This study explores the interpretation of two types of flow diagrams composed of different visual elements intended to communicate the same meaning. Using linear and cyclical diagrams, the study focused on whether, given a series of diagrams using linear elements and a series using cyclical elements, both types of visuals convey the same message…

Allowing, or encouraging, students to write fiction has not received much attention from college composition teachers, despite recent attempts to bridge the gaps between composition and the study of literature. Based on experiences with a number of students in a variety of writing courses, a college composition instructor questions assumptions…

This paper describes the Guided Approach to Instructional Design Advising (GAIDA), an automated instructional design tool that incorporates techniques of artificial intelligence. GAIDA was developed by the U.S. Air Force Armstrong Laboratory to facilitate the planning and production of interactive courseware and computer-based training materials.…

The relationship between instruction and instructional design is explored. The aim of instruction is to assist the individual as learner. The Learner, the Content, the Media, the Teacher Function, and the Context within which learning is to occur interact during a period of time to form an instructional episode (the CMT paradigm). Considering all…

This between-subjects experiment was designed to examine the impact of physical distance on affect and cognition in a distance education situation. Participants were 48 undergraduate students enrolled in communications classes. All subjects were exposed to identical instructional material, but half of the students were told that the material was…

Expanding on the World Wide Web levels of use as defined on the "Courses on the Web" Web site at Oregon State University, this paper presents a structure which emphasizes K-12 assignments based on Web use while de-emphasizing the glitz of the Web. The educator purposefully designs a Web-based assignment which adheres to the unit…

As the University of Arizona implemented its curriculum reform initiative, faculty became much more planful about their teaching, but also much more demanding of credible advice about instruction. Faculty make sometimes paradoxical demands in these circumstances: demands for tools that make it easy to do new things, and demands that these tools be…

Instructional Design Expert (ID Expert) is a prototype instructional design expert system which supports the instructional design phase of instructional system development. Phase 2 of ID Expert was implemented using S.1 expert system language on the VAX computer. The user interface was text-based, consisting of a question/answer dialogue primarily…

Exceptionally gifted children need special education because their needs are not fully met by standard educational programs. In standard programs, exceptionally gifted children waste time in acquiring basic knowledge that should be spent on more specialized knowledge, and can easily get bored and frustrated. Entry into primary school should take…

The role of telecommunications in establishing the electronic classroom in distance education is illustrated. Using a computer-based doctoral program and the UNIX operating system as an example, how a personal computer and modem may be combined with a telephone line for instructional delivery is described. A number of issues must be addressed in…

A discussion of second language instruction looks briefly at some shortcomings of traditional method-based approaches and examines what are predicted to be major influences on language teaching in the 1990s. Objections to method-based instruction include the inadequacy of the term "method," its prescriptive approach, lack of distinction between…

Results from a study of problem solving in the domain of instructional design are presented. Subjects were eight teacher trainees who were recent graduates of or were enrolled in the Stanford Teacher Education Program at Stanford University (California). Subjects studied a computer-based tutorial--the VST2000--about a fictitious vehicle. The…

"Information Power," the national guidelines for school library media programs, specify three roles for today's school library media specialist, i.e., information specialist, teacher, and instructional consultant. As school library media specialists plan with teachers, they are performing the instructional consultant role. The Media and…

The interdisciplinary approach to education applies methods and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience, and is utilized in order to enhance the ability of students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of various disciplines. This guide to developing interddisciplinary…

This report begins by discussing the implications of a constructivist epistemology for instructional design and development, as well as drawbacks of the content database in instruction, the lack of special tools to help the learner actively construct knowledge, and emphasis on learning environments based on individual learning. The whole learning…