Research was conducted to develop and gather evidence of validity for a normative process model to be used by community adult education councils in establishing priority among community-level needs. The study design was based on a five-stage problem solving, systems model involving exploration, model building, design and development, validation,…

This is the final report on a three year project designed to investigate the development of problem-solving strategies in elementary school children. In this project the personality of the child as it is reflected in problem solving style is examined. The hybothesis that reflective children are more competent problem solvers than impulsive…

The techniques, procedures, and principal findings of 15 different experiments in a research program on interactive communication are summarized in this paper. Among the principal findings reported are that: problems are solved faster in communication modes that have a voice channel than in those that do not have a voice channel, modes of…

This study, presented at the 1979 meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in San Francisco, examines the relationship between a student's mathematical problem-solving ability and the nature of the student's recall of information from previously-solved problems. Seventy-seven seventh-grade students completed tasks measuring…

Discussed are the theoretical explanations of the observation that low intelligence quotient (IQ), low socioeconomic status children appear to be brighter in certain ways than low IQ middle class youngsters. The two different theories on IQ as a function of socioeconomic status--environmental or cultural vs. genetically determined biological…

This student guide supplements a career development unit on coping in the world of work designed to assist students in developing coping strategies to deal with work entry and job adjustment problems. (Other components of the unit--instructor's handbook, handout/transparency masters, and filmstrip/sound cassette programs, are available…

Evaluation is an act of persuasion directed to a specific audience concerning the solution of a problem. The process of evaluation is prescribed by the nature of knowledge--which is generally complex, always uncertain (in varying degrees), and not always propositional--and by the nature of logic, which is always selective. In the process of…

For more than twenty years controversy has existed in the Armed Forces over the kind of knowledge and training electronic maintenance technicians should have. The Navy and Air Force have conducted research projects in this area, and for the Army the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) has developed several methods to improve the…

Merit system law, state personnel rules, and collective bargaining contracts require that Oregon state agencies appraise the performance of their employees. The heart of the Oregon performance appraisal system is work planning. Based on management by objectives and the concepts of employee involvement and participation, work planning is a process…

In the form of a diary, an educational consultant describes the highlights of three months of organizational development at an Australian high school. The intervention involved staff, administrators, teachers, students, and parents in the goal of improving the quality of life and learning at the school. Change strategies are described and the…

Numerous problems face the nation's schools. These problems differ widely in their content, in their scope, in the types of people to whom they are important, and in the intensity with which people complain about them. Many schools try to pinpoint the causes of these problems and to look for solutions before the problems themselves are well…

Under current societal conditions in which the environment and the economy are neither stable nor permissive, homeostatic organizations are in extreme danger of being modified, controlled, or extinguished by outside forces. It is no longer a question whether management change should take place in order to keep organization renewal processes at…

Alternatives to the standard lecture course in introductory economics are presented in this series exploring new teaching methods in college level economics. In this issue "elementary" or introductory economics taught at Vanderbilt University is described. It relies on two techniques: case method and self-paced instruction. Self-paced…

A series of modules was prepared by the School Personnel Utilization Project to assist personnel in building the necessary skills for the development of organizational change strategies and collaborative, collegial educational problem solving capabilities. This module focuses on the evaluation process in the context of elementary and secondary…

Males belonging to 4 low income ethnic groups contrasted with males of a middle income ethnic group were evaluated on problem-solving behaviors via Twenty Questions. Age was found to influence level of performance. The higher socioeconomic status (SES) males performed at a significantly greater level than the lower SES males. No differences among…