This article aims at clarifying and conceptualizing game-based learning (GBL) in order to pinpoint directions for practices and research. The authors maintain that GBL should be conceptualized toward the transformation of a textbook-learning culture. The authors emphasize the importance of a paradigm shift in learning and a reorientation in…

This article takes a contrarian position: an "instructional design" or "teacher training" model, because of the sheer number of its interconnected parameters, is too complex to assess or to compare with other models. Models may not be the way to go just yet. This article recommends instead prior experimental research on limited…

Case-based instruction (CBI) offers a promising method for promoting problem-solving skills in learners. However, during CBI, the instructor shoulders major responsibility for shaping the learning that takes place. Research indicates that the facilitation techniques used during case discussions influence what gets covered, and to what extent,…

Instructional design can be more effective if it is as fixedly dedicated to the accommodation of individual differences as it currently is to the accommodation of subject matters. That is the hypothesis. A menu of accommodation options is provided that is applicable at each of three stages of instructional development or administration: before,…

Most classrooms in the U.S. are composed of students with different learning styles and experiences as well as different achievement levels (Ferguson, 2001). Personalized learning is a unique way of students' learning determined by their own learning style, pace, and needs. Focusing on individual differences, personalized instruction aims to…

Provides an overview of this special issue on educational systems design. The International Systems Institute (ISI), a nonprofit agency that contributed the issue, is described; and summaries of the papers are presented, organized according to major themes covered (i.e., conceptual models and issues, design applications, and design learning). (LRW)

Discusses the use of mental models to build bridges between three models of instructional design that are described and thus provide a more powerful foundation: one that stresses learning outcomes in knowledge structures; one that focuses on learning processes; and one that focuses on real-life task performance and strategies for authentic…

Provides a conceptual model for a Web-based Knowledge Construction Support System (KCSS) that helps learners acquire factual knowledge and supports the construction of new knowledge through individual internalization and collaboration with other people. Considers learning communities, motivation, cognitive styles, learning strategies,…

Describes and compares various assumptions of instructional design and of constructivism, some of which have been raised in other articles in this issue. Topics discussed include instructional design theory; instructional systems theory; mental models; categories of knowledge; knowledge representation; instructional strategies; collaborative…

Discusses various ways in which context may be interpreted to enhance learning and performance; illustrates domains of learning using a hockey team as an example; and suggests implications for learning, performance, and instructional design. Highlights include an ecological systems model; and examples of individual development, team learning, and…

This study combined the concept of self-control with Keller's ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) model of motivational design to determine whether students could be trained to make instruction relevant to themselves by using metalearning strategies. Results suggest students can be trained to do this and that this training can…

Guidelines presented for the design of instruction using interactive technologies are based on theory and research in learning, instruction, and/or media development. Also explained is a meta-model, ROPES, which highlights retrieval of information, orienting activities, presentation, encoding in the cognitive structure, and the sequencing of…

Reviews the current status of intelligent tutoring systems and summarizes the literature that evaluates these systems. Discussion highlights the problems of inadequate models, the lack of protocol analysis in systems design, and flaws in testing methodologies. (20 references) (CLB)

Briefly describes stages of the systematic design process for educational software including learning goals identification; considering medium suitability; developing performance objectives, criterion-referenced tests, and instructional strategies; and product evaluation and dissemination. Events of instruction are discussed in detail as they…

Describes a technology of text display that can help to make learning from text more effective. Topics discussed include the effect of text displays on the ways learners process information; implications of these effects for instructional design; and how text displays join with text content to help with verbal, experiential, and visual processing.…