Between safety and risk: A model for outdoor adventure decision making

Abstract

The quality of outdoor leadership is an important factor in providing safe and enjoyable adventure education experiences for participants. A framework model of outdoor adventure decision making is described and proposes ongoing decisions by expert leaders is about finding an ideal balance of challenge (the interaction of risk and competence). The model draws on naturalistic decision making (NDM) processes and emphasises the importance of situational recognition and prior experience as the basis for sound decision making. The complexity of the socio-cultural environment is recognised with key information being drawn by the leader from the natural environment, people and goals. The model predicts that if situations of over or under-challenge exist then steps are taken to increase or reduce the challenge level accordingly. Failure to recognise or act on critical information leads to crisis situations. Two case studies are presented in support of the model.     

Ideologies of adventure: authority and decision making in sail training

Abstract

Case studies of the contemporary UK sail training movement are used to illustrate the competing expressions of purpose in this field. Two sail training organisations are described and a case study voyage under the aegis of each is presented. The differences between the approaches are analysed as “traditions” or ideologies, articulated through distinctive interpretations of power and contrasting approaches to participation in decision making. It is argued that choices regarding the type of vessel used and the voyages made are not neutral technical decisions but have ideological significance. In conclusion the application of such an analysis to other kinds of outdoor and adventure education is considered.     

Identifying and developing creative giftedness

To a large extent, creativity is a decision. Children as well as adults are creative, not by virtue of an innate ability, but by virtue of a set of decisions. In essence, they decide for creativity, rather than an innate set of abilities deciding whether they are creative. Thus, creative giftedness is not a fixed trait, but a decision‐making skill that can be developed. In this article, I present ten decisions people can make to decide for creativity. Included are teaching examples of these decisions as well as teaching activities to facilitate students' learning how to make these decisions.     

Decision‐Making in Future Science and Technology Curricula

Summaries

English

In this article, the author argues in favour of a decision‐making orientated science and technology curriculum for secondary school students. To achieve this, the curriculum should (i) expose students to open‐ended problems within their natural setting, (ii) provide students with real decision‐making situations and (iii) involve them in scientific‐technological social actions, e.g. in community institutions or industrial plants.     

Between safety and risk: A model for outdoor adventure decision making

The quality of outdoor leadership is an important factor in providing safe and enjoyable adventure education experiences for participants. A framework model of outdoor adventure decision making is described and proposes ongoing decisions by expert leaders is about finding an ideal balance of challenge (the interaction of risk and competence). The model draws on naturalistic decision making (NDM) processes and emphasises the importance of situational recognition and prior experience as the basis for sound decision making. The complexity of the socio-cultural environment is recognised with key information being drawn by the leader from the natural environment, people and goals. The model predicts that if situations of over or under-challenge exist then steps are taken to increase or reduce the challenge level accordingly. Failure to recognise or act on critical information leads to crisis situations. Two case studies are presented in support of the model.     

The Distinctiveness of AIT

Summary

To gain some insight into meeting the information needs of a tertiary institution, some understanding of the tertiary environment and the decision‐making processes is necessary. In a time of rapid social change, society is questioning the value of tertiary education and each institution needs to define goals in terms of what it is trying to accomplish and whom it is trying to serve. The decision structure is a changing combination of bureaucratic and communal relationships between various individuals and groups. There is now a trend towards a more free flow of information within the institution and to the external environment.

Management information systems and other tools of management science are designed to provide information to enable more rational decisions to be made. Much information can be extracted from the operations systems such as staff, students and fiscal. Computers can now be effectively used to store, retrieve and transform large amounts of data as well as to implement some programmed decisions based on information feedback (e.g. inventory control) or on rules (e.g. payroll). Analytical reports from the operations systems can provide a stimulus for decision‐making or information for decision‐making. Some examples are given.

At the policy and planning level, use can also be made of a number of management science tools. The uses of planning, programming and budget systems and modelling are discussed, including a simulation model developed at Macquarie University.

There are no ready recipes for development and use of management information systems and management science tools. However, it is clear that the involvement and support of senior officers is essential.     

Interactive Teacher Decision‐making—still a basic skill?

A general common sense model of interactive teacher decisions is presented. The model assumes that the teacher wishes to choose actions that are appropriate to the situation and to the goals of her teaching. The decision process is thought to include perception, judgement and choice of behaviour from the teacher's behavioural repertoire, but as a result of the immediacy of classroom situations and the teacher's limited information processing capacity, the process may be partly unconscious and the decisions seem spontaneous. The process is affected, consciously or unconsciously, by knowledge variables and emotional variables. Interactive teaching is viewed as consisting of a series of such situations. Research on teacher decision‐making in simulated classroom situations is recommended. It is suggested that teacher education should include discussion of classroom situations and training in interactive decision‐making and the value of such programmes should be studied.     

