Summarizes critical attacks on Immanuel Wallerstein's World Systems approach to history and offers new critical evaluations. Wallerstein argued that an emerging capitalist world economy dominated politics and history from the 16th century to the present. Defines two new approaches, institutional analysis and post colonial cultural theory, that…

Describes the comparative approach to system evaluation used in a project which administered an online retrieval test to an experimental online catalog to produce data for evaluating effectiveness of a new subject access design. Discusses efforts used to ensure data reliability, and strategies the researchers can use to improve on the data…

Discusses the improvement of educational programs in developing countries. Highlights include systems analysis in education; education and national resources; instructional systems design (ISD) and improved efficiency; programed learning and teaching; and a development project to improve the efficiency of Korean elementary schools. (33 references)…

Describes the design and delivery of a graduate distance-education course on information-systems analysis and design at Syracuse University. Topics include learner-centered education, situated learning, problem-based learning, learner characteristics, learner-centered objectives, course content, collaborative learning, role playing, and students'…

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…

A case study of an eight-year-old boy with emotional/behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is used to illustrate principles of inclusion. An analysis of the educational system and the student's needs is followed by a description of various inclusive interventions (such as academic modifications,…

Proposes a useful concept of relevance as a relationship and an effect on the movement of a user through the iterative stages of their information seeking process, and that users' relevance judgments can be plotted on a Three-Dimensional Spatial Model of Relevance Level, Degree and Time. Discusses implications for the development of information…

We describe a simple, yet intellectually challenging model of grazing systems that introduces basic concepts in ecology and systems analysis. The practical is suitable for high-school and university curricula with a quantitative orientation, and requires only basic skills in mathematics and spreadsheet use. The model is based on Noy-Meir's (1975)…

Piecemeal change to improve schooling is an approach that at its worst does more harm than good, and at its best is limited to creating pockets of good within school districts. When it comes to improving schooling in a district, however, creating pockets of good isn't good enough. Whole school systems need to be improved. This article focuses on…

Purpose: This purpose of this paper is to examine the organization of the UAE educational system, its components, their goals, and finally their effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach: Three elements of the UAE education system were examined: the development; delivery; and evaluation and feedback. Findings: On analysis, it was found that there…

Context: Patients in rural areas may use less medical care than those living in urban areas. This could be due to differences in travel distance and time and a utilization of a different mix of generalists and specialists for their care. Purpose: To compare the travel times, distances, and physician specialty mix of all Medicare patients living in…

Working with the Philadelphia-based Institute of Interactive Management, several teams at Jackson Community College (JCC), in Michigan, set out in 1994 to learn and apply an interactive design methodology to selected college subsystems. Interactive design begins with understanding problems faced by the system as a whole, which in the case of JCC…

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…

The World Wide Web has been regarded as the most important information technology revolution of the 1990s. It not only has drastically changed the nature of information technology in business and education, but has also imposed a great challenge to developers of information systems (IS) curricula worldwide. To provide IS students with an education…

Teams are becoming increasingly important as an organizational form, particularly in information systems (IS) development. In response to this trend, a number of educators, including IS educators, include team components as part of their course curriculum. For example, many systems analysis and design courses include a team project component. It…