This report describes the authors' findings from a scoping literature review on the topic of instructional system coherence. The authors reviewed 77 pieces on coherence published from 1990 to 2023, including articles, reports, books, dissertations, and conference papers. The scope and definition of alignment and coherence have seemed to expand…

A key notion conveyed by those who advocate for the use of data to enhance instruction is an awareness that learning analytics has the potential to improve instruction and learning but is not currently reaching that potential. Gibbons (2014) suggested that a lack of learning facilitated by current technology-enabled instructional systems may be…

Distance education in the present Russian Federation and former Soviet Union has a long tradition that prevails to this day. The majority of students in Russia are enrolled in distance learning programs. The numbers indicate the existence of a well-established system for distance education, of which little is known in Western literature. A review…

Cognitive load is a theoretical notion with an increasingly central role in the educational research literature. The basic idea of cognitive load theory is that cognitive capacity in working memory is limited, so that if a learning task requires too much capacity, learning will be hampered. The recommended remedy is to design instructional systems…

Field dependence-independence (FDI) has long been conceptualized and discussed as a cognitive style relevant to numerous educational approaches and outcomes. However, the FDI construct is most often measured as a cognitive ability, as opposed to a style, using instruments such as the Group-Embedded Figures test (GEFT) or the Hidden Figures Test…

This is a report of one case of a design and development research study that aimed to validate an overlay instructional design model incorporating the theory of multiple intelligences into instructional systems design. After design and expert review model validation, The Multiple Intelligence (MI) Design Model, used with an Instructional Systems…

In this article, the author attempts to show how French disciplinary "didactiques" were created and have developed. At the beginning, nobody could forecast the future and whether the "didactiques" would one day be recognised by the academic and instructional systems. The French "didactiques" are strongly based on…

This report takes a partial look at the emerging European Higher Education Area (EHEA). It is partial in two ways--the selection of topics for consideration, and the type of information gathered for analysis. Rather than attempting to cover the full range of issues and challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the success of the EHEA, the…

This document, the first of a series, details some of the elements in Brigham Young University's Instructional Research and Development Program which reflect the belief that a training program for specialists in instructional development must contain a different emphasis than a research training program. The topics considered include 1) curriculum…

A discussion of the reasons for PSI's effectiveness. The key features of the system appear to be three: small steps, immediate feedback, and a unit-mastery requirement. (Author/HB)

This paper briefly outlines one scheme for selecting appropriate media for specific teaching purposes and points up major weaknesses requiring attention before such a plan can be functional." (Authors/AK)

Rejecting the cybernetic model of the learner, the author offers an open-system model based on von Bertalanffy's equation for growth of the living organism. The model produces four learning curves, not just the logarithmic curve produced by the successive approximations of the cybernetic model. (Editor)