A change in focus of much of the work of the Society for General Systems Research for greater impact, relevance, and productivity is suggested. Tentative unit concepts for 23 areas of study or disciplines are explored. A unit concept is defined as the central, pivotal concept around which virtually all other basic concepts in a field revolve. The…

This report focuses on the activities and findings of the fourth phase of research carried out at Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) on the development of user documentation for computer-aided design (CAD) systems. The first of four major sections provides an overview of recent research, issues involved in the research, and implications of the…

Emphasizing more effective use of existing equipment, this article highlights distributed computing design considerations applicable to educational environments; identifies potential roles of networking in the provision of adequate teaching aids; presents a networking model; and describes the development of a distributed computing configuration at…

Presents a model for instructional software design as a collaborative effort involving computer scientists and educators, which stresses the process of design through documentation. The documentation used to exchange information at each phase of the process is described, and the advantages of this model are discussed. (CLB)

Describes a general purpose microcomputer-based system designed to support small-scale experimentation in the physical sciences in student laboratories. System requirements, teacher reactions, and educational implications are discussed; design criteria are established; and examples are given of the system's application to some simple experiments.…

Describes the large-class BIJOU teaching support system developed at University of California-Berkeley to facilitate recordkeeping and communication with support staff. Reasons why large classes exist, organizational elements, and teaching support systems requirements are reviewed. Tasks supported by the BIJOU saystem, costs, and possible…

This report examines the features and performance of the BUG-FINDing component of MENO-II, a computer-based tutor for beginning PASCAL programming students. A discussion of the use of artificial intelligence techniques is followed by a summary of the system status and objectives. The two main components of MENO-II are described, beginning with the…

This paper describes the development of a software program which incorporates interactive graphics techniques into a teaching and research environment at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion, Israel, and the experience of transferring the software from mainframe to personal computer (PC) operating systems at the California Institute of…

This paper discusses the use of a technique called windowing in computer assisted instruction to allow independent control of functional areas in complex CAI displays and simultaneous display of output from a running computer program and coordinated instructional material. Two obstacles to widespread use of CAI in computer science courses are…

Describes problems in faculty evaluation and performance appraisal and presents assumptions and features of newer alternative faculty evaluation systems. A strategy for developing systems which is based on organizational change theory is discussed. This system involves use of committees and structured phases for faculty input. (MBR)

Argues that a computer-based programming tutor for novice programmers needs to take into account not only the types and frequency of bugs found in the programs, but the intentions and knowledge state of the programmer. A first version of such a program was developed on the basis of the bug types found in a number of pencil-and-paper studies with…

This report describes PROUST, a computer-based system for online analyses and understanding of PASCAL programs written by novice programmers, which takes as input a program and a non-algorithmic description of the program requirements and finds the most likely mapping between the requirements and the code. Both the theory and processing techniques…

An online library system is an example of a complex computer system in that it supports a variety of users, both patrons and staff, and is made up of many intricate programs with complex relationships among them. Certain features are essential to a user friendly system: (1) users cannot get lost in the system; (2) users cannot enter illegal…

This kit on the systems functions in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions contains 10 source documents from ARL libraries and a summary of data from a 1976 survey on the organization, staffing, and operation of library systems functions. Source documents include: (1) "Library Systems Office Annual Report, 1974-75"…

This handbook for institutional researchers focuses on describing methods and techniques for conducting and merging external and internal analyses in order to produce an expanded vision of alternative future environments. Such vision is needed for the formulation of strategic long-range plans. Section 1 begins with a discussion of how an internal…