This critical assessment attempts to define a good instructional design through the eyes and the minds of renowned scholars and the most outspoken educational psychologists such as Gagne, John Keller, Jerome Bruner, and Richard E. Mayer and so on. This examination also discusses ways in directing the mental map of students for better knowledge…

Instructional message design must attract attention and result in learning by facilitating perception, comprehension, and retention. The purposes of this research are: (1) to develop a conceptual framework for message design; (2) to develop a systematic procedure for message design; and (3) to provide one basis for the development of a performance…

State-of-the-art computers being used today for instructional multimedia products have monitors capable of displaying millions of different colors. Designers are given virtually unlimited control over the factors that govern the display of these colors. This paper examines how color is displayed on computer monitors and interrelationships with how…

The most common use of computers in distance education is in the preparation of a visual image that is somehow transmitted to students. This paper addresses some design considerations for computer-produced visual displays that are intended for either local or distant audiences. Advice is offered on all three basic components of information…

This paper offers a definition for the word "effective" and then discusses implications of research on the environment in relation to designing effective instruction. Similarities and differences involved in designing effective instruction are presented across four different contexts: K-12, higher education, human services, and…

This study examined the effects of color on information processing strategies of internal and external locus of control learners. Specific objectives were to: (1) examine the instructional effectiveness of two types of visualized instruction in facilitating achievement for students with different learning styles; (2) determine whether an…

This study compared the effects of computer and print text density on learning using 48 undergraduate teacher education majors as subjects. Three separate studies tested the effects of text density and presentation modes (print or computer), learner control, and screen density. Dependent variables for the first two studies--which were…

This paper presents guidelines for World Wide Web-based instructional design, based on the 3Ls (i.e., linking, layout, and learner support). The first section, focusing on macro level design, discusses nodes and links, including how nodes work, determining nodes, node size, presentation format, characteristics of links, and kinds of links. The…

A dilemma in designing computer simulations for instruction is how to provide a challenging exploratory environment and yet provide sufficient support so that students do not become lost. Directive support such as corrective feedback may detract from the exploratory quality of a simulation. Two methods of non-directive support are: (1) simplifying…

Teaching via Interactive Television (ITV) is more than pushing a few buttons. Existing courses taught in the traditional lecture-based format must be modified in order to be effective via ITV. Visual literacy and guidelines which support visual literacy are critical to the success and effectiveness of an ITV course. This paper addresses visual…

This study investigated the effects of audio and text density on the achievement, time-in-program, and attitudes of 134 undergraduates. Data concerning the subjects' preexisting computer skills and experience, as well as demographic information, were also collected. The instruction in visual design principles was delivered by computer and included…

This paper presents a set of guidelines for the design of computer-supported distance multimedia that enables collaborative distance learning. The first section provides an overview of distance learning and discusses teacher and student roles in a collaborative distance learning environment. Conditions for effective collaborative learning are…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of presentation interference on students' ability to learn from, and their beliefs regarding, computer-generated presentations. Informed by single-element screen design studies and professional practice, this combined-element study compared a contextually based, intentionally interference free…

This paper reports on a study that observed students creating structured hypertext documents, and how they try to convey structural information, in order to formulate tentative guidelines/principles for the design of concept mapping tools or hypertext systems with an emphasis on the representation of structural knowledge, and to formulated…

The University of Wisconsin Learning Innovations Center's instructional design model for World Wide Web delivered courses incorporates a range of collaborative discussions and interactive experiences for the learner. In addition, these courses capitalize on the multimedia learning environment that the web offers to accommodate many kinds of…