Discusses the use of expert systems for the development of instructional design and recommends instead the cognitive approach of an instructional design workbench. Distinctions between expert systems and advisory systems are examined, the problem-solving process of instructional design is described, and design requirements for an instructional…

Discusses elements involved in the visual design of the computer-learner interface. Topics discussed include the need for consistency in screen layout; information representation, including accuracy in images and visual cuing strategies; and menu selection interfaces, or command representations, including their placement on the screen. (11…

Explains how to make a well-designed signage package that is effective and enhances visitor first impressions of an institution. Examines questions to ask when planning traffic-pattern signage and the significance of the different hierarchy of signs; concludes with advice on signage design. (GR)

Explains how to build World Wide Web home pages using frames-based HTML so that librarians can manage Web-based information and improve their home pages. Provides descriptions and 15 examples for writing frames-HTML code, including advanced concepts and additional techniques for home-page design. (Author/LRW)

Emphasizes the need to focus educational technology (ET) research on design as well as on technology. Suggests that what should distinguish the field of educational technology is designing with technology, and conducting research that examines the relationship between design and technology. Discusses technology as enabling new designs, not driving…

Discusses Web site design and provides a listing of Web sites for library automation vendors and other related resources. Each listing consists of the site's name, a brief summary of its resources, the URL, and a picture of the opening page of the site. (LRW)

Discusses community of practice, situated cognition, learning as demand driven, learning as a social act, and learning via ways of seeing. Expands these ideas through Vygotsky's writings, including zone of proximal development and the general genetic law of cultural development; and considers implications for the design of Web-based learning…

Provides design options for making Web sites more accessible to blind or visually impaired users. Highlights include valid alt-tags on graphics; helpful link text; cascading style sheets (CSSs) to separate content from page structure; descriptive links to tell what a significant graphic is about; and not using text only as a valid alternative.…

Presents four examples of how schools are redefining their libraries into more flexible and comfortable places for students and faculty. Photos and project costs are included for each example. (GR)

Describes electronic performance support systems (EPSSs) that can enhance performance and reduce training times and costs. Provides examples of EPSSs; explains why instructional designers and trainers should be interested in EPSSs; and discusses design considerations, including part task/whole task support, embedded versus linked, and user…

Presents three college residence halls that show how administrators are working to provide students with all the comforts of home. Photos and floor plans are included. (GR)

The purpose of this article is to provide five empirically-derived guidelines for knowledge map construction tools that facilitate problem solving. First, the combinational representation principle proposes that conceptual and corresponding procedural knowledge should be represented together (rather than separately) within the knowledge map.…

In the case of cars and other engineered objects, humans go about the design process in a very intentional way. They pretty much know what they are aiming for. The activity described in this article demonstrates how a computer can simulate biological evolution and the laws of natural selection. The article is divided into the following sections:…

Word processing is part of every writer's set of competencies today, and as readers, their expectations of type have risen well beyond the old Courier font of typewriters. Yet only recently have writers had access to the thousands of different typefaces available today and had such power in making design choices. Type has been much studied and…

Animated models explicate the procedure to solve a problem, as well as the rationale behind this procedure. For abstract cognitive processes, animations might be beneficial, especially when a supportive pedagogical agent provides explanations. This article argues that animated models can be an effective instructional method, provided that they are…