The Instructional Development Laboratory of Florida State University's Center for Educational Design (CED) is described. Among the major projects of the Laboratory has been the design and implementation of the PLATO computer-assisted instruction system. Included in the report are descriptions of (1) the facilities layout of the Laboratory, (2) the…

This publication includes the proceedings of the June 5-8, 1974 curriculum development workshop of the Cooperative Academic Planning (CAP) program. Emphasis is placed on curriculum change and improvement. Topics discussed include indicators for academic planning; competency-based education; research centers as a mechanism for strengthening…

The advocates for change in the elementary social studies curriculum have offered curriculum revisions without providing a convincing argument for content change. The advocates attack the "expanding environments" sequence, established in 1916 and still used today, and want to include an equal balance of history, economics, geography, and…

This overview of the current status of computer-based learning in the United Kingdom (U.K.) begins with a discussion of the Microelectronics Education Program (MEP), which was implemented in 1981 to: (1) provide inservice teacher training in the educational aspects of microelectronics; (2) stimulate and service curriculum development efforts using…

This paper explores various issues related to the allocation of resources to science teacher education on the basis of research implications. Areas addressed include: (1) establishment of valid science teacher training content; (2) science teacher education research (providing information on the average effect of some general practices used to…

In discussing how the use of research findings can improve teacher education program, a parallel is drawn between preservice education courses for physical education teachers and commercial training courses. A number of design and personnel characteristics that have application in teacher preparation are identified. It is pointed out that…

This study is a political analysis of federal interagency policy processes in a diffusion project involving a national educational laboratory, a state department of education, and nine local districts. Data were collected through ethnohistorical procedures over one and one-half years for summative evaluation reports of the project and the…

The Learning Resources Service (LRS) at Southern Illinois State University at Carbondale is a department that has evolved from a film service to a broad-based instructional design center. It is involved in some aspects of faculty development, and the relationship between this involvement and traditional instructional design can be viewed in the…

Presented at a week-long conference on the importance of research in education, this paper focuses on four components of the educational system: the learner, the curriculum, the instructor, and the context. For each of these components, questions are raised and research is suggested. For the learner, these concern the value of research for learner…

This article focuses on the problems, dilemmas, and issues which confront facilitators of teacher-based action research in schools. Three action research projects in the United Kingdom are described. An attempt is made to clarify the theoretical and philosophical assumptions which underpin the action research movement in education. (IAH)

The crucial problem for educational administrators concerned with improving the quality of education is how to build into their systems the capacity to change. Four major factors are necessary for an education system to remain sensitive and adaptable to change: a proper understanding of their own role by administrators, availability of well…

The paper describes the development, by the Center for Vocational and Technical Education (CVTE), of instructional modules for a performance-based system for the teaching of vocational teachers and includes a list of five characteristics distinguishing performance-based teacher education (PBTE) from the more traditional forms. The research base…

The evolution and current operation of the Ontario Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) Network are described. Sponsored by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and including 11 community colleges in Ontario, the network has computer installations and access devices throughout the province. Initial development work was done using a…

This paper argues that a mix of expertise is required to develop curricula and adapt them successfully to local school districts and outlines the strategies involved in using linking agents or agencies to bridge the gap between research and development (R & D) agencies and local school districts. After an introduction, the second section of…

This paper discusses the multiple rewards of teaching information systems (IS) abroad, drawing on the experience of an IS professor who has been awarded three Fulbright scholarships in the 1990s. The author draws extensively upon personal experiences in Russia to illustrate the challenges and benefits of teaching in foreign institutions. The…