A lead article, System-Based, Unified Social Sciences, written by Alfred Kuhn, examines the relationships of the social sciences to each other and to the entire field of science. The social sciences are related by an intrasystem and intersystem of analytic concepts that enable us to perceive similarities or patterns in both past and future events.…

A management education planning approach called Computer-Assisted Subject Area (CASA) has been conceptualized as a framework for viewing, evaluating, and recording efforts to improve the effectiveness of a subject area to be integrated within an overall curriculum. CASA is a generalized set of models which feature a hierarchy of activities in…

This study investigated the development of effective large-group instructional materials which are relevant and meaningful to the general studies biology student. The criterion of student interest guided the selection of birth, birth control, and genetic counseling as topics for developing relevant prototype instructional materials. These…

The purpose of this article is to examine issues related to the design of training programs for educational personnel. An educational training program consists of sets of planned experiences offered in a prescribed sequence and manner but involves other factors as well, since a training program is an environment going beyond the explicit content…

Based on analyses and recommendations reported in School Improvement Planning: What's Missing?, the present report proposes ways to (a) reorganize school improvement guidance and (b) expand standards and accountability to encompass a component to address barriers to learning and teaching. In doing so, the work highlights the need and a focus for…

An instructional systems approach to learning draws on principles of instructional design and development but also draws from theories such as behaviorism, information processing, cognitive theory, adult education, and systems theory among others. This paper focuses on how instructional designers can benefit from awareness of different adult…

We make the case for an emergent notion of authenticity of science based on systems theory and neo-Piagetian thought. We propose that authentic science is an emergent property of a dynamic system of learning precipitated by the interactions among students, teachers, and scientists that occur within the contexts defined by the internal and external…

This article explores instructionally useful assessment in the social studies. In the first section, the concept of usefulness is discussed as a function of the alignment between goals, instruction, and assessment. Next, three approaches to instructionally useful assessment are reported, followed by a case scenario suggesting how these disparate…

One may receive the most benefit from an evaluation of an educational program or the performance of a teacher if the evaluation process is approached from a Total Quality Management (TQM) point of view. Under the philosophy of TQM, the purpose of any evaluation process is to provide feedback for the continual improvement of the educational process…

For a number of years it has been suggested that distance education is a natural extension of existing teaching methods that includes learners who are separated from the instructor by time or distance. This paper takes an alternative look at distance-education research and evaluation and proposes an evaluation model built on that view. That…

The United States Army, confronted with sophisticated defense machinery and entry level soldiers with low educational backgrounds, selected a systems approach to training that was developed in 1975 by Florida State University. Instructional Systems Development (IDS), a five-phase process encompassing the entire educational environment, is…

This personal progress report, telling where the author is and where he thinks the field of reading is, is a response to both the "know-more movement" (based on an explosive seeking of greater knowledge of the reading process) and the "know-nothing movement" (a systems-oriented movement based on tightly structured arbitrarily…

The activites of the Consulting Group on Instructional Design and some faculty members for whom it has made a difference are discussed. Through faculty seminars, consultation, and cooperative efforts with faculty to develop instructional programs utilizing new strategies and technologies, the Consulting Group tries to improve the effectiveness of…

Foreign-language methodology courses do not generally provide potential teachers with sufficient criteria for judging either the most reasonable format or the probable cost/labor effectiveness of media materials which could be used to advantage in their classes. Opportunities for practical application of the student's knowledge, particularly where…

In this paper guidelines which provide direction toward the development and structure of a course in social foundations of education are outlined. A systems approach to organization of the course is used as both a content and process guide. The construct of the parts of this education system defines four operational functions: 1) development of…