At the turn of the century, William Rainey Harper's concept of continuing education fostered correspondence study, a precursor of distance education. History shows the need for practices that move from emphasis on classroom instruction to appropriate and fully integrated use of new technologies that will realize the true potential of distance…

Responds to two arguments made by Walter Dick in the debate over instructional design and creativity: (1) "creativeness" should not dominate effectiveness and efficiency; and (2) systematic instructional design methods do result in "creative instruction" when they are used appropriately. Also lists respondent's assumptions and claims. (JMV)

Provides guidelines for coping with common problems in using role play, including overcoming resistance, making the role play relevant, overcoming reluctance to perform, handling role-acting aspects, writing the brief and roles, presenting necessary information, handling problems, and debriefing. The importance of debriefing is emphasized, and…

Discusses issues concerning the formative evaluation process in instructional design models. Distinctions between formative and summative evaluation are described; expert evaluation and student evaluation techniques are explained; the status of formative evaluation is examined; and connoisseurship as evaluation is considered, including the…

Discussion of instructional design and team training presents checklists for use in designing team training programs. These guidelines are discussed, and 2 checklists are presented: the teamwork characteristics checklist, contains 30 guidelines; an instructional characteristics checklist, contains 41 guidelines. (10 references) (LRW)

Discusses how advertisers use information (i.e., how they organize and present words) and suggests similarities with educators who try to attract attention, impart information, and foster retention of that information. Positioning in marketing is explained; and educational implications are discussed, including focusing on the audience and studying…

Offers a brief overview of Gestalt theory. Shows how six Gestalt principles (proximity, closure, symmetry, figure-ground segregation, good continuation, and similarity) can be applied to improve a reader's comprehension of a badly designed instruction module that uses several graphics. (SR)

Includes two columns that discuss comprehensive systems design in education, including the design architecture and the dynamics of design; and the use of metaphors in explaining teacher planning and classroom interactions, including mental planning and imagery and the relationships between metaphor and practice. (Contains 22 references.) (LRW)

Uses R. Gagne and L. Briggs's nine Events of Instruction to discuss where video fits into the teaching and learning process, what educators can legitimately expect of video as an instructional tool, and where principles to guide the development of effective instructional videos can be found. (SR)

Presents a critical response to a previous article (IR 528 340) that maintained a relationship between a cognitive constructivist viewpoint of distance education and the belief that prepackaged instructional materials are inherently behavioral and lead to surface learning. The author argues that prepackaged materials can help with deeper learning.…

Proposes a cognitive-based model for instructional design that addresses the acquisition and employment of knowledge, the interaction of content knowledge and cognitive strategies for higher order thinking skills, and the affective domain. Educational learning theory is discussed, including working memory, long-term memory, and cognitive skills.…

This article identifies competing schools of thought about the teaching of reference work by examining the relationship among nine reference textbook authors and by exploring the educational influences of five pioneers in the field of library science. The use of textbooks to examine the understanding of a field is discussed. (93 references) (LRW)

Analyzes the philosophical assumptions underlying instructional systems technology (IST). Cognitive and behavioral learning theories are discussed, their effects on IST are considered, the philosophical paradigms of objectivism and constructivism are compared, applications of constructivism are described, and implications of constructivism for IST…

Discussion of instructional transaction theory focuses on knowledge representation in an automated instructional design expert system. A knowledge structure called PEA-Net (processes, entities, and activities) is explained; the refrigeration process is used as an example; text resources and graphic resources are described; and simulations are…

Discusses the relationship between instructional design and situated learning. The transfer of knowledge and skills to a variety of settings is considered; and ways in which instructional design can contribute to the goals of situated learning are described, including planning learning experiences that are situated in the real world. (24…