Newsvendor Game: A Behavioral Exercise in Decision Making under Risk

The newsvendor problem is a classic problem of decision making under risk that is taught in traditional Operations and Supply Chain Management classes as a single‐period inventory problem. We discuss the following three pedagogical points of interest to any instructor tasked with teaching this topic: a) why the newsvendor model is relevant in this day and age; b) how to make better sense of the newsvendor problem for students; and c) how to easily implement and administer an active learning exercise in either a traditional classroom, or an online setting. This active learning exercise is a quick, effective, and meaningful way of demonstrating a variety of concepts related to the newsvendor problem that include: a) the rational economic method of calculating optimal order quantity, b) the inherent risk in forecasting and ordering decisions as they relate to surpluses and shortages; and c) the cognitive limitations in decision making that often result in irrational but predictable decision‐making behavior as demonstrated by empirical research on newsvendor behavior. This exercise can help instructors and students transition into broader discussions on human behavior, cognitive limitations, and perceptions of risk. Overall, it should provide the student with an improved understanding of the operational and behavioral issues associated with decision making under risk.     

The Role of Senior Public Relations Administrators in Institutional Decision Making: Are They at the Table?

ABSTRACT

The literature in higher education public relations affirms that senior public relations administrators should be involved in institutional decision making at colleges and universities. However, public relations professionals are often stereotyped more as information processors and manipulators than as key members of an institution's senior management team. This study examines the role of senior public relations administrators in institutional decision making at the 14 universities in Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education (SSHE). Based on the findings of this study, it may be concluded that SSHE senior public relations administrators are often not included in efforts to resolve important issues and influence institutional decisions.     

How school leaders search for and use evidence

Background: Often, a principal’s responsibilities include making decisions about the appropriateness of educational programmes to adopt in their school. Recommendations about programmes can be conflicting; so, a principal may need to search for evidence to inform their decision.

Purpose: The purpose of this small-scale study was to clarify how school leaders search for, and use, evidence to inform programme adoption. We sought to answer three research questions: (1) how do principals search for evidence, (2) how do they use common sources and (3) what sources do they consider most useful?

Sample: Twelve elementary school principals or vice-principals in Ontario, Canada participated in the study.

Design and methods: In telephone interviews, the participants described how they would respond to a fictional decision-making scenario and rated different sources of evidence. Responses were analysed in depth, using a mixed-method approach, which involved coding principals’ interview responses for themes and conducting a dual scaling analysis of their ratings of the usefulness of possible sources.

Results: Principals report valuing formal sources of evidence such as reports and articles. However, in practise, findings indicated that they would turn to people first.

Conclusions: School leaders prefer curated evidence from local educators to inform their decisions about the appropriateness of educational programmes for potential adoption.     

The role of planning in outdoor adventure decision-making

ABSTRACT

This article explores the influential role of planning on recognition-primed decision-making. Considerable prior thinking occurs and there is a need to trace and account for the cognitive processes that precede and guide decisions in dynamic outdoor environments. Seven expert leaders from four countries were interviewed about memorable decisions made on outdoor journeys with an educational focus on land, sea and ice. Four stages of planning were identified: (1) long-term preparation; (2) formal leadership meetings; (3) day-by-day planning on route and (4) thinking immediately prior to the event. The stages sequentially capture the planning progression, illuminating the cognitive processes at each stage to culminate in option selection. In each decision situation, planned goals and actions were implemented through the creation and re-creation of micro-plans. As windows of opportunity presented themselves, the flexible execution of plans was a key feature. Planning provided the solid bedrock upon which decisions were made.     

Determining If Distance Education Is the Right Choice

Abstract

Making decisions about which technologies, if any, are appropriate for your classroom or educational institution has never been easy. These difficult decisions are, however, increasing in their complexity as new technologies continually enter the marketplace, expectations of parents and students rise for more technology in the classroom, budget constraints require institutions to do more with less, and the benefits of distance education place mounting pressures on educators to provide resources beyond the boundaries of the traditional classroom. So how do you as an educational leader make the challenging decisions related to distance education and other technologies in your school? This article provides a framework for results-focused decision making that can help you make complicated choices in even the most challenging of circumstances.     

Exploring the beliefs surrounding student evaluations of instruction in criminology and criminal justice undergraduate courses

Student evaluations of instructors are given consideration in a number of important decisions concerning instructors such as hiring, merit pay, and in the tenure and promotion process. However, a number of popular beliefs surround the interpretation of these evaluations. Using student evaluations for the three research-oriented universities in the state of Florida as a database, a number of these beliefs are explored. Specifically, the effects of instructor attributes (such as gender, rank and grades) and course characteristics (such as class size, type, number of course meetings, and time of day offered) on the end of the semester student evaluation rankings are discussed.     

