A review of the literature examines definitional issues in child abuse. The review is organized into sections on theory and ideology, historical broadening of concept, comparative studies, dimensions of definitions, operational definitions, and breadth of systems. The importance of definitional issues in construction of a unifying framework for…

Compares differential and developmental approaches to clinical and developmental problems such as suicide. Contends that abstract model variables (such as suicidal tendency), whose meaning depends on the model in which they function, need a translation between the variable and empirical data. Maintains that practitioners need a model allowing for…

Describes an organizational learning course based on transformative learning theory that illustrates approaches to developing constructive learning environments, enhancing team learning, examining mental models, supporting systems thinking, and achieving personal mastery. (SK)

Discusses various ways in which context may be interpreted to enhance learning and performance; illustrates domains of learning using a hockey team as an example; and suggests implications for learning, performance, and instructional design. Highlights include an ecological systems model; and examples of individual development, team learning, and…

Describes a program evaluation model that was developed over three semesters of teaching an introductory graduate-level course in program evaluation. The framework uses a systems approach that emphasizes its sequenced methodology and the significant of monitoring work through feedback loops in an ongoing revision process. (Author/SLD)

Discusses the need to have a clear understanding of the environment into which learning materials and resources are introduced. Topics discussed include the instructional design process, front end analysis, systems inquiry and design inquiry, the learner's role and the teacher's role, and the physical environment. (29 references) (LRW)

Proposes a systemically valid testing system that induces curricular and instructional changes in education systems to foster the development of the cognitive traits that tests are designed to measure. Analyzes test characteristics and outlines the principles of a systemically valid testing system. (FMW)

Describes basic concepts in the field of general systems theory (GST) and explains the relationship between instructional systems design (ISD) and GST. Benefits of integrating GST into the curriculum of ISD graduate programs are discussed, and a short bibliography on GST is included. (LRW)

The authors argue that high priority should be given to the awareness of existing conditions and needs in Third World countries before the introduction of any form of technology. They present two models that direct the thinking process toward effective technology transfer on a systematic basis. (CH)

The article presents family systems concepts to provide rehabilitation counselors with practical guidelines for working with families of persons with disabilities and describes techniques for encouraging family participation. (Author/DB)

This article identifies several advantages to utilizing a systems approach to achieve the nation's health objectives, particularly in school health education. Corresponding shortcomings of the epidemiological approach, which forms the basis of federal public health objectives for 1990, are discussed. (IAH)

Presents an approach to manage a decision support system (DSS) user interface called Expert System Interface Manager (ESIM). The importance of integrating research findings in the framework is noted; an architecture for ESIM is developed; and the prototype of the ESIM implementation is presented. (Contains 37 references.) (JLB)

Offers a definition of electronic performance support systems (EPSS) which is evolving to a systems approach. Highlights include strategic issues, including improved quality, retention of corporate knowledge, and responsiveness to business change; and cost factors, including increased productivity, reduced training costs, and development costs.…

Discusses teachers' use of systematic instructional design practices; describes fundamental components of instructional design; explains a teacher planning inventory; and reports on a study of junior and senior high school teachers that examined their use of instructional design practices in their planning routines. (Contains 21 references.) (LRW)

Presents a model of cognition and emotion that suggests that feedback between cognition and emotion generates, maintains, and reconfigures interpretations of emotion-eliciting events at micro- and macrodevelopmental time scales and that personality and behavior self-organize in response to fluctuations in perception or cognition and trace…