Innovative companies focus on developing the knowledge capital of workers by providing learning support, not training. Learning support systems identify the current state of knowledge and skills and desired performance results, individualize learning for each worker, and integrate learning activities into work processes. (SK)

Effective instruction must reflect a functional understanding of the present level of learning, based on the learner's situation and maturity. The Situational Instruction Model is designed to assist in the development of personalized learning. (JOW)

Cognitive style is a potentially rich, but typically overlooked, source of individualization in computer based instruction (CBI). Using information about learners' cognitive styles in the design, development, and evaluation phases of CBI production can maximize individualization. In the design phase, for example, learners' cognitive styles can be…

In this interview, 16-year-old Samantha Abeel, who is learning-disabled in math, describes the frustrations of dealing with seventh-grade responsibilities like locker combinations, unfamiliar teachers, and algebra. Sam is gifted in writing but didn't receive special help with math until entering a special education class in eighth grade, where a…

Learners' preferred perceptual modalities--the means through which they obtain information--need to be considered in instruction design. Two strategies to individualize instruction are a multisensory approach and point-of-intervention approach. (SK)

Variables in student performance--including instructional mode, conceptual approach, perceptual preference, curricular interest, time preference, and counseling needs--are discussed; and the author suggests that alternative schooling which takes these variables into account for individualization would serve gifted students as well as slow learners…

Describes limitations in the understanding of cognitive styles and the constraints these limitations place on the use of cognitive styles in early childhood education. Topics include historical problems of definitions, issues of early childhood education, and guidelines for educational applications and for research. (RJC)

This paper examines the role of learner motivation--elements that arouse, sustain, and direct behavior--as the pivotal factor in education, and urges researchers to consider the motivational state of the individual learner in interaction with the instructional method. It is emphasized that a thorough understanding of the learner's personality, as…

Arguing that the main promise of computers lies in their potential for moment-by-moment adaptation of instructional content and form to the changing cognitive needs of individual learners, this paper clarifies the implications of this potential for tutoring research, and points out overlooked relations between different strands of research…

While the cognitive-style approach to individualized instruction is no panacea for all educational ills, it holds high promise as a means of helping faculty and students to develop effective learning environments. In utilizing this approach, several factors must be considered. First, a clear distinction should be made between cognitive style and…

A panel of researchers examined why individualized instruction is successful in industrial, military, and medical training but less so in elementary and secondary schools. The reasons revolve around the rewards students receive, student maturity and motivation, and the amount of time spent on task. (Author/JM)

There is a current trend toward matching the style of teaching with the cognitive style of the individual student. (JD)

Teachers continue to address the question of how to adapt instruction to recognize the existence of different learning styles yet provide quality education for all students. Traditionally, instructional models available to teachers and curriculum planners ranged along a continuum from lockstep to individualization. This definition has led to…

Cautions that teaching manuals preclude a teacher's instinct for individualized teaching, and addresses the issue of what teachers need to know about language, culture, and learning for effective reading instruction. (HTH)

The Annehurst Curriculum Classification System (ACCS) identifies curriculum materials compatible with student learning characteristics. The development of the ACCS and its use in Annehurst School in Westerville (Ohio) are described. The system originator explains how schools are using it and what researchers have discovered about the quality of…