Teaching learning disabled adolescents to think critically using a problem‐solving schema

Abstract

In this study we describe and examine the effectiveness of an instructional program designed to teach learning disabled adolescents to make better personal decisions. We presented problems in short narratives based on the types of problems these students must solve in their own lives. The program, conducted as part of the students' regular resource room curriculum, incorporated schema‐general questions for problem solving coupled with practice in generating problem‐specific questions to reach an appropriate decision. Participants were 70 resource room students in two large, urban high schools. We employed a pretest‐posttest comparison group design. On the posttest, instructed students performed significantly better on (1) identifying a general schema for making a personal decision and (2) applying the schema to reach appropriate decisions concerning novel problem narratives. The results support the view that application of a general schema to specific problems can be an effective instructional method to improve critical thinking and decision making.     

Private and Public Morality: Some Misconceptions Explored. A Reply to John Sword

Abstract

Some objections to an earlier article of mine concerning the use of hypothetical moral situations in moral education are first examined. It is then argued that to characterize morality as a wholly ‘public’ or ‘private’ affair is mistaken, as moral decision‐making must involve a combination of both features.     

The University of Bath in a National Context

In order to investigate selected aspects of decision‐making in three schools of a South Australian TAFE College, data about modes of decision‐making and extent of involvement in decision‐making and the association of these with biographic variables were obtained from a questionnaire completed by 72 lecturing staff.

The hypotheses tested were:‐‐

1. Teachers will desire modes of decision‐making which permit them to be involved in decision‐making to an extent greater than they currently perceive themselves to be

2. Teachers will desire to be involved in decision‐making to an extent greater than they currently perceive themselves to be.

These hypotheses were supported by the data. Ninety‐four per cent of respondents were found to be in some state of decisional deprivation. Some decisional areas were associated with higher decisional deprivation than others. Whilst different modes of decision‐making were desired for different decisions, the Democratic Centralist mode was most frequently desired for a majority of decisions.

The biographic variable having most association with responses was that of classification, with staff of higher classification being more involved in decision‐making and less deprived than those of lower classification.     

Down the slippery slope: Ethics and the technical writer as marketer

This article discusses some of the ethical dilemmas faced by writers who prepare marketing materials in engineering organizations; such writers include traditional technical writers whose documents are influenced by the marketing interests of the company and “boundary spanners” who write both technical and promotional materials. The article describes social, political, economic, and legal changes in the professions during the last 30 years and the growing influence of market‐driven decisions on ethical decision‐making. It briefly surveys the marketing literature that engineering marketers are reading. Finally, it suggests a question that marketing writers should ask themselves in examining rhetorical choices.     

Unforced and Group Response to a Q-Sort

Profiles of 25 possible learning disabilities (LD) cases were constructed. Thirty-four North Dakota LD specialists served as raters making a diagnostic decision. A judgment analysis was performed on the decisions of the 34 raters, and one major judgmental policy and one minor policy were found to be operating among the raters. These judgmental policies, it was argued, represented the construct of learning disabilities for the respective groups.     

An Example of Inquiry in Linear Algebra: The Roles of Symbolizing and Brokering

Abstract

In this paper we address practical questions such as: How do symbols appear and evolve in an inquiry-oriented classroom? How can an instructor connect students with traditional notation and vocabulary without undermining their sense of ownership of the material? We tender an example from linear algebra that highlights the roles of the instructor as a broker, and the ways in which students participate in the practice of symbolizing as they reinvent the diagonalization equation A = PDP^?1.     

The contribution of higher education to the development of objective and subjective judgment in day‐to‐day decision‐making

In order to make effective decisions based on probability, one must be able to distinguish between the objective‐factual aspects of the decision and the subjective aspects. This study examines the hypothesis that academic studies contribute to the development of the ability to make such distinctions in day‐to‐day decision‐making. Some 940 subjects, including some holding Bachelor's degrees and others with Master's degrees in the Exact Sciences, the Social Sciences, and the Humanities, responded to a questionnaire on decision‐making situations which examined the degree of their awareness of the objective and subjective elements of decisions. It was found that the respondents made the distinction in the situations with which they were presented. A rise in academic level from the Bachelor's degree to the Master's Degree led to increased awareness of the objective aspect of decisions among scholars in the Exact Sciences and the Humanities. Holders of Master's degrees in all of the fields of specialty showed a greater awareness of the subjective aspect than did holders of Bachelor's degrees. The application of these insights in the field of education is discussed.