One of the essential factors that accounts for learning (rather than mere participation) is instructional alignment, a factor often overlooked in the richly complex arena of the gymnasium. "Instructional alignment exists when there is a match in the stimulus conditions of intended outcomes, instructional processes, and instructional assessment"…

Concept mapping (Novak & Gowin, 1984) has been used extensively as a graphic organiser in classroom teaching. This article addresses two particular approaches to using concept mapping that go beyond classroom planning into the realm of "idea-exchange" with concept mapping as mediator. The notion of "negotiative concept mapping" is examined in two…

Issues-centered teaching is considered an alternative to the monotonous, fragmented and coverage-oriented approach characteristic of most approaches to social studies instruction. This paper sought to investigate how six second-year middle and high school social studies teachers attempted to implement an issues-centered instructional model taught…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is often promoted in response to the current need of offering authentic and effective professional education. Traditionally, PBL is used in face-to-face learning environments, with a facilitator guiding collaborative teams of students in solving a problem. This article reports the use of PBL in Web-based instruction…

A cognitive approach that views stereotypes as mental tools that function in information processing has dominated recent work on stereotyping. But regardless of their cognitive utility, an association between stereotypes and social injustice (i.e., prejudice, discrimination) has earned stereotypes the label "bad" and consequently something to be…

Communication theory is one of the most challenging courses in the communication curriculum. Students and faculty alike must grapple with more abstract material, in some cases drastically different from the more skill-based courses such as speech, small group, or broadcast courses. In particular, communication theory is usually the starting ground…

Perhaps one of the first concepts to which students in the communication hybrid course are exposed is the perception process. Students often learn that communication involves perception, which is dealing with several different forms of information or stimuli and deciding how to utilize that information to accomplish their goals. Perception…

Recent developments in the standardisation of learning technology have resulted in models of learning activities and resources including descriptive metadata and definitions of conditional flows for multirole activities. Nonetheless, such "learning designs" are actually representations of the "results" of the design process and do not provide…

What should be learned? How should it be organized for teaching? These seemingly simple questions are deceivingly political. Curriculum theorists are preoccupied with the politics of the first question at the expense of the realpolitik of the second. Instructional designers are preoccupied with the realpolitik of the second question at the expense…

Purpose--To suggest to others in the field an approach equally valid for transforming existing courses into online courses and for creating new online courses. Design/methodology/approach--Using the literature for substantiation, this article discusses the current rapid change within organizations, the role of technology in that change, and the…

Administrative approval of his proposed course on political correctness came as a surprise to Heinz Klatt, a veteran of many run-ins with the PC establishment. Professor Klatt describes the genesis and nature of his course and offers tips that may come in handy for those who would replicate such studies elsewhere. (Contains 4 notes.)

Based upon the lessons learned and the educational materials generated from a doctoral course on qualitative data analysis, a group of doctoral students, their professor, and a linguistics consultant launched an on-going project to create a series of reusable learning objects designed to help other groups of students and professors learn how to…

A method of rendering the design of a course visible for the purpose of discussion amongst the members of course development teams is described. The paper begins by examining the way in which design is manifested in the area of course materials development and the approaches that have been used in attempting to document designs. The strengths and…

Instructional design has numerous approaches and theories available for use by designers and instructors. One model was particularly effective in providing developers with a generic, systematic framework that was easy to use and applicable to a variety of settings. The ADDIE model was utilized in two ways in a Master's level instructional design…

We describe the design of a sequence of spreadsheet-based pedagogic tasks for the introduction of algebra in the early years of secondary schooling within the Purposeful Algebraic Activity project. This design combines two relatively novel features to bring a different perspective to research in the use of spreadsheets for the learning and…