The Systems Approach and Counselor Education: Basic Features and Implications1

Radical changes in contemporary society are altering the lives of individuals in pervasive ways. Counselors are typically oblivious to these revolutionary changes due, in part, to inadequate and outdated professional education. Counseling viewed as a complex of social-psychological processes — as an applied behavioral science — needs the powerful framework provided by a “systems approach.” A system is viewed as a structure which functions as a whole due to the interdependence of its parts. A systems approach in counselor education emphasizes how specific training components can be combined most effectively and efficiently to produce outcomes stated in terms of trainee behaviors (performance). Basic characteristics of a systems approach include: (a) behaviorally stated performance objectives; (b) careful attention to relation of components; (c) information flow and feedback mechanisms; and (d) man-machine combinations. Models such as flow charts and simulation techniques are also typically involved. A systems approach, it is argued, will encourage the asking of more relevant and answerable questions. Although it may be viewed by some as too scientific, mechanistic, or complicated, a systems perspective holds the promise of more effectively preparing counselors for contemporary clients.     

Measuring the Results of Performance Improvement Interventions

In this study, a web‐based questionnaire was used to measure attitudes of members of a professional performance improvement organization relative to adoption and implementation of Level 4 or results‐oriented evaluation. Participants were 274 members of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). It was expected that frequency of Level 4 evaluation use could be explained by innovation diffusion or change variables. Findings suggest that the adoption of effective performance improvement measurement systems and processes at the organizational level is relatively low compared to other types of evaluation. This level of adoption is impacted by a complex array of factors. Stakeholder participation in the adaptation of evaluation systems to increase their compatibility with current practices, and experimentation with this type of evaluation on a limited or trial basis may increase the rate of adoption. Management support of the development and adaptation of a results‐oriented evaluation system is seen as providing the opportunity for the change process to move forward. Implications for diffusion of this type of evaluation within organizations will be discussed within the context of a HPT Change framework.     

Factors contributed by community organizations to the motivation of teachers in rural Punjab,Pakistan, and implications for the quality of teaching

The double-edged sword of Jomtien (1990), which emphasized access to education, and of Dakar (2000), which placed additional emphasis on the quality of education, the Holy Grail, provides the context for the expansion of education in developing countries. One of the most frequently espoused ingredients for success is good governance. The cornerstone of the discussion raised in this article is a small-scale qualitative case study, which investigates the impact of local governance, i.e. community organizations, on community schools in rural Punjab, Pakistan.The research asks: What are the factors which community organizations contribute to teachers’ motivation? What is the impact on teachers’ performance and what are the implications for the quality of teaching? The resulting discussion explores the extent to which community organizations may support teachers better than the more centralized government system, whilst also reflecting on their limitations.Evidence is presented to support the view that local governance may enhance monitoring and accountability systems, and the ethos of schools, but that without the resources to deliver adequate levels of training and follow up, it can deliver very little significant improvement to the quality of teaching.     

The learning worker,organizations and democracy

A current turn of interest in notions of the ‘learning economy’ and the ‘learning society’ is fuelling discussions on promoting education, training and learning in contemporary organizations and workplaces. Although the education of workers has been variously theorized and practised throughout the 20th century, the current debates are marked by a prevailing economic perspective that places emphasis on constructing ‘learning organizations’ and on ‘human resource’ learning in service of organizational strategies for innovation and competitive advantage in economic activities. Critics point out that economic and managerial models scarcely attend to the human subjectivity of the learner‐worker and the worker's diverse learning interests. Broader socio‐cultural ends of worker learning such as lifelong human development and participatory citizenship in democratic society are very often overlooked. This article offers a critical discussion of current conceptions of learning organizations and learning workers. It argues that the prevailing focus on techno‐economic imperatives and of obscured managerial elite interests in organizations currently circumscribe and delimit learning in production organizations. It proposes that a more comprehensive approach to learning in organizations attends explicitly to the needs and interests of workers as learning persons. Taking a longer view, it proposes that organizational and worker learning may generate not only improved work practices but may regenerate links between lifelong learning, societal democratic citizenship and civilized organizations.     

A comprehensive performance analysis and improvement method

Performance analysis and improvement are critical skills for the performance technologist. A comprehensive approach to these tasks, which includes techniques from industrial and organizational psychology, industrial engineering, and organizational behavior management, is described. The approach comprises four steps: (1) conducting an organization‐wide survey to identify general improvement areas, (2) objectively pinpointing performance improvement potentials, (3) systematically identifying performance constraints, and (4) selecting or designing an improvement technique. Survey results for 63 organizations are presented and the effect of management practices on management span of control are examined. Eighteen performance constraints are organized into a decision tree that is used to select 1 of 27 improvement techniques. The results of this approach to performance analysis and improvement are described for 58 improvement projects in a medium‐sized bank.     

