Outlines the development of design science and describes the concept of design space. Discusses rules of good design, rules of good instructional design, goals of education and instructional design, the concept of situatedness, and the developments of an instructional design science, both in Europe and in the United States. (Author/LRW)

Discuses the relationship between philosophy and learning theory and explores implications for instructional design. Highlights include epistemology and ontology; historical trends in philosophy; philosophy and instructional science; and a philosophically grounded instructional design model. (Contains 51 references.) (Author/LRW)

Defines primary knowledge components for entities, actions, and processes, and for instructional strategy. Proposes that a different combination of strategy and knowledge components is required for different kinds of instructional goals, and if they are not present there will be a decrease in the student's acquisition of the desired knowledge and…

Four types of fundamental structures are briefly described and illustrated: the learning hierarchy, the procedural hierarchy, the taxonomy, and the model. Then a theoretical framework is presented for classifying types of subject matter content, and some implications of these content classifications are discussed. (VT)

Describes ID Expert, an intelligent computer-based multimedia interactive instructional development and delivery system. Topics include instructional transactions with built-in instructional design; knowledge bases and knowledge representation; automated instructional design; and similarities to GTE (Generic Tutoring Environment). (Author/LRW)

Describes the Elaboration Theory of Instruction (ETI) and charts its correspondence with several major principles drawn from contemporary cognitive psychology. Components of the ETI are related to current models of knowledge representation, schema theory, memory processes, and earlier cognitive based instructional frameworks. Fifty-three…

In response to Robin Kinross' review of "Designing Instructional Text," support is given for the use of new ways of presenting instructional text in a cost-effective manner. (RAO)

Examines 44 published research studies involving advance organizers, and evaluates four specific predictions of assimilation theory. Analysis of the specific qualifications and specific predictions of assimilation theory suggests that assimilation theory is well supported by the results of advance organizer studies. (Author/RAO)

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…

Analyzes claims with regard to GTE's (Generic Tutoring Environment) epistemological foundations and suggests that GTE's assumptions reveal a reductionist bias through the use of formalism. Implications for courseware design and instructional modeling are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Discusses GTE (Generic Tutoring Environment) and courseware engineering and argues that GTE's theoretical knowledge base focuses on teaching as a good model for any kind of instruction and thus reduces its generic nature. Two examples of weak automation for instructional design are described that have broader knowledge bases. (Author/LRW)

Formative evaluation is a means of improving instructional materials through tryouts and revision. An investigation to determine the influence of learners and experts on the improvement of written instructional materials determined that revised versions incorporating learner feedback had the most impact on improving learning and that revisers have…

This discussion of metalearning theories and thinking skills in relation to instructional design highlights other papers presented in this journal issue. Topics discussed include properties of skills; problem solving; the concept of psychological sets in contrast to the concept of skill; and the organization of previously acquired systematic…

Discusses the current information processing conceptualization of memory, the process of learning by analogy, and the overall desired outcomes of their use to acquire and retain new information. Instructional implications of how to use analogies are discussed, and a set of prescriptive guidelines for using them is presented. (69 references)…