Simplified user interfaces (SUIs) refer to a new design technique in technical communication that simplifies screenshots by removing irrelevant elements and highlighting only the essential information. While there is consensus on the benefits of signaling in multimedia learning, there is currently no empirical evidence on the effects of SUIs on…

For chemistry, where learners are required to integrate experimental observations with theoretical knowledge, laboratory work appears to be a viable instructional strategy. However, research has shown that chemistry laboratory instruction often fails to live up to its potential. The scheduling practice in higher education (HE) separating theory…

Private tutoring, or shadow education, has become a widespread phenomenon globally. Its growth can be attributed to the expansion of cram schools offering live and video tutoring. This study critically analyses students' perceptions of video-recorded classes. Specifically, it problematises students' preference for video-recorded classes by…

Exploration of "prior art"--the state of a technology's development, as manifested in literature, documentation, and artifacts--has many benefits for engineering students. It expands their understanding of the design problem, reveals a range of possible solutions, and develops research skills important to professional practice. While…

This study focused on student-content interactions and engagement in an online graduate course. Student descriptions of their experiences and learning processes in relation to digital course resources were examined to understand how and why resources were used. Fourteen students provided detailed explanations of their use and perceived value of…

This study investigated the case-based method (CBM) instructional-design theory and its application in designing self-directed online instruction. The purpose of this study was to validate and refine the theory for a self-directed online instruction context. Guided by formative research methodology, this study first developed an online tutorial…

A number of researchers have explored the role and nature of design in education, proposing a diverse array of life cycle models. Design plays subtly different roles in each of these models. The learning design research community is shifting its attention from the representation of pedagogical plans to considering design as an ongoing process. As…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] This manuscript discusses how learning theories have been applied to shape multiple aspects of the design of curricular activities combining interactive computer simulations and University of Washington style tutorials (so-called simulation-tutorials).…

Pressure to increase the throughput of university students in ethical ways has been a catalyst for innovations to improve learning and student success. Student dropout occurs mostly in the first year of study and poor performance is a major contributor to dropout even if the underlying reason for the poor performance is not academic…

We illustrate a very recent research study that demonstrates the value of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as vehicles for research. We describe the development of the Indiana University Plagiarism Tutorials and Tests (IPTAT). Our new design has been guided by "First Principles of Instruction": authentic problems, activation,…

While online course offerings have steadily risen over the last decade and it is estimated that 32% of college students have taken an online course (Allen & Seaman, 2013), the process of preparing students for blended and online courses has varied and is inconsistent across institutions. Attrition rates for online courses have been…

According to Krashen's affective filter hypothesis, students who are highly motivated have their self-consciousness. When they enter a learning context with a low level of anxiety, they are much more likely to become successful language acquirers than those who do not. Affective factors such as motivation, attitude, and anxiety, have a direct…

The effectiveness of a video tutorial versus a paper-based tutorial for software training has yet to be established. Mixed outcomes from the empirical studies to date suggest that for a video tutorial to outperform its paper-based counterpart, the former should be crafted so that it addresses the strengths of both designs. This was attempted in…

The purpose of this study was to explore effective ways to design guided practices within a web-based mathematics problem solving tutorial. Specifically, this study examined student learning outcome differences between two support designs (e.g. adaptively faded and fixed). In the adaptively faded design, students were presented with problems in…

Smartphones are regular classroom accessories. Educators should work with children to understand the capacity of smartphones for learning and civic engagement, rather than being a classroom distraction. This research supports a collaborative project the authors engaged in with students in two states to discover what the perception of smartphone…