Curriculum has two major approaches, technical and scientific approach and the nontechnical-nonscientific approach. Both are different and distinct. Schools need to distinguish which approach is suited for their students.

Educational Modelling Languages (EMLs) have been proposed to enable the authoring of models of "learning units" (e.g., courses, lessons, lab practices, seminars) covering the broad variety of pedagogical approaches. In addition, some EMLs have been proposed as computational languages that support the processing of learning unit models by…

The current study investigates whether embedding support may provide a solution to sub optimal use of support and whether this is related to learners' self-regulation skills and goal orientation. Sixty students were divided in a condition where support was embedded and a condition where support was non-embedded. Results reveal that the embedded…

Instructors all around the country are creating online courses for the first time. Yet a standardized format and structure for online courses has not yet emerged. So, for many who are facing this task, it feels like a do-it-yourself project, especially for those who are working in organizations that cannot offer much in the way of guidance and…

The authors provide an overview of the theory-practice split in instructional design by reviewing the nature and limits of six prominent attempts to connect these disparate aspects of the field. The authors then suggest an alternative viewpoint in which theory and practice are not fundamentally distinct, but rather two ways of interpreting…

In this lesson, students learn about line, shape, color, mixed media and abstraction, while being introduced to Swiss artist, Paul Klee (1879-1940). This lesson works well with a variety of age levels and abilities and could also be used to teach analogous or triad color schemes.

Based on the assumption that wellbeing, positive emotions and engagement influence motivation for learning, the aim of this paper is to provide insight into students' emotional responses to and engagement in different learning designs. By comparing students' reports on the experiential qualities of three different learning designs, their…

Researchers have found that teacher preparation programs are not universally preparing teacher candidates in concepts associated with the alphabetic principle. Yet, the majority of students with reading disabilities or who struggle with beginning reading have difficulty with phonology and concepts associated with the alphabetic principle. The…

A team of instructional designers, educators, and the School of Liberal Arts (SLA) academic program coordinator from a nonprofit online college, collaborated on producing short voice-over videos with interactive elements that address the most common technology frustrations of beginning students. These videos were inserted into the "Start…

For the thirty-eighth time, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

This research targeted the learning preferences, goals and motivations, achievements, challenges, and possibilities for life change of self-directed online learners enrolled in a massive open online course (MOOC) related to online teaching hosted by Blackboard using CourseSites. Data collection included a 40-item survey, of which 159 MOOC…

The internet has fast become a prevalent medium for collaboration between people and social networks, in particular, have gained vast popularity and relevance over the past few years. Within this framework, our paper will analyse the role played by social networks in current teaching practices. Specifically, we focus on the principles guiding the…

It is crucial for Tech Comm instructors to address challenges of audience within the artificial environment of classroom instruction. Without a distinct and specific audience, course content often remains theoretical and abstract, and students struggle both to connect the unknown to the known, and to generate meaningful and effective…

Active learning is individual and group participation in effective activities such as in-class observing, writing, experimenting, discussion, solving problems, and talking about to-be-learned topics. Some instructors believe that active learning is impossible, or at least extremely difficult to achieve in large lecture sessions. Nevertheless, the…

Academic vocabulary, as the most challenging aspect of language learning in EAP and ESP contexts, has received much attention in the last few decades (e.g. Laufer, 1988; Sutarsyah, et al., 1994; Laufer and Nation, 1999; Coxhead, 2000; Nation, 2001a, 2001b; Wang et al., 2008; Martinez et al., 2009). The major attainments of these studies were…