Considers what constitutes a system for design learning (SDL) based on activities of the International Systems Institute and on designing and implementing SDL in a master's program in marriage and family therapy. Establishing a design culture by creating a design community and learning from anxiety are also discussed. (Contains 11 references.)…

Includes two columns that discuss comprehensive systems design in education, including the design architecture and the dynamics of design; and the use of metaphors in explaining teacher planning and classroom interactions, including mental planning and imagery and the relationships between metaphor and practice. (Contains 22 references.) (LRW)

The field of instructional technology has continued to evolve since its inception in the early 1900s. Academic technology units in higher education have witnessed tremendous change in the last one and a half decades. The changes have led to reorganizations, realignments, adoption of innovative administrative structures, increased demands for…

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…

The primary mission of the WICHE Management Informations Systems Program is to help colleges and universities develop improved management systems and methods of resource allocation. A related aim is to develop procedures which facilitate exchange of comparable data among institutions. A necessary part of such exchanges will be a standard taxonomy…

Among many diverse pressures on higher education, there are 5 major stresses which together have produced a crisis in university management: the growing student population, rising costs, a rapidly changing demand for programs, student demands for relevance, and an increasingly repressive public environment. Although some academicians fear the…

The benefits of prototyping as a basis for system design include better specifications, earlier discovery of omissions and extensions, and the likelihood of salvaging much of the effort expended on the prototype. Risks and methods of prototyping during rapid systems development are also noted. (Author/MLW)

Describes the following aspects of the State University of New York-Brockport's preventive maintenance computerization project: (1) software selection, (2) project implementation; and (3) problems and benefits of the system. (MCG)

This paper describes the implementation of the Holistic Systemic Evaluation (HSE), a component of an Education Systemic Initiative's strategic management. The HSE provides general guidance for the implementation and continual improvement of an Education Systemic Initiative Reform (ESIR). The implementation of the education system initiative plan:…

Public debate over higher education has changed from questions about education, learning, scholarship, and professional service to performance criteria measured in quantitative, business-like indicators, such as revenues and costs of operation. The rules have changed, and new consumers have new concerns and challenges for higher education. Faculty…

Pepperdine University's decision support system provides: (1) user access to data through terminals; (2) the availability of retrieval modules and languages that allow the managers to structure ad hoc reports; (3) access to models through a national network; and (4) training, encouragement and consultation through coordinators. (Author/MLW)

Discussion of the library, its information providing function, and the systems librarian examines: (1) the impact of information technology on libraries; (2) library organization charts; and (3) position advertisements--who are systems librarians, what do they do, and what should they do? (seven references) (MES)

In the world of university IT, change seems like a near constant. What is left out of the process of evaluating past change and planning for future change is the need to pose questions about the culture of technology change in the university, how much change should be tolerated, and what imperatives should drive this change. A clearer…

A rapidly changing global economy, shifting demographics, and concerns about our ability to maintain a competitive workforce have focused national attention on the educational systems of America's states, highlighting their critical role in ensuring a productive and creative future for our country. As a result, Americas colleges and universities…

The age of accountability in higher education is here, but there has been virtually no development in educational systems that has encompassed the task of producing a performance-based college campus. In order to accomplish the necessary goal of developing subsystems which together constitute a performance-based system, it is necessary that…