The Contribution of a Decision Support System to Educational Decision-Making Processes

2003 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Klein ◽  
Herman Ronen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Educational Decisions ◽  
Computer Assistance ◽  
Organizational Orientation ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The One ◽  
School Incidents ◽  
Educational Decision Making

In the light of reports of bias, the present study investigated the hypothesis that administrative educational decisions assisted by Decision Support Systems (DSS) are characterized by different pedagogical and organizational orientation than decisions made without computer assistance. One hundred and ten high school teachers were asked to suggest solutions to problems that arose in two school incidents. After reaching decisions, respondents were asked to rank, in order of importance, the considerations that guided them. The data were processed by DSS software, which calculated the highest-scoring option for each incident. This option was compared with the one chosen by the respondents, taking into account variables of seniority, educational level, specialization, and self-efficacy. DSS-aided decisions promoted greater moderation and enhanced cooperation among interested parties in comparison to decisions made without computer aid. The implications of these findings for future division of decision-making tasks between people and computers is discussed.

scholarly journals State-of-the-Art Prescriptive Criteria Weight Elicitation

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Riabacke ◽  
Mats Danielson ◽  
Love Ekenberg
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Theory ◽  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Analytical Methods ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Criteria Weights ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Method Of Assessment ◽  
Descriptive Theories

Comparatively few of the vast amounts of decision analytical methods suggested have been widely spread in actual practice. Some approaches have nevertheless been more successful in this respect than others. Quantitative decision making has moved from the study of decision theory founded on a single criterion towards decision support for more realistic decision-making situations with multiple, often conflicting, criteria. Furthermore, the identified gap between normative and descriptive theories seems to suggest a shift to more prescriptive approaches. However, when decision analysis applications are used to aid prescriptive decision-making processes, additional demands are put on these applications to adapt to the users and the context. In particular, the issue of weight elicitation is crucial. There are several techniques for deriving criteria weights from preference statements. This is a cognitively demanding task, subject to different biases, and the elicited values can be heavily dependent on the method of assessment. There have been a number of methods suggested for assessing criteria weights, but these methods have properties which impact their applicability in practice. This paper provides a survey of state-of-the-art weight elicitation methods in a prescriptive setting.

A Study of Organizational Narrative Simulation for Decision Support

2013 ◽  
pp. 179-192
Author(s):  
C. L. Yeung ◽  
C. F. Cheung ◽  
W. M. Wang ◽  
E. Tsui
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Reference Site ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
Organizational Narrative ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Narrative Simulation

This paper presents an overview of current decision making approaches. For some approaches abstract information is provided, whereas others require a large amount of labor and time resources to facilitate decision making. However, few address the issues of assisting participants in learning how to make decisions and provide prompt responses to the situations. Harnessing lessons learned from making inappropriate decisions is expensive. To redress this problem, this paper presents a pilot study of the investigation of the psychological behaviors of humans to improve decision making processes with the use of organizational narrative simulation (ONS). By using the ONS method, possible and plausible narrative-based environments can be simulated. Participants can take actions based on their decisions; they can also observe the changes and the consequences. The decisions for handling new challenges generated purposely are validated in a trial that allows prompt responses to the situations. The ONS method is implemented in a selected reference site. The implementation processes, findings, and benefits are presented.

Decision Support Systems and Decision-Making Processes

2010 ◽  
pp. 135-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udo Richard Averweg
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support Systems ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Management Problem ◽  
Upper Management ◽  
Structured Problems ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Computer Based