Students’ Conceptions as Dynamically Emergent Structures

There is wide consensus that learning in science must be considered a process of conceptual change rather than simply information accrual. There are three perspectives on students’ conceptions and conceptual change in science that have significant presence in the science education literature: students’ ideas as misconceptions, as coherent systems of conceptual elements, and as fragmented knowledge elements. If misconceptions, systems of elements, or fragments are viewed implicitly as “regular things”, these perspectives are in opposition. However, from a complex dynamic systems perspective, in which students’ conceptions are viewed as dynamically emergent structures, the oppositions are lessened, and the integrated view has significant implications for theory and practice.     

What's in a Name? A Comparison of Instructional Systems Design,Organization Development,and Human Performance Technology/Improvement and Their Contributions to Performance Improvement

What are the similarities and differences between instructional systems design, organization development, and human performance technology/improvement (HPT/HPI)? This article defines these fields and highlights how they contribute to the performance improvement domain. With Rossett's view of HPT as a “perspective, or habit of mind, that inclines us towards data, analysis, systems, alignment and partnerships” (A. Rossett, personal communication, October 28, 2012), HPT/HPI will be presented as the overarching framework for selecting and measuring instructional systems design or organization development interventions.     

Managing spaces: (re)working relations of strategy and spatiality in vocational education and training

The adoption of a more ‘open’ national training market in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia has led to considerable changes in VET organizations and considerable challenges for VET managers. Recent research has established the critical role that ‘strategy’ plays in leading and managing these organizations and the significance of strategic management as a field of managerial practice within VET. In this article, I further examine the role of strategy in the management of VET organizations by giving attention to issues of space and spatiality. Deploying concepts from actor-network theory and drawing on case data collected from VET organizations, I address strategy as a spatializing project. The argument is made that strategy is an accomplishment of a network of relations rather than an individual manager or an individual organization and can take radically different forms (‘Big S’ strategy; ‘small s’ strategy) and produce radically different effects (economic, educational). More specifically, spatial relations play a constitutive role in strategy formation in VET. Relations of spatiality and strategy are created and sustained together, and where this complex relationship is understood space can serve as a ground for critique. The paper promotes a theoretical and empirical imperative to look keenly to the spaces filled by frontline managers. Essentially interrogatory, these spaces open up the possibility of the negotiation of managerial and organizational identities across differences of strategic management and operational management and, more broadly, of enterprise and education.     

Small-group problem-based learning as a complex adaptive system

Small-group problem-based learning (PBL) is widely embraced as a method of study in health professions schools and at many different levels of education. Complexity science provides a different lens with which to view and understand the application of this method. It presents new concepts and vocabulary that may be unfamiliar to practitioners of small-group PBL and other educational methods. This article looks at small-group PBL from the perspective of complex adaptive systems (CAS). It begins with a brief review of the current understanding and practice of PBL. Next some of the characteristics of CAS are reviewed using examples from small-group PBL to illustrate how these characteristics are expressed in that context. The principles and the educational theory in which small-group PBL are embedded are related to CAS. Implications for health professions education are discussed.     

金融规制理论探析

纵观当今世界各国,无论是市场主导型的发达国家,还是政府主导型的发展中国家,金融组织和金融市场都广泛的存在政府规制。在各国的金融实践中,金融规制都是政府规制经济的重要内容之一。金融规制是经济规制理论在金融市场方面的延伸或具体体现。本文通过构建规制幅度与金融成长的模型,希图对寻找金融规制的最佳幅度有所参考。     

Rhetoric, Action, and Agency in Institutionalized Science and Technology

This essay argues that to an unprecedented degree the practices of contemporary science and technology are embedded within complex institutional systems. This embeddedness problematizes received views of rhetorical action and agency, which must be reformulated to locate these principles within larger systems of power/ knowledge. Three sets of resources are identified for this reformulation: theories of organizational rhetoric, Foucauldian studies of knowledge-intensive organizations, and Foucauldian approaches to the philosophy of science.     

Abstract at the Least (Reviews of Data-Based Studies of a Whimsical Nature)

Dealing with human performance in complex organizations, the performance technologist encounters many types of personalities. The ability to judge the effects of those personalities on performance and receptivity to either training or incentive systems may be a crucial factor in the success of a needs assessment, job analysis, or intervention strategy. “The Wishy-Washy Personality,” as characterized by Arnold Goldberg, M.D., lacks the sense of self-possessing coherence, firmness, harmony, and continuity across time and space. Such a personality characterization has implications for performance.     

