Issues and illustrative material are presented from a project evaluating modular courses at McGill University from 1972 to 1976, with the overall intent of aiding instructors to produce instructional modules. Questions related to the nature of modular instruction at McGill, how modular instruction developed, and how it operates are examined.…

It is useless to spend time on studies investigating the large broad questions about the effect of media on teaching and learning. Smaller, more defined, more useful questions to ask are: How can we best use a given medium for a piece of instruction? How do the symbolic coding systems of a given medium relate to what a student learns from it?…

Stressing that instructional behaviors, programs, and materials developed for inservice education must be systematic, stimulating, psychologically sound, and organized, this document provides a guide to the development of inservice instructional packages. It includes extensive criteria for evaluating inservice instructional packages under the…

This paper focuses on two major issues in the third stage of the implementation and dissemination process for computer based instruction (CBI)--copyright and documentation. The purpose, special problems, and different approaches or methods of copywriting and documenting CBI materials are discussed. Tables outline the types of information required…

Computers are intrinsically fascinating to students once they learn what materials are available and become familiar with working on the terminals. The Plato Health Science Network contains an extensive catalog of lessons of interest to medical students and is available to anyone on request; this has resulted in several hundred hours per week of…

This paper presents the notion of a "question episode," the smallest complete unit of computer- student interaction in computer assisted instruction, and describes such important elements as question types, student input, interpretation of student inputs, computer replies, and duration limits. Included are some guidelines to help determine the…

THE STUDY PRESENTED IN THIS REPORT WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. INCLUDED IN THE STUDY ARE TWO PAPERS CONCERNED WITH THE PROBLEM OF DESIGNING INSTRUCTIONAL EQUIPMENT. THE TWO AUTHORS (FROM EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING FIRMS) WERE ASKED INDEPENDENTLY TO WRITE UPON THESE QUESTIONS--(1)…

This document presents an overview of the current status of cost-effectiveness analysis and related techniques as they should be and are being applied to the field of educational technology, including an annotated bibliography of cost-effectiveness. Intended for practitioners with a basic understanding of instructional technology, this report is…

This booklet, the second in a series of eight describing the tenth-cycle Teacher Corps project of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Lincoln Public School System, describes the diagnostic-prescriptive (D-P) instructional model used as the basic teaching process in the project. Key concepts in the D-P approach to teaching are presented, and…

A model of instruction is discussed and developed. The model has five requisite components; they are descriptions of: (1) the instruction agent's subject matter representation; (2) the learner's initial and current subject matter representations; (3) the instructional process itself; (4) the state of the learner at any point in the instructional…

Appendix I is concerned with the structure of axiomatic theories. Both the syntactic and deductive structure exhibited by axiomatic theories is investigated. Dependency is defined and a method is described that can be used to identify all dependencies that exist between axiomatic components. The ability to eliminate defined concepts and…

The project objective was to develop a basic first aid course which would teach at least as much in 7-1/2 hours as a standard ten-hour Red Cross course. Student performance on empirically revised editions of test questions led to the final design of the course. Data gathered from tryouts of 16mm pilot footage were used to write scripts for the…

There is little question that, over the next decade, the military services are going to be committing significant resources to developing simulators for use in maintenance training courses. The arguments for such a direction are persuasive, particularly in terms of training dollar savings. This paper reviews the past R&D on maintenance training,…

The general format of a representative learning module is presented to provide a guide for teachers attempting to construct their own modules. A statement of need for such a project is followed by an examination of the individual components making up most learning modules: (1) organizational numbering system; (2) general statement; (3) task…

The purpose of the study was to review the data available on feedback processes and to show how postresponse information can best be utilized with written instruction and the design of instructional materials. Results, organized under five topic headings (feedback complexity, feedback as reinforcement, effect of high feedback, feedback and…