The author has been asked to respond to Lodge, Hansen, and Cottrell's recent (2015) paper in this journal and they have done a very thorough and scholarly job of dissecting the weaknesses of modality preference theories. They clearly and carefully analyse the nature of the evidence for modality preference and conclude that there is little if any…

Jan Herrington is a Professor of Education at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, where she teaches educational technology in the School of Education, including a compulsory first year unit called "Living and Learning with Technology." She has been active in the promotion and support of the effective use of educational…

This article contributes to discourse on signature pedagogy by reconceptualizing how our pedagogies are understood and defined for social work education. We critique the view that field education is social work's signature pedagogy and consider what pedagogies are distinct about the teaching and learning of social work. Using Shulman's…

Designers of interactive learning environments face the issue of managing the learner's cognitive load, reducing irrelevant sources while optimizing useful sources of load. I propose a conceptual framework aimed at organizing the contributions of the papers presented in this special issue. The framework identifies three main dimensions, namely…

Defines instructional strategies and instructional tactics in the context of an iterative design model, distinguishes instructional tactics as methods of implementing instructional strategies, discusses instructional strategies versus learning strategies, and gives examples of how to select instructional tactics for educational and corporate…

This report details five principles for creating powerful classrooms and offers a new vision for professional development: (1) High Structure; (2) High Challenge; (3) Intensity; (4) Intentionality and Learning How to Learn; and (5) Inquiry and Making Learning Visible. Included are recommendations drawn from the work of the 11 community college…

In this article, learning how to learn for non traditional adult students is discussed with a focus on police officers and firefighters. Learning how to learn is particularly relevant for all returning non-traditional adults; however in the era of terrorism it is critical for the public safety officers returning to college after years of absence…

Noting the current push for rigor in secondary school curriculums (the lead member of the "new three Rs" of rigor, relevance, and relationships), Washor and Mojkowksi take a closer look at the prevailing conception of rigor. They argue that a narrowly defining a rigorous curriculum as one with more advanced courses and more factual content…

Traditional education, employing lectures or telecommunicative instruction methods, has been very effective in providing topical facts. However, the development of student skills and thinking ability require higher levels of instruction and more opportunity to practice and apply acquired knowledge. As students progress through a particular…

An alternative view of learning and an alternative view of research on learning are described in this paper. Learning is seen as a change in the conception of some aspect of reality and it is argued that learning has to be described in terms of its content. This line of research is intended to represent the learner's perspective and the…

Defines metacognition and describes the effects of incorporating metacognitive aspects into instructional design. Three types of knowledge--declarative, procedural, and conditional--are discussed as necessary components of metacognitive awareness, and positive effects on the learner in terms of motivation and performance are described. (Author/LRW)

Discusses how advertisers use information (i.e., how they organize and present words) and suggests similarities with educators who try to attract attention, impart information, and foster retention of that information. Positioning in marketing is explained; and educational implications are discussed, including focusing on the audience and studying…

Discusses the relationship between instructional design and situated learning. The transfer of knowledge and skills to a variety of settings is considered; and ways in which instructional design can contribute to the goals of situated learning are described, including planning learning experiences that are situated in the real world. (24…

Describes and compares various assumptions of instructional design and of constructivism, some of which have been raised in other articles in this issue. Topics discussed include instructional design theory; instructional systems theory; mental models; categories of knowledge; knowledge representation; instructional strategies; collaborative…

Introduces the topic of strategies education, summarizing the contributions to this special issue on strategies education. Emphasizes the importance of collaborations between researchers and practitioners to ensure that strategies education programs are practical and implementable. (MDM)