A change in focus of much of the work of the Society for General Systems Research for greater impact, relevance, and productivity is suggested. Tentative unit concepts for 23 areas of study or disciplines are explored. A unit concept is defined as the central, pivotal concept around which virtually all other basic concepts in a field revolve. The…

Douglas Ehninger's conceptualization of rhetorical theories as "systems" has been criticized for its vagueness in terminology, its potentially skewed perspective, and its inability to apply a stasis to a kinetic phenomenon--namely, rhetoric. The seven recommendations offered in this paper attempt to expand upon the approach and correct…

This paper describes the SIGGS Theory Model as it applies to educational systems. This model, designed to simulate a wide variety of systems, uses sets (S), information (I), graph theory (G), and general systems (GS). The educational system is viewed as a set; in one example this set consists of teacher, student, curriculum, and setting. This…

Utilization of the principles of instructional systems development and of educational technology can eliminate the inadequacies of instructional program development by the (usually untrained) teacher responsible. The four military services have created an interservice committee on Instructional Systems Development, which has created an…

Explored are some of the current problems in the functioning and planning of higher education institutions, particularly viewed through the experience of British institutions. A framework of institutional analysis, the open systems approach, is presented as an essential prerequisite to the understanding of the organization. From this framework is…

The systems model described in this paper outlines the rehabilitation counselor's function as he assists a client toward his final vocational goal. Twelve major components are outlined. Assessment of the client's potential is suggested as the counselor's major function in components 1 through 6, while planning and delivering services to assist the…

This paper explores the use of a series of heuristic models that identify the interrelated components of the broader educational process. This heuristic schema was designed so that educators can examine the purpose and limitations associated with models and subsequently enhance their ability to guide changes within their own institutional setting.…

The National Commission on the Financing of Post Secondary Education (NCFPE) has developed a model of student response to alternative financing plans, and has used this computer model to evaluate several alternatives in terms of enrollments and costs. The model predicted enrollments by types of institutions and family income and costs based on the…

The use of multivariate techniques in the study of human communication gives the researcher the opportunity to view man's behavior in greater totality than the univariate methods. Human behavior can then be viewed in terms of process. Smith, in discussing the idea of process in communication research, states that "more complete explanations will…

A new debate strategy which may be used in judging academic debates is the application of policy systems analysis. In the policy systems analysis approach, the negative team must advocate a policy system just as the affirmative team does, providing a comparison for the debate judge. The major difference between systems analysis and traditional…

Chaos offers educational communications and technology new systems' tools and ideas; i.e., it provides the system with a deterministic "I don't know" state within which new activity patterns can be generated. Previous characterizations and paradigms of systems stated that simple systems behaved in simple ways, complex behaviors implied complex…

To address the question of why newspapers tend to become more and more fragmented internally and to propose a model of the interrelationships between the newspaper and its "operating environment," this paper draws on recent work by organizational theorists. Beginning by examining the central goal of newspapers, the first section suggests that the…

The relational concepts developed in mathematics and psychology are used in this paper to explicate the needs and responsibilities of dramatic acting and theatre research. A parallel is constructed between the emergence of the mathematical concept of function, the awakening of psychology to the concept of relationship (especially regarding family…

The author applies Gerald Nadler's approach to designing work procedures and systems to designing a system for evaluating administrative performance. He lists ten steps necessary in system development: (1) identify those individuals who are directly involved or affected by evaluation; (2) determine the functions to be served by the system under…

Guidelines to facilitate the assessment and development of educational leadership decision-making skills are presented in this paper. Included are a review of traditional and contemporary concepts of the decision-making process, identification of appropriate techniques, and an analysis of four contemporary decision-making models by Thompson,…