THE BIOLOGY COURSE OF THEODORE HIGH SCHOOL AT THEODORE, ALABAMA, WAS STUDIED AS A SYSTEM FOR "PROCESSING" STUDENTS AND WAS SIMULATED ON A COMPUTER. AN EXPERIMENTAL VERSION OF THE COURSE WAS SIMULATED AND COMPARED WITH THE ACTUAL COURSE. THE PURPOSES OF THIS STUDY WERE (1) TO EXAMINE THE CONCEPT OF INDIVIDUAL PROGRESS AS IT RELATED TO THE ORGANIZATION OF COURSES IN GENERAL AND THE BIOLOGY COURSE IN PARTICULAR, (2) TO DRAW IMPLICATIONS FROM THE RESULTS AS THEY RELATED TO DEFINING NEW ROLES FOR SCHOOL PERSONNEL, PROVIDING INFORMATION ON THE USE OF MEDIA AS IT AFFECTS INTERACTIONS OF STUDENTS AND OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS, DESCRIBING NEW APPLICATIONS FOR DATA PROCESSING, PROVIDING INFORMATION ON AMOUNT AND ARRANGEMENT OF SPACE, AND PROVIDING ESTIMATES OF CHARACTERISTICS OF GRADUATING STUDENTS, AND (3) TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE USE OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND COMPUTER SIMULATION AS RESEARCH TECHNIQUES. THE USE OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND SIMULATION TO STUDY POSSIBLE BEHAVIORS OF AN EXISTING SCHOOL ORGANIZATION WAS FOUND TO BE FEASIBLE AND VALUABLE. SIMULATION OF THE OPERATION OF A THEORETICAL ORGANIZATION PROVIDED PREDICTIONS OF THE RESULTS TO BE EXPECTED FROM USE OF THE PLANNED ORGANIZATION. DATA GATHERED FROM THIS STUDY COULD BE OF POSSIBLE VALUE TO COURSE DESIGNERS WHO DESIRE A THEORETICAL MODEL TO GUIDE THEIR EFFORTS. RELATED REPORTS ARE ED 010 565 AND ED 010 566. (AL)