Investigates, using Marton's theory of the structure of awareness, the aspects that students discerned and brought into their focal awareness while they studied four science stories in an instruction designed for fostering understanding of the nature of science (NOS). The data showed that when students studied the stories, many focused only on one…

Discussion of distance education in higher education focuses on how to avoid the trade-off between quality and quantity. Topics include the mediation process, involving the relationship between the instructor and the student; customized styles of education; the history of correspondence education; and the need for mediation to be design-driven…

Discusses the use of applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA) to interview novices and gain insight into their cognitive skills and processes. Focuses particularly on novice Internet searchers at the University of Staffordshire (United Kingdom) and reviews attempts to modify ACTA, which is intended to gather information from experts as part of…

Three articles discuss "The Bell Curve" and its theory that IQ is an inherited trait rather than an acquired skill. Topics include implications for educational designers, IQ tests, cognitive architecture, learning mechanisms, and abstract knowledge structures. (LRW)

Includes three articles that discuss activity theory, based on "Context and Consciousness." Topics include human-computer interaction; computer interfaces; hierarchical structuring; mediation; contradictions and development; failure analysis; and designing educational technology. (LRW)

Seven adult learners in a facilitated learning center appreciated the learner-centered model focused on personal empowerment, literacy development, learning to learn, mastery, and independence/inclusion. Instructional design places learners' knowledge and experience ahead of curriculum and focuses on learning for life, not work. (SK)

Media richness theory suggests that media choice results from matching characteristics with content requirements. Social information processing theory adds the influence of social norms and familiarity with media types. In applying both to continuing medical information, consideration of content and participant environment guides selection of…

Describes a master's-level nursing research course taught entirely online, including instructional design considerations (faculty commitments, technical issues, library resources, intellectual property), process (student expectations, participation), and evaluation design. (SK)

Describes eight characteristics of the Concord model of online course instruction: Asynchronous collaboration, limited enrollment, expert facilities, trust, clear schedules, excellent materials, good pedagogy, and quality assurance. Discusses cost and benefits of implementing the Concord model of online course instruction. (Contains 16…

This study evaluated an hierarchical intervention with four young children with significant developmental delays. Picture cues and correspondence training were provided at three levels of intrusiveness. Two children required only less intrusive levels of instruction while the other two required the entire intervention package to reach criterion.…

This research makes use of learning time intensity, burst evaluating equations, and state denotation approaches to evaluate the learning time characteristics of students. Through comparing learning time intensity, six burst styles and three diligence styles are categorized. From the statistical results and interaction content analysis, some…

Early in his library career, John Shank realized that not only were students choosing Internet resources over library, resources, but Faculty members were, too. Shank is now widely recognized as a librarian who's likely to change that. In his current positions as instructional design librarian at Penn State Berks--Lehigh Valley College and…

Digital games have typically been considered a male leisure activity; however, recent statistics indicate that increasing numbers of females are now playing games. The purpose of this review is to investigate how the influx of girl gamers and the emergence of female-oriented game design can inform instructional design for the construction of…

Mental models are one way that humans represent knowledge (Markman, 1999). Instructional design (ID) is a conceptual model for developing instruction and typically includes analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (i.e., ADDIE model). ID, however, has been viewed differently by practicing teachers and instructional designers…

A student sitting in a class and listening to an instructor talk is experiencing a particular mode of instruction sensed through visual and audio channels. She is aware that she is in the center of a classroom and also in close proximity to other students. Occasionally they gesture to the instructor at the front of the room, who stops talking when…