Centerness is defined as a quality of multi-agent systems (groups) where agents share a common set of system goals and interact so the system will achieve those goals. A pair of measures is identified to capture the two dimensions of centerness: distance-weighted fragmentation and average goal centerness. As a case study, the measures of…

Systems biology is frequently taught with an emphasis on mathematical modeling approaches. This focus effectively excludes most biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology students, who are not mathematics majors. The mathematical focus can also present a misleading picture of systems biology, which is a multi-disciplinary pursuit requiring…

New Visions for Public Schools has leveraged student-level data to help schools identify at-risk students, designed metrics to capture student progress toward graduation, developed data tools and reports that visualize student progress at different levels of aggregation for different audiences, and implemented real-time data systems for educators.…

In a flexible language learning system, developed at a French university and gradually improved through Action Research, different elements are combined: individual work on a virtual learning environment (VLE), pair-work and counselling appointments. One of the objectives of the system is to help the students involved progress towards…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergent nature of leadership in a university-based learning network of mature-aged practitioner-scholars. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on previously published work, interviews, and current research. Findings: The paper finds that once initial structures have been established,…

Baby boomer trends are applied in the development of a conceptual framework that offers a social systems and cultural model for future studies. While there has been considerable recent attention paid to baby boomers, the studies lack a coherent theoretical base that would allow for more advanced and continuing research. Aging baby boomers heading…

As subsystems within the stepfamily structure compete for limited resources, conflicts arise among subsystems and within subsystems among persons with membership in different subunits. Stepfamilies can become more unified through recognition of prior loyalties, negotiations to resolve conflicts, and techniques to redefine the boundaries between…

Historically, alcoholism has been defined as an individual problem, and as a result, family factors have received little attention. During the past decade, however, a new theoretical-methodological perspective has been introduced which draws upon general systems theory for rationale, family theory for substance, and behavioral psychology for…

The use of the cohort-survival method for projecting student enrollments is widely known in educational finance literature; however, the limited information provided by the model impedes planners in making future operational decisions. The cohort-survival method employs historical rates of usage to predict future patterns of usage and produces a…