Identifies procedure to help classroom teachers infuse problem solving into the typical technology education classroom. The five steps involved are (1) set a goal the student can attain, (2) define a task that incorporates new actions and ideas, (3) provide a structure, (4) force the student to choose between several alternatives, and (5) make the…

A utilization-focused approach in evaluating a problem-solving skills training program (see TM 510 179) would have placed more emphasis on identifying evaluation users, their information needs, and likely use of findings. Other methods options are also discussed, along with how to prepare decision makers for utilization. (Author/BW)

Suggests decision making techniques that can be used to estimate the consequences of choosing alternative courses of action, to select an optimum strategy, or to determine how sensitive predicted outcomes are to particular assumptions. Microcomputer use, quantitative techniques, and examples involving item reordering and adoption of word…

Authority-task problems are organizational problems created by inconsistencies between the task process system and both the authority system and the formal hierarchy of offices. A new theory is used to develop a model that predicts how an administrator responds to an authority-task problem. (Author/IRT)

Rather than examining the relative effectiveness of various socially organized learning situations, this study addresses students' beliefs about the effectiveness of such learning environments for them as individuals, as well as their preferences, finding that while whites see little advantage to be gained by working peer group settings, blacks…

This book is a guide is for school practitioners who want to know more about planning and conducting focus groups as an aid to decision-making. It emphasizes practical and cost-effective ways to ensure accurate results. After defining the focus group, chapter 1 offers ways focus groups can be used in schools and reasons for using them. Chapter 2…

Counselors must make sound ethical decisions but, often, determining the appropriate course to take when confronted with a difficult ethical dilemma can be a challenge. This guide assists counselors in ethical decision making; it is presented as a supplement, and is to be used in conjunction with, the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of…

This report describes a program for increasing the thinking skills of fourth grade students in one classroom in northern Illinois. Both objective and subjective data gathering found that students experienced difficulty in relating and applying facts and concepts on tasks requiring more sophisticated thinking. Solution strategies combined with an…

Discussion of this process, its circular nature, and what factors affect it. (Editor)

Suggests a program of research in Management Information Systems (MIS) by means of identifying five general considerations for any MIS design -- psychological type, class of problem, method of evidence, organizational context, and mode of presentation. Argues that a full program of MIS research should test the interaction effects of all possible…

Argues that the mere presentation of evaluative data is hardly apt to improve decisionmaking. Suggests that, to meet the needs of different decisionmakers, methods of information presentation be developed to assure that the right person get the proper information, at the proper time, and in the proper format. (Author/JF)

Two strategies listed here, Values Voting Strategy and Rank Order Strategy, provide children with worthwhile experiences in making choices and decisions. From the book, Values Clarification, A Handbook of Practical Strategies for Teachers and Students. (Author/JB)

It was concluded that in grade school children the tendency to be reflective in problem solving also entails a disposition to take longer in making decisions. (Author)

Purpose of this article is to describe the planned staff development program, which is developed from the school districts' perceived needs. Curriculum development is discussed incidentally as it relates to the planned staff development program. (Author/CB)

Describes approach evolved from Hewer's (1959) case-centered group counseling, wherein each group member aimed at: (1) becoming expert in applying problem-solving method to process of vocational choice; (2) examining himself realistically; (3) interacting with other group members for information exchange and support. (CJ)