Recently, businesses have begun to utilize Intranets for internal corporate collaboration. As private networks with the functionality, compatibility, and openness of the Internet, the Intranet concept raises unique possibilities for higher education. Most colleges and universities have access to the Internet, and communications of a classroom can be electronically facilitated by a simulated Intranet with little difficulty. We present herein the results of a case study in which the Internet was used in a manner similar to that of corporate Intranets, but in college classrooms. Our Intranets were used with two objectives: first, acquainting students with the usage and power of the Internet, and second, supporting the communication processes of the classes. Based on the results, recommendations are made for Intranet use applicable to both academic and business settings.

Marketing is increasingly discussed by marketers and church leaders as a tool for helping religious organizations achieve their missional goals. Unfortunately, in the past many other nonprofit organizations have experimented with marketing, only to ultimately discard it as inappropriate or ineffectual. This was at least in part the result of a failure to recognize that adoption of marketing techniques implicitly means adopting a marketing philosophy or market orientation. If pastors are to avoid the disillusionment with marketing experienced by some other non-profit leaders, it is important that they distinguish between the different orientations which govern the use of marketing techniques. This article seeks to describe the implications the various approaches lo marketing have for a church's ministry.

Much of the literature concerning emergency medical services evaluation has been criticized as unconvincing. Several sources of invalidity have comprised the interpretability of these studies. When true randomized experiments cannot be accomplished, quasi-experimental research designs offer greater interpretability than the more often used pre-experimental designs. In using quasi-experimental research designs, special attention must be given to threats to internal validity. A case study describes an evaluation of mobile intensive care units. The paper describes eighteen threats to the validity of the evaluation, as well as the methods used for their control. Whether or not evaluators can control all of the threats to the validity of their studies, these threats should be identified and their potential effects assessed wherever possible.

A manipulation of the instructions students received prior to completing the 7-item Endeavor Instructional Rating card differentially affected their ratings on two types of items. Specifically, when students were led to believe their ratings would have a strong impact on the instructor's career, they tended to be more lenient on items measuring rapport (i.e., the affective domain); this same effect was not observed for items measuring pedagogical skill (i.e., the cognitive domain). The different items on our instructional rating instrument appear to be measuring different things. One implication of this observation is that the inconsistent findings reported in past research on student ratings of instruction may be due to the differential mix of items from one instrument to another. When instructors are compared on ratings given them by students, unbiased interpretation requires that the multidimensional nature of teaching (and of the rating instrument) be considered.

Simulation typically has been a tool which used data banks as a source of information. This project turns the problem around as simulation is used as a tool to help design an evaluation data bank. The Midwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System (MRSCICS) centers around the Wesley Pavilion of Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. In the process of trying to develop and improve MRSCICS, an evaluation data bank was planned to determine the effects of different system changes. Martin (1973) developed a flow chart which illustrates the essential nature of this system.

This session features three papers in the field of computer based simulation in which humans make decisions in a simulated environment. All are concerned with the use of such models for teaching purposes; however, they provide an interesting spread in types of learning which is expected to develop.

The Traffic Police Management Training Game was designed for Northwestern's Traffic Institute with the following basic objectives: (1) to provide police officers of supervisory rank with more insight and experience in traffic problems; (2) to show the importance of intensive analysis and planing; and, (3) to teach certain patrol enforcement concepts. The game requires three ingredients: the game administrators, the game players, and the computerized game model. The game model provides the framework within which the administrator may specify any type of urban model he believes meets his teaching objectives. The game players input decisions on allocation of manpower for patrol enforcement. The game model generates violations, which stochastically result in accidents. The frequency of these violations is assumed to be a function of parameters selected by the administrators and the enforcement applied by the players. If a violation does not result in an accident, the model computes whether or not an available unit detected the violation. The model does not pretend to be realistic, but rather aims to achieve verisimilitude. The object of the game is to achieve some “bests allocation based on criteria set up by the administrators. Organizational aspects of the game include: administrator and player briefings, instructions, decision forms, and critiques.

Information needs and methods to transmit that information are analyzed to determine the basic requirements of a hazard identification system for packages containing, and vehicles carrying, hazardous materials. Persons who come in contact with hazardous materials shipments are identified and a typology is developed. Information needs by type, amount, and timing are listed by category, and sixteen existing labeling systems are evaluated according to these and human factors criteria. Another dimension of users considered is transportation mode and job function of personnel. Conclusions and recommendations based on this analysis are discussed.

The article discusses the use of computers and computer simulation to help solve complex transportation problems. The article presents some of the characteristics of simulation and discusses how a traffic or transportation engineer may make practical use of simulation techniques. Computer simulation techniques are useful for handling large problems with many variables. Simulation provides an inexpensive way of evaluating alternative measures to be used in a transportation system without funding for hardware equipment.