third-year clinical clerkships is reported. Problem-solving ratings were not found to be better for students who had the instruction and clinical experience than for students in the…

Comments two responses to author's article "Listening for the Voices of Care and Justice in Counselor Supervision" (Twohey and Volker, 1993). Responds to Ellis and Robbins (1993) by clarifying perspective on relationship between moral decision making and supervision. Takes issue with Bernstein's (1993) comments about superiority of instrumental…

Describes a model for counseling cancer patients that integrates the unique features of the cancer experience within a basic counseling framework. It combines a nine-step problem-solving approach with a biopsychosocial perspective, placing greater emphasis on the person than the problem. Utilizes innovative questioning techniques and strategies.…

Presents a descriptive outline of problem-solving methods, which include: (1) identifying the problem; (2) generating possible solutions; (3) evaluating the possible solutions; and (4) implementing the preferred solution. Explains two types of problems: problems to find, and problems to prove. Offers recommendations for teaching problem solving.…

Economic reasoning skills integrate easily with the business education curriculum and enhance students' development of decision-making and problem-solving techniques. One method involves having students apply deductive reasoning to economic mysteries. (JOW)

Suggests that a practical model for dialogue and decisionmaking in ethics needs to be developed, which is intended for widespread use within organizations and communities. Outlines objectives of an effective model, and basic questions that it must respond to. Discusses piloting the model, as well as facilitation of dialogue, development of…