Decision support systems (DSS) deal with semi-structured problems. Such problems arise when managers in organisations are faced with decisions where some but not all aspects of a task or procedure are known. To solve these problems and use the results for decision-making requires judgement of the manager using the system. Typically such systems include models, data manipulation tools, and the ability to handle uncertainty and risk. These systems involve information and decision technology (Forgionne, 2003). Many organisations are turning to DSS to improve decision-making (Turban, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2004). This is a result of the conventional information systems (IS) not being sufficient to support an organisation’s critical response activities—especially those requiring fast and/or complex decision-making. In general, DSS are a broad category of IS (Power, 2003). A DSS is defined as “an interactive, flexible, and adaptable computer-based information system, specially developed for supporting the solution of a non-structured management problem for improved decision-making. It utilises data, it provides easy user interface, and it allows for the decision maker’s own insights” (Turban, 1995). There is a growing trend to provide managers with IS that can assist them in their most important task—making decisions. All levels of management can benefit from the use of DSS capabilities. The highest level of support is usually for middle and upper management (Sprague & Watson, 1996). The question of how a DSS supports decision-making processes will be described in this article. This article is organised as follows: The background to decisionmaking is introduced. The main focus (of this article) describes the development of the DSS field. Some future trends for the DSS field are then suggested. Thereafter a conclusion is given.

Managerial Decision Support in the Post-COVID-19 Era

2021 ◽  
pp. 225-241
Author(s):  
Jan Kalina
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support Systems ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Massive Datasets ◽  
New Development ◽  
Decision Making Processes

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated trends to digitalization and automation, which allow us to acquire massive datasets useful for managerial decision making. The expected increase of available data (including big data) will represent a potential for an increasing deployment of management decision support systems for more general and more complex tasks. Sophisticated decision support systems have been proposed already in the pre-pandemic times either to assist managers in specific decision-making processes or to perform the decision making fully automatically. Decision support systems are presented in this chapter as perspective artificial intelligence tools contributing to a deep transform of everyday management practices. Attention is paid here to their new development in the quickly transforming post-COVID-19 era and to their role under the post-pandemic conditions. As an original contribution, this chapter presents a vision of information-based management, which far exceed the rather limited pre-pandemic visions of evidence-based management focused primarily on critical thinking.

A Study of Organizational Narrative Simulation for Decision Support

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-41
Author(s):  
C. L. Yeung ◽  
C. F. Cheung ◽  
W. M. Wang ◽  
E. Tsui
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Reference Site ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
Organizational Narrative ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Narrative Simulation

This paper presents an overview of current decision making approaches. For some approaches abstract information is provided, whereas others require a large amount of labor and time resources to facilitate decision making. However, few address the issues of assisting participants in learning how to make decisions and provide prompt responses to the situations. Harnessing lessons learned from making inappropriate decisions is expensive. To redress this problem, this paper presents a pilot study of the investigation of the psychological behaviors of humans to improve decision making processes with the use of organizational narrative simulation (ONS). By using the ONS method, possible and plausible narrative-based environments can be simulated. Participants can take actions based on their decisions; they can also observe the changes and the consequences. The decisions for handling new challenges generated purposely are validated in a trial that allows prompt responses to the situations. The ONS method is implemented in a selected reference site. The implementation processes, findings, and benefits are presented.

How Groupware Systems Can Change How an Organisation Makes Decisions

2011 ◽  
pp. 426-433
Author(s):  
Frédéric Adam ◽  
Jean-Charles Pomerol ◽  
Patrick Brézillon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support Systems ◽  
Study Protocol ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Impact

In this article, a newspaper company which has implemented a computerised editorial system is studied in an attempt to understand the impact that groupware systems can have on the decision making processes of an organisation. First, the case study protocol is presented, and the findings of the case are described in detail. Conclusions are then presented which pertain both to this case and to the implementation of decision support systems that have a groupware dimension.

Decision Support Systems and Decision-Making Processes

2010 ◽  
pp. 218-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udo Richard Averweg
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support Systems ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Management Problem ◽  
Upper Management ◽  
Structured Problems ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Computer Based

Decision support systems (DSS) deal with semi-structured problems. Such problems arise when managers in organisations are faced with decisions where some but not all aspects of a task or procedure are known. To solve these problems and use the results for decision-making requires judgement of the manager using the system. Typically such systems include models, data manipulation tools, and the ability to handle uncertainty and risk. These systems involve information and decision technology (Forgionne, 2003). Many organisations are turning to DSS to improve decision-making (Turban, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2004). This is a result of the conventional information systems (IS) not being sufficient to support an organisation’s critical response activities—especially those requiring fast and/or complex decision-making. In general, DSS are a broad category of IS (Power, 2003). A DSS is defined as “an interactive, flexible, and adaptable computer-based information system, specially developed for supporting the solution of a non-structured management problem for improved decision-making. It utilises data, it provides easy user interface, and it allows for the decision maker’s own insights” (Turban, 1995). There is a growing trend to provide managers with IS that can assist them in their most important task—making decisions. All levels of management can benefit from the use of DSS capabilities. The highest level of support is usually for middle and upper management (Sprague & Watson, 1996). The question of how a DSS supports decision-making processes will be described in this article. This article is organised as follows: The background to decisionmaking is introduced. The main focus (of this article) describes the development of the DSS field. Some future trends for the DSS field are then suggested. Thereafter a conclusion is given.