Approaching Knowledge Management Through the Lens of the Knowledge Life Cycle: a Case Study Investigation

More organizational leaders are recognizing that their greatest competitive advantage is the knowledge base of their employees and for organizations to thrive knowledge management (KM) systems need to be in place that encourage the natural interplay and flow of tacit and explicit knowledge. Approaching KM through the lens of the knowledge life cycle allows for the design and development of KM solutions that are systemic and address the dynamic nature of organizational knowledge. In this paper we provide a review of the literature regarding how organizational knowledge may be studied and propose a methodological framework for investigating the knowledge life cycle. To illustrate the framework we present a recent case study in which it was successfully used. This framework is intended to be useful to learning and performance improvement professionals who work in organizational KM as well as to researchers who wish to conduct further research in this area.     

A Normativist Account of Language‐Based Learning Disability1,2

Research on learning disabilities (LD) depends upon a conceptual framework that specifies what it should explain, what kinds of data are needed, and how these data are to be arranged in order to provide a meaningful explanation. An argument is made that LD are no different in this respect than any other form of human illness. In this article, a theory of LD based on weak normativism drawn from the philosophy of medicine is presented. This theory emphasizes that cultural values (norms) determine which aspects of human experience and function are instances of ill health. Thus, ill health is fundamentally normative. However, the experiences and behaviors themselves arise out of the natural world and therefore can be explained by a culturally neutral natural science. Data from a longitudinal study of specific language impairment are used to show that academic achievement is culturally evaluated, that low achievement is disvalued, and that therefore actions are taken to help the poor achiever. Spoken language abilities in kindergarten are associated with judgments of the adequacy of fourth grade academic achievement and are mediated by reading prior to fourth grade and also via a path that is independent of reading. It is argued that poor academic achievement may be viewed as a disvalued state consistent with an illness, whereas language and reading skills can be viewed as basic causal systems that can explain the child's learning performance. Properties of this causal system are value free, except that they can inherit disvalue by their association with poor achievement. It remains to be determined whether the notion of LD is to be equated with poor achievement and therefore serve as a type of illness or whether it is to be viewed as a particular cause of poor achievement and thus functions as a type of disease associated with poor achievement. The conceptual framework lays out the alternative meanings for LD and the choice between these alternatives will ultimately depend on how it is used in the LD research community.     

Creating Our Future in an Age of Transformation Originally published in 1994, PIQ 7.3

There is a growing realization that many of our social systems and organizations are out-of-sync with the new realities of the recently emerged post-industrial, information/knowledge age. These new realities are touching the lives of every individual, every family and community, the host of organizations of our public and private sectors, and our overall society. They affect the future of humanity as a whole. Questions arise. What are these new realities? What are the meanings of societal transformations? What is our role in facing the massive changes that confront us today? Are we only spectators of these changes? Are we their victims? Are we at the mercy of others who control these changes and the experts who design systems for us? Or is it up to us to shape our future and create and recreate the systems to which we belong? What kind of capacities and capabilities should we develop that will allow us to design our own lives, shape our systems, and give direction to the evolution of our communities, our organizations, and our society? I have struggled and worked with these questions over the last three decades. They have been the focus of my research and teaching. I explore these questions in this paper in order to define an approach—the systems design approach—by which we can individually and collectively create a better future for ourselves, our families, our communities and our society while enhancing human performance, adding value to our organizations, and most importantly, creating just and ethical systems for future generations.     

Current status,future trends,and issues in human performance technology,part 1: Influential domains,current status,and recognition of HPT

Fifteen human performance technology experts participated in a survey investigating HPT's current status, future trends, and issues. Although HPT is not fully recognized in many organizations, such strengths as systems thinking and multidisciplinary approaches to performance problems are valued. Weaknesses reported are the rare use of HPT in small organizations, falling for quick fixes, and shortcomings in evaluation. HPT professionals need to do better at clarifying HPT principles, communicating HPT values, and demonstrating HPT's organizational impact.     

下行多用户MC-CDMA系统中的自适应资源分配

研究了多用户场景下多载波码分多址系统（MC—CDMA）的下行信道和功率分配,并将吞吐最大化问题建模成一个混合整数优化问题．为了简化分析,将问题分成2个低复杂度的子问题：功率分配和信道分配．这2个子问题可分别被一个次最优自适应功率分配算法（APA）和一个最优自适应信道分配算法（ACA）解决．通过联合APA和ACA算法,进一步提出了一个自适应信道和功率的分配方案．仿真结果表明：与传统的均匀功率分配算法相比,提出的APA算法更加适用于MC—CDMA系统;此外,提出的自适应信道和功率分配方案可以显著地提高系统吞吐量性能．     

Instructional Design Rules for Algorithmic Subject Matter

Algorithms are essential to computer programming because of their structure and precision. These same characteristics could also be used in the field of instructional technology, but usually aren't because they are viewed as being too complex. This article attempts to clarify their utility by first analyzing the structural and processing characteristics of algorithms. Simple examples are used to illustrate how the design process is influenced by these characteristics. Five instructional design guidelines, or rules, are then presented and discussed. The rules are derived from empirical examinations of algorithm-based learning and conform to the limitations dictated by several information processing principles.