Fault Tree Analysis: An emerging methodology for instructional science

Abstract

Fault Tree Analysis is a systematic approach to improving the probability of succes in any system. FTA was first developed as part of the U.S. Space Industry and was applied to such programs as the Minute Man Missile evaluations, Kent G. Stephens has successfully applied the technique to instructional and administrative programs, the latest program being tl~e development of an FTA Institute for the Training Command of the United States Navy. More than a million dollars are being allocated to that program. R. Kent Wood has used the FTA methodology as a tool for a national needs assessment of teacher use of library media centers in the United States (NATUL Project). Bruce Barker has used the FTA methodology in religious education curriculum development. Because of the newness of the Fault Tree Analysis, coupled with its rapid acceptance as a tool for systems analysis and its very different approach of analyzing possible modes of failure in systems to increase the probability of success, this article is timely as the most complete coverage of FTA to date.

Assessing institutional ineffectiveness: A strategy for improvement

“…(For a detailed explanation of these formulas and how to use them, see Cameron, in press. ) The advantage of quantifying the strategic paths rather than simply estimating them is that more precise and more accurate analyses result (Kotler, 1970;Wood, Stephens, and Barker, 1979) and a clear strategy for improvement is specified. In complex fault trees, it is not always clear where institutional improvement should begin because of the sheer number of contributing faults in the tree.…”

Design and Analysis of the Use of Re-Purposed Electric Vehicle Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage in Canada

“…Next, a fault tree analysis (FTA) is conducted on the repurposed battery system. A FTA essentially takes a reversed view of the risks compared to the FMEA by breaking down a potential safety risk to its root failure [35]. The key safety risks for the re-purposed battery pack are electrocution, falling, inhalation, cuts or scrapes, and burns or explosions.…”

“…The key safety risks for the re-purposed battery pack are electrocution, falling, inhalation, cuts or scrapes, and burns or explosions. To assess this, the FTA uses Boolean logic AND gates and OR gates to connect the safety risks [35]. The AND gates denote that multiple causes must occur together to case a resultant fault, while the OR gates denote that multiple causes acting independently can cause the related fault.…”

Swinging from a tree: can the process of technological integration be improved using Fault Tree Analysis?

“…FTA uses techniques to gather, organise and represent knowledge in a format that is widely accessible. An operations technique used as an analytical tool of systems safety engineering and descendant of the systems safety approach developed in the 1950s and 1960s (Wood, Stephen & Barker, 1979), the premise is that by understanding what is likely to cause failure within a system, one can increase the likelihood of success. FTA is a parsimonious tool because the method also happens to be the product.…”

“…FTA is seen to be a viable and practicable method that schools can use when dealing with the influx of a technological innovation. The process, which includes direct involvement and system‐wide representation (factors which have been previously identified as essential in the diffusion of innovation), serves to build a cohesive team that improves and strengthens the social environment (Jonassen, Tessmer & Hannum, 1999; Stephens, 1972; Wood, Stephens & Barker, 1979). Whether or not one fully agrees with a statement made by Drucker (1969) that education had changed very little over the years, it is obvious that there is some truth to his idea that very little has changed in today's classrooms.…”