This discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of using television in an open university's distance learning program begins by examining the parameters of the use of television in distance learning, i.e., distribution, utilization, and production. It is suggested that television provides two unique presentational characteristics when used in…

Designed to serve both as a textbook and as a reference source for instructional developers who wish to keep up with developments in the field, this book presents a broad view of the field of instructional development (ID) together with in-depth descriptions of important new topics and the latest developments in the old ones. The 48 chapters,…

This chapter presents and analyzes current developments in the evolution of the instructional development model. First, basic definitions of general systems and instructional development model terms are provided, and the differing uses of the terms instructional development, instructional technology, and educational technology are considered. The…

Designed to assist teachers in identifying quality software, this guide provides software evaluation forms and associated evaluation criteria to aid in completing the forms. The two-part instrument is used in the evaluation process conducted by Alberta Education, which involves the Program Development Division and the Computer Technology Project's…

A school system's testing program can be used as a tool in curriculum development and instructional improvement if the tests match the goals and objectives of the instructional program and what is taught in the classroom. Test-taking skills should be taught so that the test will accurately reflect certain knowledge. Test results should be an…

A study examining the relationship between the importance of instructional goals and instructor use of instructional strategies based on the five stages of group development (orientation, norm development, conflict, productivity, and termination) is reported. Instructional design is concerned with prescribing methods of instruction based on…

Although the use of animated visuals is both common and popular among computer based instruction (CBI) designers, the theoretical and empirical foundation for their use have not been firmly established. Animated visuals represent a subset of instructional visuals, not a distinctive set. For this reason, general conclusions from research on static…

A number of variables may affect the ability of students to perceive, and learn from, instructional materials. The objectives of the study presented here were to determine the projected color that provided the best visual acuity for the viewer, and the necessary minimum exposure time for achieving maximum visual acuity. Fifty…

This booklet is designed to help users understand the skills and concepts needed to develop effective computer assisted instruction (CAI) programs in any computer language and to polish and extend BASIC language programming skills. It assumes some idea of CAI and some BASIC programming (but not fluency), and can be used for self-study, in a…

This study investigated the effects of sequence and synthesis prescriptions from the Elaboration Theory by teaching the parts of a microcomputer system based on a parts-conceptual structure. A 2x3 factorial design was used which incorporated two sequences, general-to-detailed and detailed-to-general, and three levels of synthesizer, i.e., no…

This paper presents the ARCS model, which is a research-based systematic design model that interfaces with typical instructional design and development models to improve the motivational appeal of instructional materials, of instructor behavior, and of the way in which lessons (or modules) and courses are designed. The description of the model,…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the variables found to influence learning in laboratory settings were able to produce effective student achievement when utilized in Venezuelan distance education. Three versions of the same instructional content were employed, and 42 volunteer college students were randomly assigned to three…

Education courses in BASIC remain a foundation of teacher training for computer use. Such courses do little more than re-invent programming structures that are already available in such educational programming languages (EPLs) as PILOT and TEACH. While BASIC is the only general programming language that is both simple and powerful enough to enable…

Practically every teacher preparation institution offers a course in educational psychology, and it is often the initial education course taken by preservice teachers. Problems with such courses are that they are usually taught by several instructors with no standardization of course content, and the strategies used to teach these courses often do…

The purpose of this study was to replicate the Bentti, Golden, and Reigeluth study (1983), which explored the use of nonexamples to teach common errors as an effective strategy in teaching a procedure. A total of 24 undergraduate students enrolled in the Syracuse University Symphonic Band were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a…