Signals, Educational Decision-Making, and Inequality

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Holm ◽  
Anders Hjorth-Trolle ◽  
Mads Meier Jæger
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Educational Inequality ◽  
Monozygotic Twins ◽  
Academic Ability ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Educational Decisions ◽  
Educational Decision ◽  
Educational Decision Making ◽  
Low Ses Students

Abstract We propose a model of educational decision-making based on rational choice theory in which students use signals about academic ability to make inference about the costs and benefits of different educational options. Our model is simple, extends ideas from previous models, and has testable implications. We test our model using data on Danish monozygotic twins and find that (i) students who receive a positive signal about their academic ability have a higher likelihood of enrolling in and completing a college-bound track compared with those who do not; (ii) the effect of the signal is stronger for students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds than for those from high-SES ones; and (iii) for low-SES students the effect is stronger on enrolment than on completion. Our results suggest that signals about academic ability affect educational decisions in general; they are more important for students who do not have a family ‘push’ to avoid downward social mobility; and they affect educational inequality by making low-SES students too optimistic about their likelihood of completing the college-bound track.

scholarly journals Leiten oder leiten lassen? Gesprächsanalytische Beobachtungen zur interaktiven Aushandlung der Leitungsfunktion im Klassenrat

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-104
Author(s):  
Nadine Nell-Tuor ◽  
Nina Haldimann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
School Life ◽  
Leadership Responsibility ◽  
Teaching Format ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The One ◽  
Do So

Abstract The class council is a teaching format which takes place regularly, aiming at the teacher stepping back from his/her conventional role as the organizing authority in order to allow the students to participate directly in decision-making processes concerning their everyday school life. This format results in a unique interactional constellation among the participants. In this article, we explore this interactional constellation from the perspective of conversation and interaction analysis. On the basis of videographies of class council sessions in which students and teachers occupy different participation roles, we ask how those roles are negotiated interactively. With a specific focus on the teacher and the moderator (student), we ask to what extent the teacher is able to delegate leadership responsibility among the group. It is shown that teachers are only partly able to do so. Often, teachers influence the interaction on a multimodal level. The challenge of organizing the class council lies in the need for the participants to accomplish different (and in part incompatible) interactional orders: on the one hand, teachers as well as students have to consider their specific participation roles; on the other hand, their participation roles are framed institutionally and cannot easily be changed.

scholarly journals The Ethical Matrix as a Tool for Decision-Making Process in Conservation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierfrancesco Biasetti ◽  
Barbara de Mori
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethical Analysis ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Conceptual Tool ◽  
Ethical Assessment ◽  
Ethical Matrix ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

Decision making-process in conservation can be very complex, having to deal with various value dimensions and potential conflicts. In fact, conflicts and competing interests between stakeholders are among the most quoted reasons for failure of projects. Ethical analysis can be helpful in this regard. In this paper we present a revision of the Ethical Matrix specifically tailored to decision-making processes in conservation. The Ethical Matrix is a conceptual tool devised to help decision-makers by supplying them with a framework of the ethically relevant aspects involved in decision-making process. It was originally developed for the ethical assessment of agri-food biotechnologies and later has been applied to other fields. The revised version we propose here has been designed for the ethical analysis of conservation priority-setting and impact. As conservation can raise many ethical relevant controversies, conceptual tools like the one presented here can be of help for conservationists, providing a map of the value demands involved. This map can be used to question the reasonableness of the value judgments, estimate the impact of different courses of actions, anticipate conflicts, and rank their severeness.

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