Describes a workshop in which participants were challenged to develop a set of recommendations for the earth sciences community that would lead to a coherent educational plan with earth systems as a focus. Discusses recommendations made by the workshop participants, the future of earth systems sciences, and a plan for the future. (JRH)

Wageningen Agricultural University's use of systems approaches and simulation for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate education suggests the following elements are necessary: (1) congruence between the aims/interests of teachers and participants; (2) appropriate course level; (3) applicability to relevant research fields; and (4) a range of…

Factors in successful implementation of simulation in construction education are as follows: (1) considering human factors and feedback effects; (2) focusing on tradeoffs between with managerial decisions and construction policies; and (3) developing a standalone tool that runs on any platform. Case studies demonstrated the effectiveness of these…

Reviews federal legislation and court rulings related to services for individuals with disabilities. Discusses the value of a holistic, amalgamated service delivery system that can overcome barriers to implementation of laws and rulings. (SK)

Basics crucial to the successful functioning of early child-care and education programs are infrastructure and system. Infrastructure refers to the supports of finance, governance, accountability, professional development and training, and quality-assurance mechanisms. Systems make the parts function by eliminating redundancies and maximizing…

Using family systems theory as the unifying framework for teaching family studies to junior and senior high school students provides a tool for helping them understand families and family issues from a broader perspective than is possible in a unifocal approach. (Author)

A model of the Darwinian evolution of creative thinking is proposed. Creative thinking is modeled as a re-linkage of connections among mental representations, occurring in relationship to gene-culture heterarchy, which is a system of causative and motivational connections among the individual, the innate regularities of cognitive development, and…

Compares and contrasts the current development of needs analysis and needs assessment through a review of the literature, and offers recommendations designed to restore systems thinking to front-end analysis in organizational and instructional development. The roles of needs assessment and needs analysis in a performance technology model are…

Reviews various models for understanding, treating and preventing child abuse. Describes an ecological model of human behavior that provides a comprehensive perspective for integrating the diverse models. Discusses an ecological model of child abuse. (RJC)

Discusses three major approaches to family therapy for child abuse which emphasize systems theory. These approaches include the psychoanalytic, integrative, and communicative-integrative approach. A case example of family-centered treatment is included. (RJC)

Compares assumptions and practices emerging from family systems and feminist counseling. Examines nature of problem definitions; notions about power and appropriate sex roles in relationships; and characteristics of therapeutic relationship. Concludes that feminist perspective has potential for improving marital and family counseling. Suggests…

Systems concepts are applied to family financial planning using a functional interpretation of systems analyses. The framework can help professionals researching family financial behavior and its outcomes, planning programs, and offering financial services. It can also be used by families in their own financial planning. (Author/JOW)

Examines new types of educational software. Topics addressed include electronic performance support systems (EPSSs); other examples of electronic support; a systems approach and a human approach to identifying a common category for EPSSs; users' activities and needs; feedback; hybrid EPSSs; and design guidelines. (35 references) (LRW)

Examines key "chaos" elements--operation of systems far from equilibrium, nonlinear causation and discontinuous change, patterns in apparent chaos, and self-organization--in relation to family systems theory. Although there are several parallels, chaos theory is better able to address change, inequity, and the occurrence of order and…

Field theory is interactional. It asserts that genetic predispositions, acquired characteristics, uniqueness, and behaviors of individual impact are affected by events and people in environment. This can be seen clearly in development of children who join family rather than being born into it. Resulting complexities can be seen in family therapy…