Resumen de Systems Analysis in Small Educational Systems:: a Case Study
Jesús Vázquez-Abad, Laura R. Winer, M.L. Brassard
Educational systems analysis should prove to be a strong and irreplaceable tool for the educational technologist concerned with planning innovation. However, the widespread application of this approach mainly to ‘large’ systems frequently makes the educator wonder if it is both worthwhile and affordable to use systems analysis when dealing with a ‘small’ system. In this paper we provide an example which demonstrates that it is not only possible but advantageous to overcome this reluctance and to face the problems involved in the use of systems analysis, even when a small system is concerned. The case we present involves the transformation of a graduate programme in educational technology, in which there are six professors and no more than 30 students are admitted per year, from a lecture‐based system to a self‐instructional one. Several operational research techniques are illustrated.
