What would it take for instructional design to qualify as a bona fide applied discipline? First and foremost, a fundamental requirement is a testable and tested theoretical base. Untested rationales until verified remain in limbo. Secondly, the discipline's applied prescriptions must be demonstrably traceable to the theoretical base once it is…

Profitable creative ideas can emerge from within virtually any phase of the instructional design and development process. However, the design of user interactions is perhaps where learners can most directly experience the benefits of such ideas. In this article, the authors discuss principles of learner interaction as found in the instructional…

Personalized learning (PL) is spotlighted as a way to transform K-12 educational systems. PL customizes learning pace, instructional methods, and learning content to individual students. As much as PL sounds promising and complex, little guidance is available to educators and policymakers about how to effectively design PL. Five essential features…

Formal design studies are increasing our insight into design processes, including those of instructional design. Lessons are being learned from other design fields, and new techniques and concepts can be imported as they are demonstrated effective. The purpose of this article is to introduce a design concept--the "operational principle"--for…

Web 2.0 technologies have created a trend of user-generated content by supporting media production, collaboration, communication, and dissemination. User-generated content is translated into student-generated content (SGC) in education. SGC engages learners in an authentic project that fosters students' autonomy, creativity, and real-world…

Research has shown that when Merrill's First Principles of Instruction are used as part of an instructional strategy, student learning increases. Several articles describe these principles of instruction, including specific methods for implementing this theory. However, because teachers and designers often have little time to design instruction,…

The author argues that Instructional Design (ID) is a problem-solving process, not a procedure, made up of a thinking process common to designers in many fields, and a set of well-accepted, underlying ID principles. This article presents a model of those principles. Further, it argues that teaching ID as a well-structured procedure is not helpful…

Instructional design scholars have emphasized the development of theories and models more than the study of professional practice. Although both theoretical and practical knowledge are essential in a professional discipline, the field has not yet articulated the relationship between the two types of knowledge and how understanding this…

Discusses insights from both the instructional design community and members of research groups seeking to transform typical classrooms into "learning communities," and encourages discussion among members of these two communities. Gives an overview of frameworks for instructional design, and the principles of learning communities. (71…

Examines the role of social systems design and what values design can add to education. Topics include design as a decision-oriented disciplined inquiry, change and new realities, models and model building, and an image example of the present educational system and what the future system should be. (LRW)

Relates differences between education and training to the difference between hunting and fishing. Discusses instructional methods and design, principles, objectives, and theories. (AEF)

Reports on a survey of 42 post-secondary teachers about online instructional methods and strategies. The results are discussed in terms of Yelon's instructional principles: meaningfulness, prerequisites, open communication, organized essential ideas, learning aids, novelty, modeling, active appropriate practice, pleasant conditions and…

Discusses the link between the theoretical principles of constructivism, the practice of instructional design, and the practice of teaching. Defines constructivism, lists three primary principles of learning and understanding, identifies eight instructional principles needed for the design of constructivist learning environments, and presents a…

Presents 4 guiding concepts--organization, communication, collaboration, and enculturation--and 10 related principles for supporting instructors as they develop online courses. The principles are described using examples from the authors' experience as faculty development specialists. Principles focus on technical, pedagogical, and production…

Describes some of the many conceptions of learning that have guided the field of instructional design in two main periods: one focusing on learning from an objectivist perspective, which lasted most of the 20th century, and one focusing on learning from cognitive and social constructivist perspectives, which has dominated the past decade. (AEF)