The purpose of this paper is to highlight the complexities involved in higher education provision and how systems thinking and socio-technical systems (STS) thinking approach can be used to understand the education ecosystem. Systems thinking perspective is provided using two case studies: the development of European Learner Mobility (EuroLM)…

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…

The integration of concepts and contributions from learning theorists, media specialists, and teaching practitioners, optimized within a framework of selected system strategies derived from military management programs, can help resolve concerns for educational improvement and accountability and influence the utilization of technology enabling…

This pamphlet discusses the original rationale for university systems, points out some of the problems existing because of the definition of that rationale, and proposes a new responsibility for university systems and a new challenge for their leaders. The pamphlet affirms that the system chief executive officer (CEO) and board of governors are…

An analysis of the instructional systems approach used at nonresidential colleges in the United States and Great Britain. (HB)

Discusses the nature of and steps required in building an expert system. Includes comments by students given an assignment to choose a suitable topic and develop a small expert system related to that topic, as well as favorable faculty comments on the strategy. Also includes a student-developed expert system on rock-blasting. (JN)

Discusses difficulties within higher education management in achieving expected outcomes because of problematic elements in: artificial internal structures, funding formulae, the relative importance of system parameters versus system structure, and the significance of time scales and delays in influencing system behavior. Suggests that university…

The ability to design and build sophisticated computer-based information systems (CIS) has progressed rapidly; however, the ability to implement them has not kept pace. These implementation problems can be solved by embedding CIS design with the socio-technical systems design approach. (Author/MLW)

This digest reviews what instructional designers do, describes knowledge management, and indicates how knowledge management is influencing instructional design. The first section defines instructional design (ID) and briefly describes the ID process. The second section covers knowledge management (KM), including definitions of KM and systems,…

External and internal forces are driving institutions not only to create departments and positions that specialize in planning, quality improvement, and institutional research but also to link them within a systems context.

Developed at Brigham Young University, Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is a technique for enhancing the probability of success in any system by analyzing the most likely modes of failure that could occur. It provides a logical, step-by-step description of possible failure events within a system and their interaction--the combinations of potential…

Encourages use of case studies to introduce "real-life" engineering assignments, suggesting that they should be given in a natural order as a series. Describes three such assignments being used at the University of the West Indies. Description, analysis, and design of an existing engineering system is included. (JM)

Describes the characteristics and application of a methodology for developing a strategic, long-range organizational information plan that will permit coordination of information subsystems within a university's computerized information system. The University of Minnesota's application of such a methodology provides illustrative examples. (PGD)

Describes the development of systems thinking and the form taken in the study of work and organizations. Discusses some criticisms from social scientists. Explores the relationship among systems, interdisciplinarity, and engineering education. (Author/YP)

Discusses the necessity of interdisciplinary and systems approaches in engineering education for analyzing complex issues. Presents several recent problems. (YP)