Identifying Critical Issues and Problems in Technology Education using a Modified-Delphi Technique

The need to plan for the future is critical to the overall health of any organization. However, planning is often biased by the opinions of a select group of individuals who may not possess the knowledge and/or empirical data to formulate a plan that could address the most critical current and future concerns and issues facing the agency/institution. Most educational planning is designed for the short term (i.e., semesters, academic year) and involves establishing specific policies and procedures, often having little to do with vital targets that could be made operational for the medium and long range futures of the institution/agency. Strategic planning on the other hand, is designed to aid decision makers in making important changes based on strategically driven decisions (Goodstein, Nolan, & Pfeiffer, 1992). That is, in order to make strategic decisions, a strategic plan must be in place. Therefore, strategic planning is “the process by which the guiding members of an organization envision its future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future” (Goodstein, et.al., 1992, p. 3).