Instruction and learning encompass more processes than are included in learning theories themselves. Instruction involves gaining and controlling attention, stimulating recall, guiding the learning, providing feedback, arranging for remembering, and assessing outcomes. These functions are performed by various media of instruction, but ultimately…

Discusses whether educational technology has kept pace with recent developments in the related fields of psychology and communication science. Addressed are several areas in cognitive psychology: the process of selective perception, semantic encoding, the effects of previous learning, and the influence of metacognitlon. (RAO)

Five psychologists who have approached the study of learning from different points of view were asked to prepare statements which examined their areas of interest for empirically-based knowledge of relevance to learning as found in the classroom. They presented their viewpoints at a symposium sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa. This book presents the…

This discussion of metalearning theories and thinking skills in relation to instructional design highlights other papers presented in this journal issue. Topics discussed include properties of skills; problem solving; the concept of psychological sets in contrast to the concept of skill; and the organization of previously acquired systematic…

This paper defines a schema as a memory structure representing a general concept and its framework of associated concepts, and identifies the three processes by which learning can occur in individuals whose memories are schema-based, i.e., accretion, tuning, and restructuring. Ways in which schema might influence instructional design are then…

An examination of learning theory and its applicability to the design of effective individualized instruction. The article also discusses the need to consider learning objectives when choosing media to perform instructional functions. (AA)

An educational psychologist outlines some recent changes in the conception of human learning and memory, and discusses their implications for the design and practice of instruction. (MF)

Discussed are: (1) cognitive learning theory; (2) the learning of mathematics; (3) implications of learning research and theory; and (4) implications for instruction. A major theme is that at the present time even the most basic skills of general usefulness are not being learned by a large proportion of students. (MP)

Content analysis of connected instructional discourse depends on the fundamental distinction between the content to be learned ("intrinsic") and the content intended only to support the learning processes ("mathemagenic"). Depending on the expected outcome of learning and the learner's entering competencies, the nature and…

Proposes that Gagne's nine events of instruction be incorporated into the systematic design of computer assisted instruction (CAI) for microcomputers and describes the nine events in relation to five different kinds of learning outcomes which occur frequently in CAI. Seven references are cited. (MER)

Beginning with an identification and brief description of the four major types of memory structures--networks of propositions, intellectual skills, images, and episodes--this extensive review of previous studies identifies many examples of improved retention and transfer resulting from combinations of structures, as opposed to single structures. A…

Although the study of learning theory can produce principles applicable to the design of instruction, virtually no instructional materials in existence today have deliberately been prepared on the basis of such principles. Terms used in four different learning theories--motivation, (Neal Miller); stimulus control (Skinner); distinctive conditions…