Towards an integration of intuitive and systematic decision making in education

Abstract

Purpose The literature advocates educational decision‐making processes that are either intuitive or systematic. While the two approaches seem to be incompatible, each has its merits. Intuitive thinking is considered to be holistic and creative, whereas the systematic approach has the advantages of a theoretical foundation and accuracy in data processing. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a procedure that integrates both approaches. Design/methodology/approach A total of 383 academic teachers were asked to resolve a complex educational dilemma by means of three different decision‐making procedures: intuition; a precise systematic procedure utilizing DSS software; and the Simplified Decision Process (SDP) that integrates the intuitive and systematic techniques by breaking the dilemma down into simple secondary problems that can be processed intuitively without computer assistance. Findings The paper finds that 52 percent of the participants utilizing SDP arrived at decisions similar to the DSS‐mediated conclusions. Originality/value The paper sheds light on the differential thinking patterns of decision makers, and on the cognitive potential demonstrated when SDP is employed for simplification of complex educational decisions without the pitfalls of inexact and biased judgments.

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