This commentary on the special issue, entitled "Models and Tools for Systems Learning and Instruction," highlights the accomplishments of the papers in this collection. It also points to some avenues for further strengthening research on promoting systems understanding. Collectively, the papers make advances in our understanding of how…

Not until the core concepts of biology are clearly defined and become the focus of instruction and assessment can we expect meaningful improvements in biological literacy and the removal of unnecessary barriers to student engagement.

An alternative research methodology is presented which focuses on the aims and values of education while attending to the learner as an elaborate, dynamic, everchanging total system. A summary covers the reactive, preactive, proactive, and spiralling learner systems, each of which meet the definitional system requirement of being dynamic, having a…

The definition of educational technology has shifted from a focus on the organization and use of hardware and software items as a delivery system to recognizing that the introduction of technology into educational systems demands a systematic approach to enhance learning and human development. In the first definition, curriculum is the…

Discusses several systems models of interaction in distance education and relates them to the contexts of instructional delivery, instructional design, instructional theory, and learning theory in order to establish conceptual parameters for the function of interaction. Models covered include those developed by Dick and Carey, Shannon and Weaver,…

Designing environmentally friendly challenge courses involves considering factors such as clearing, trees versus poles, soil erosion and compaction, toilet design, waste disposal, and carrying capacity. Strategies used in "green development" such as systems thinking, solution multipliers, and brainstorming with stakeholders could promote…

Processes of systems analysis and design as they might apply to curriculum problems are explicated, and the possible difficulties to be experienced are interpreted in the light of a typology of systems ranging from the deterministic to the indeterminate. (Author/JEG)

Reviews research and theories in the area of motivation, and develops a model for a systematic approach to designing motivating instruction. (Author/JEG)

Describes a model for dynamic electronic performance support systems based on NNAble, a system developed by the training group at Apple Computer. Principles for designing dynamic performance support are discussed, including a systems approach, performer-centered design, awareness of situated cognition, organizational memory, and technology use.…

Explains postmodernism and discusses the role of postmodernism as it relates to educational technology and various paradigms for educational technology. Highlights include the systems approach to instructional design and the relationship between the psychological paradigm of constructivism and the aesthetic paradigm of poststructuralism. (15…

The necessity of design and planning for school restructuring with a macro focus on education systems design is discussed in this paper. Eight support and implementation strategies are identified: utilization of a formal change process; planned coordination; multiple sponsorship; formation of a grassroots collaboration network; external and…

A model for the design and delivery of distance instruction is based on a systematic approach to distance learning that considers all stakeholders and is student centered. (SK)

Formulating a curriculum for library education should involve all the library school faculty members in determining objectives, approaches and criteria, selecting and organizing contents, deciding on teaching-learning strategies, preparing instructional materials, and examining assessment methods. (FM)

Argues for more emphasis on the fabric which holds curriculum detail together and describes those conceptual tools which may help in redirecting thinking toward holistic approaches to instruction and teaching. Linkages between educational technology and learning theory help guide this quest. (Author/RAO)

The interior ecosystems model illustrates effects on the human organism of the interaction of the natural, behavioral, and built environment. Examples of interior lighting and household energy consumption show the model's flexibility for organizing study variables in interior design research. (SK)