The Structured Planning and Debugging Editor (SPADE) is a new kind of interactive programming environment in which computer programs are generated by explicitly articulating planning decisions. The design of SPADE is based upon the development of a grammar of plans from a taxonomy of basic planning techniques. The utility of this approach to…

The purposes of this study were: (1) to test several social decision schemes to obtain plausible explanations of different group processes in solving different disjunctive tasks; and (2) to study both dyads and tetrads solving a eureka and a non-eureka disjunctive task. Social decision schemes theory assumes that a group decision is a joint…

The relationship between the content and the context of curriculum was explored by applying basic concepts and approaches from the fields of policy analysis and organization theory. A chronology of the policy formation stage in which the University of Iowa developed its recommendations for curriculum revision is presented. The format indicates…

TWO BASIC NEEDS OF THE DECISIONMAKER ARE IDENTIFIED--THE NEED TO FUNCTION UNDER CONDITIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CERTAINTY AND THE NEED TO BE VIGILANT AFTER THE INITIAL DECISION HAS BEEN MADE. PSYCHOLOGICAL CERTAINTY IS DETERMINED BY THE PERSON'S ASSESSMENT OF HIS ENVIRONMENT OR LIFE SPACE AND THE RESOURCES HE HAS AT HIS COMMAND, BOTH OF WHICH ARE…

This study examines the impact of one important task characteristic for the process by which groups solve problems. The principal comparison is between a generative problem and a choice task, and whether or not the differences between these types of tasks affect the group's methods for arriving at a decision. Two types of analysis are conducted of…

This document describes a modified Delphi technique for use in establishing research needs and priorities at the institutional level. Six steps are essential to the technique: identification of needs, collection of rankings of the relative importance of the identified needs by institutional administrators, calculation of the rank of identified…

This study compared two techniques of teaching verbal problem solving. The consensus method is a commonly used decision-making strategy, while the expository (control) method is the most familiar teaching strategy for verbal problems. Two sets of sixth-grade students under two teachers were divided into treatment groups. Both sets of subjects were…

In this study, two dimensions of political decisional agenda (the elements which relate most to voting decisions) were examined: the number of items on the agenda and the content of the agenda items. Data were gathered in a study of the 1974 congressional election in the five largest counties of Illinois' 24th Congressional District. A total of…

The purpose of this learning module developed at the University of Houston is to aid the prospective teacher in defining problems so that decision making can be handled in a flexible manner. The student is presented with five situations and asked to define the problem from the point of view of the student, the teacher, and the parent. The module…

This paper describes the characteristics and circumstances defining nine decision cases in an effort to provide methodological assistance for practitioners. Each case is examined according to its objectives (single or multiple), resource level (limited or unlimited), time frame (a priori or evaluative), and the nature of desired decisions. In…

An attempt was made to ascertain what type of verbal interaction behavior manifested by a group given a problem in curriculum development affects the quality of the product. Thirty ad hoc groups, selected randomly, were given curriculum development tasks to solve. Curriculum Guide Form (CGF) and Bales' Interaction Process Analysis (IPA) were used…

Operational gaming is a kind of decision simulation where the players make decisions within the framework of a simulated operating system. For the game to have value in developing vocational awareness, the decision-making exercise should be structured around a model of real life vocational decisions. The gaming experience aims toward helping the…

The written simulation is a useful form of instruction in subject matter requiring problem solving and decision making and is also useful for evaluation of learner outcomes in areas where what is learned can best be measured by its use in problem solving and decision making. A number of criteria which stressed the perceived need for greater…

This paper presents a six-stage model for sexual decision making which is based on six questions, each of which represents a point at which a decision must be made. The six questions are: (1) intercourse or no intercourse; (2) children or no children; (3) birth control or no birth control; (4) delivery or abortion; (5) keep the child or give it…

One hundred eighty 4-man groups (90 of men and 90 of women) using 3 types of net (All-Channel, Wheel and Circle) under 3 conditions (Planning Period (PP), Rest Period (RP) and Control) were run in a single session with 5 complex problems to determine whether a single 2-minute planning period after solution of the first problem would result in…