By considering the interconnectedness of various elements, such as curriculum, instruction, assessment, and school organization, systems thinking provides a framework to understand the underlying patterns, feedback loops, and leverage points that shape educational outcomes. Frick's (1993) systems view of restructuring education supports the notion…

This brief explains how four important system design initiatives frequently promoted by state and local education agencies for school improvement can be implemented through an intentional systematic approach for a powerful, positive impact on student outcomes. As technical assistance providers with expertise in four specific frameworks for…

Factors that drive delivery mode decisions are multifaceted and often necessarily go beyond instructional design needs. Additional influencing factors include logistical, technical, and policy considerations. The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the many opportunities and challenges that accompany the chosen distance delivery mode, prompting the need…

Students learn best when teachers get out of the way. Unfortunately, university classrooms continue to be intensely teacher-centric, are driven by the teacher's agenda and calendar, and embrace simple models rather than complex alternatives. These simple types of learning environments frustrate students' development of the risk-­taking and choice…

Lack of effectiveness in current instructional output is due to the nature of the theories formulated to improve the structuring of the content of instruction. A rationale is presented for a theoretical position. Based upon this rationale a paradigm is outlined which provides the basis for a comprehensive category system for instructional design…

A review of cost-effectiveness analysis techniques was conducted in order to facilitate the selection of the most appropriate tool to aid any given instructional development effort. A survey was made of the cost-effectiveness techniques in current use, the differences among these techniques were examined in an analytical framework, and criteria…

Presents findings from study of design activities among 26 novice instructional designers which investigated prevalence of initial generation of more than one design solution; basis on which solutions are accepted or rejected; constraints encountered in proceeding with design; way in which designers know design is finished. Twelve references are…

Presents a classification scheme applicable to systematic instructional design, which partitions the cognitive domain into the four levels of knowledge, understanding, mental processes, and strategies, each of which encompasses specific instructional objectives. Guidelines are offered to assist in the design and construction of these instructional…

Examines the extent to which a group of superior elementary and secondary school teachers employed systematic instructional-planning practices. The two approaches were found to be different in several important ways: teachers did not place much emphasis on specifying objectives, creating objectives-based tests, or making other instructional…

This paper presents a decision making model that uses a systematic approach to design; has as a driving force the needs and goals of a particular learning situation; is derived from traditional instructional system design models such as Kemp, Dick & Carey, and Romiszowski; and in addition addresses the potential impact of multimedia as a…

The literature on instructional design argues that curricula, educational materials, and instructional strategies are best created using a systems approach, and models for the systematic design of educational programs have proliferated over the past decade. However, these models are prescriptive and not based on research into how designers…

Describes the advantages of an ecological and active approach to classroom management, presents an analysis of how such an approach might be developed, and discusses several issues which need to be addressed in order to improve classroom management. Twenty-nine references are listed. (Author/CHC)

An approach to skills analysis is described in which strategy and processing skills sufficient for task performance are represented as an information-processing routine. Each step in the routine is viewed as a utilization of a processing mechanism or primary process. Definitions of these processes represent hypotheses about the psychological…

Teachers need a framework for decision-making; this book supplies criteria against which they can weigh choices about alternative courses of action and encourages systematic instructional design by encouraging them to think about the overall educational effort. The underlying assumptions are that teachers overteach, that poor organization by the…