Proliferation of prescriptive models in an "engineering" field is not a sign of its maturity. Quite the opposite. Materials engineering, for example, meets the criterion of parsimony. Sadly, the very large number of models in "instructional design," putatively an engineering field, raises questions about its status. Can the…

The status of educational technology research in a VUCA world is examined. The acronym, VUCA, stands for "Volatility" (rapidly changing contexts and conditions), "Uncertainty" (information missing that is critical to problem solving), "Complexity" (multiple factors difficult to categorize or control), and…

Contributing editors Susan Fulgham and Michael Shaughnessy present their interview with David M. Monetti, Professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling at Valdosta State University. Monetti teaches courses in educational psychology, learning, and measurement and evaluation. He is actively involved with the public schools as a researcher…

Rising costs, perceived declining value, and weak evidence of quality outcomes bedevil contemporary higher education. One innovation intended to address these problems is the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This article recommends that the educational technology community and others get REAL about MOOCs by focusing more serious effort on…

Evidence collected on the effectiveness of four educational technologies is briefly reviewed. The authors conclude that there is reasonable evidence that computer-assisted instruction can have at least a modest effect on improving learning and probably more when its instructional approaches are properly matched to instructional objectives, that…

This article is a guide for researchers interested in assessing the effectiveness of serious computer-based games (or video games, digital games, or electronic games) intended to improve health and health care. It presents a definition of health games, a rationale for their use, an overview of the current state of research, and recommendations for…

The primary purpose of this article is to describe some of the more recent developments benefiting vocational education, and, where possible, point up the need for further research." (Author)

Suggests an R&D process which has demonstrated its utility as a means of allowing researchers to communicate more effectively with both users and administrators (or funders). (Author/DAG)

The author enumerates some criticisms of contingency management research that have been raised and reviews some studies of contingency management in order to clarify the strategy and tactics being followed and point out ways in which investigators have fallen short of their own criteria for sound research and valid conclusions." (Author/AA)

Reviews findings from the behavioral sciences which are related to the referential, informational, demand, relational, and image-of-the-other characteristics of instructional presentations. The need for research which would extend knowledge about these items is also discussed. Five references are appended. (Author/LLS)