As the sophistication of technology has increased, so has public demand for quality. This expectation of quality has occurred across a broad range of products and systems, including education. To meet the demand for quality, many products and systems (including educational ones) have become increasingly complex. Within education there are also…

Research showing how upward social comparison breeds competitive behavior has so far conflated local comparisons in "task" performance (e.g. a test score) with comparisons on a more general "scale" (i.e. an underlying skill). Using a ranking methodology (Garcia, Tor, & Gonzalez, 2006) to separate task and scale comparisons, Studies 1-2 reveal that…

In this article we present a structured set of Design Patterns (DPs) that deals with tracking students while they solve problem in specific domains such as programming or mathematics. Our collection of 17 DPs yields a three step approach: First step: to collect and analyze information on each student for each exercise; Second step: to build a…

This article reports on the use of a large group method, the World Café, compared to large group facilitation in an educational institutional setting in Oman. Change is central to many educational institutions as they aspire to ensure quality procedures and processes are implemented and maintained. One of the difficulties of introducing change…

Online learning is transcending from the text-rich educational experience of the past to a video- and audio-rich learning transformation. The greater levels of media-rich content and media-rich interaction that are currently prevalent in online leisure experiences will help to increase e-learning's future efficiency and effectiveness. "Enhancing…

Collaboration has become increasingly widespread in the software industry as systems have become larger and more complex, adding human complexity to the technological complexity already involved in developing software systems. To deal with this complexity, human-centric software development methods, such as Extreme Programming and other agile…

Human Resources (HR) administrators are finding that as software modules are installed to automate various processes, they have more time to focus on strategic objectives. And as compliance with affirmative action and other employment regulations comes under increasing scrutiny, HR staffers are finding that software can deliver and track data with…

This book describes the design and evaluation of a computer-based information system for secondary schools in The Netherlands. It reports on three studies: (1) a pilot study; (2) the SCHOLIS project, which designed a computer-assisted system for school administration; and (3) the evaluation of the implementation of a computer-assisted Absentee…

The issue of increasing the effectiveness of alumni development and fund raising programs to ensure quality in academic programs and campus life for the coming decade was examined. The study's primary purposes were to: (1) describe the development of a comprehensive decision support system for alumni and fund raising activities at one independent…

This paper examines the administrative uses of the microcomputer, stating that high performance educational managers are likely to have microcomputers in their organizations. Four situations that would justify the use of a computer are: (1) when massive amounts of data are processed through well-defined operations; (2) when data processing is…

Summaries of the welcoming and opening remarks for a symposium on the standards issues that will affect the federal government's planning, acquisition, and use of integrated computer and telecommunications systems over the next five years set the stage for the keynote address by Joseph Timko of IBM entitled "Standards--Perspectives and Evolution."…

Computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) refers to a collection of software used with increasing frequency by facilities managers. The six major CAFM components are discussed with respect to their usefulness and popularity in facilities management applications: (1) computer-aided design; (2) computer-aided engineering; (3) decision support…

Part one of the model has two components in needs assessment evaluation with information for management planning decisions. Part two has six sequenced components of input evaluation, which provide information for management organization decisions; process evaluation, for management control decisions; and output evaluation, for communication…

Management Information Systems are a successful reality at a vast and increasing number of higher educational institutions. This paper examines the need for and justification of the existence of management information systems and explores the various uses of such systems at all types of higher education related organizations with emphasis on the…

This paper describes in detail the design and operation of the program budgeting and accounting system developed for use at the Wisconsin Center for Cognitive Learning (CCL), an educational research and development center based at the University of Wisconsin/Madison. The CCL system uses a computer to generate a variety of budget data and…