Considers three powerful techniques--heuristics, context trees, and search via backward chaining--that a knowledge engineer might employ to develop an expert system to automate performance engineering, i.e., the branch of instructional technology that focuses on the problems of business and industry. (MBR)

Presents highlights from a panel discussion by well known San Francisco Bay area documentation writers, instructional designers, and human performance technologists. Three issues on user performance and documentation are addressed: whether people avoid reading user manuals and why; major human factors influencing documentation use; and…

Explores assumptions about student ability that underlie current instructional software design and the possibility that a behaviorist bias influences software design strategies; offers evidence that a behaviorist instructional strategy helps low-ability and hinders high-ability students; presents a contrasting instructional approach; and reviews…

Discusses evaluation criteria for selecting authoring tools, including system complexity and language, cost, copy protection, ease of learning and use, graphics, sound, and peripheral interfacing capabilities, support documentation, overall performance, tutorials, instructional design and management features, and product support. A…