In a controlled experiment, the IIEP attempted to develop efficient teaching materials in the field of educational planning. Informal instructional materials were compiled from the tape recordings, transcriptions, and summary notes of seminars, lectures, and discussions conducted by the IIEP in its training and research program. This instructional…

Discusses limitations of "Comparing Distance Learning and Classroom Learning: Conceptual Considerations," Smith and Dillon's physical science view of educational technology. Suggests that a systems approach is necessary to describe distance education and define a set of principles and rules for its effective use, as well as a set of criteria to…

The drive for systemic reform in education reflects a widespread hunger in all sectors of society to make sense of the whole, as is shown in the increasing recognition of people in organizations of the interrelatedness of the organizations' parts. However, many attempts at systemic reform are hampered by the lack of a common view of what an…

This manual describes and illustrates ED QUEST (Quick Environmental Scanning Technique), an educational planning model designed to identify emerging issues and events which portend threats and opportunities to colleges and universities, to analyze the probable impact of these variables on the organization, and to facilitate the development of…

By tracing major ideas in the evolution of educational history between 1899 and 1985, the document takes readers from the traditional emphasis on citizenship training in social education to the current focus on teaching about the world community and the interdependence of its people and systems--cultural, ecological, economic, linguistic, racial,…

AS THE EDUCATOR FACES DECISIONS ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGY, HE NEEDS PRACTICAL RESEARCH ON WHICH TO BASE HIS DECISIONS. A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO RESEARCH, RATHER THAN A PIECEMEAL ONE, IS HIGHLY DESIRABLE. SUCH AN APPROACH COULD EMPLOY SIMULATION TECHNIQUES, WHICH DIFFER FROM CONTEXTUAL ONES PRIMARILY IN SCOPE AND CONTROL, AND WHICH CAN DEAL WITH A WIDE…

The transition from an elite university to a mass university has characterized modern university life. The purely quantitative development has been accompanied by a number of changes in the decisionmaking system in higher education. No systematic comparative studies exist of the development of the decisionmaking system. A project is under way at…

The paper describes progress in the development of the Advanced Instructional System's Instructional Strategy Subsystem. Described are procedures for developing the Student Evaluation Component (which includes selection and validation of preassessment and within-course measures necessary for the development of a Student Data Profile) and the…

Needs assessment is a systematic procedure by which educational needs are identified and ranked in order of priority. The process involves the use of both objective (achievement test scores) and subjective (attitudinal measures) information to identify and rank educational needs. A procedure to guide the needs assessment effort includes various…

The lecture notes of two courses in Systems Programing, given by Professor Niklaus Wirth in 1965 and 1966 at Stanford University, are reproduced. Overall subjects covered with the theme of general systems programing include: assemblers, interpreters, input-output programing, supervisory programs (monitors), an introduction to compilers, phrase…

Designed to assist Computerized Vocational Information System (CVIS) users in evaluating projects in local secondary school sites, the handbook provides users with a variety of variables or viewpoints from which to assess the CVIS system. Four different approaches are presented to CVIS evaluation: the analysis of use patterns; the reaction of…

Twenty-one papers in instructional technology inform the reader on the psychological, philosophical, sociological, and educational ramifications of technology in the classroom. The articles are grouped under three major headings: Foundations of Education and Educational Technology, Tools of Instruction and Educational Technology, and Organization…

This study examines the relationship between organizational structure and elements of three social system processes: (1) input and output boundary exchanges, (2) system production, and (3) use of facilities. The specific system processes are enrollment planning and student placement, curriculum continuity, and use of physical and social…

A more unified approach to communication theory can evolve through systems modeling of information theory, communication modes, and mass media operations. Such systematic analysis proposes, as is the case care here, that information models be based upon combinations of energy changes and exchanges and changes in receiver systems. The mass media is…

Educators often fail to implement improved teaching systems because they lack a method of choosing among instructional alternatives. The Rand Coporation is developing for the Air Force a means--called Method of Designing Instructional Alternatives (MODIA)--whereby instructors can select a preferred instructional system. Using MODIA, one begins by…