Having stepped down as editor of Educational Technology Research & Development after 15 years of service, and having learned much from Steve Ross, who served as editor for 18 years, and from many of the leading scholars in the broad and multidisciplinary field of educational technology, I have been thinking of the value added by the research…

This commentary reviews seven papers that study motivation with new media, contained in this special issue of "Educational Technology Research & Development" edited by Ruth Small. For each paper, this commentary summarizes exemplary contributions, offers an assessment of what is exciting, and suggests directions for future research. Some exciting…

Discusses instructional analogies and describes two studies which were designed to examine the effects of instructional analogy training on college students' ability to identify the application of advanced physiological concepts. Student performances are compared with and without analogies and future research is suggested. (Contains 71…

Proposes directions to help researchers balance instructional technology goals with the performance of well-designed and scientifically sound studies. Issues concerning the external validity of studies, use of media replications, and learner control as a means of adapting instructional strategies to individuals are emphasized, and designs for…

Discussion of research problems in instructional technology emphasizes two main needs: (1) development of a prescriptive research methodology; and (2) more front end analysis that produces a distinction between instructional design research and instructional development research. Two examples of research using the prescriptive technology approach…