Reviews the evolution of research on effective teaching in an effort to account for the lack of practical findings to assist classroom teachers. Four influences are detailed: teacher qualities vs the nature of teaching, lack of guiding theories/models, methodological problems, and the lack of criterion measures for comparisons. (RAO)

Suggests two guiding principles as a framework to interpret the research findings of environmental psychology that focus on effective classroom design: effective design promotes attention in the classroom and allows for periodic shifts of learner activities. Examines these principles as they apply to the design of a computer classroom, reviewing…

In an effort to connect current research findings on teacher thinking with components of instructional design models and principles, this article discusses a new contextual model for thinking about teaching and considers the implications of the model for instructional development of research in instructional design and teacher thinking. (Author)