Asserts the need for good research is common for people involved with performance and instruction issues, and stresses interdependence of research and field workers. Discusses principles of objectivity, precision, and empiricism in good research. Examples illustrate how methods of practitioners are improved through application of these principles.…

Discusses the concept of matching instructional methods to learning styles to improve student performance. Research on learning styles is reviewed, and other benefits of investigating learning styles are suggested, including recognizing the cognitive and affective diversity among students and encouraging more versatile teaching techniques. (15…

Presents a model of how research and practice communicate, describes indicators of how communications are breaking down between practitioners and researchers in the National Association for Performance and Instruction (NSPI), speculates on long-term consequences, discusses factors contributing to the communication problem, and suggests tactics to…

Argues that research and development (R&D) methods should be utilized to develop new technologies for training and retailing and describes useful research tools--critical incident methodology, task analysis, performance recording. Discussion covers R&D applications to interactive systems development in the areas of product need, customer…

Discusses problems faced by information producers in an organization if potential users of that information for practical decision making do not recognize its value. Strategies for promoting information use are discussed in the context of information needs of management and incentives for change. An example is given. (MBR)

Presents findings from a search of 21 years of National Society for Performance and Instruction (NSPI) publications and conference programs undertaken to determine yearly trends in number of articles and talks, organizational affiliations of speakers and writers, types of presentations, and topics. A context taxonomy and recommendations are…

Reviews articles by Shoemaker, Morell, and Smith that appear in this issue and summarizes their suggestions for translating research into practice. Other, more aggressive approaches--the "survival gambit," the "cost-effectiveness ploy," the "younger-generation-is-going-to-hell argument," and the "infiltration route"--are suggested. (MBR)

Suggests approaches to improving application of knowledge derived from basic research in relevant disciplines based on investigation of methods used at Bell Telephone Laboratories. Discussion includes factors contributing to application of basic knowledge, how they contribute, favorable conditions for, steps to strengthen, and obstacles to…