A technique that consultants may use to help their clients define, value, and assess goals, the card sort may be used to establish goals for systematic designs addressing instructional, individual, or organizational problems. Examples illustrate its use and three references are listed. (Author/CHC)

Applies three major points of American pragmatism to the development of technical writing assignments: (1) restricting the writing environment to the practical, workaday world, (2) emphasizing the complex contexts of purpose and audience, and (3) verifying the effectiveness of any piece of writing by its intentions. Offers criteria by which both…

Presents a dynamic class management model for writing instruction, which can be modified over the school year to meet students' changing instructional needs. (SJL)

Discusses the need for faculty development programs in library schools and examines some aspects of instructional development, microteaching, curriculum development, organizational development, and personal development as components in formulating such programs. (FM)

Described is a teaching methodology which includes enrichment of the students' learning experiences through an integrated approach to curriculum development, using continuity of curriculum as the major objective. The teacher's responsibility in this approach is to point out patterns and explore and talk about patterns included in the students'…

Reviews the cost-effectiveness evaluation component of a project that was undertaken to design and implement an instructional model for providing graduate programs to adults employed full-time and residing in remote locations. The article is fourth in a series about using cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate instructional programs. (Author)

Discussion of the appropriate direction of research in the field of instructional technology, and the relationship between research and practice, highlights two categories of developmental research. The promise of developmental research as a vehicle for creating sound methods for linking research and practice is discussed. (Author/LRW)

A questionnaire completed by 453 preschool teachers and three focus groups examined how preschool teachers planned classroom activities and individualized instruction for children with disabilities. Results indicated that teachers spent between 1 and 5 hours per week planning, used some procedures that conflicted with recommended practices, and…

Examines the gap between instructional development (ID) theory and practice and proposes a conceptual framework to describe how expert ID practitioners work in the corporate world. The framework consists of cultural context, situation analysis and synthesis, client and other stakeholders, performance capacities, and competitive advantages. (PEN)

Discusses the issues involved with setting the tone for a library instruction session and emphasizes the importance of the first five minutes of the class. Topics include adequate planning; making contact with students; student attitudes and library anxiety; librarians' anxiety; and setting the tone for lifelong learning. (Author/LRW)

Two experiments examined the role of analogy in the development of a situation model of a target passage, specifically, whether an analogous source text could improve comprehension and inferencing about causal mechanisms in the target. Responses of analogy subjects were more likely to include given and inferred information that comprised the…

Differences between curriculum-based assessment and curriculum-based measurement (CBM) are outlined, and a rationale for CBM's standardized, long-term goal approach to measurement is presented. CBM can be used to develop instructional programs in four ways, including judging the appropriateness of goals and contrasting the efficacy of different…

A checklist is presented that provides an organizational framework for the development, review, and selection of instructional techniques and programs for persons having severe handicaps. The checklist covers instructional content, description of learner population, instructional methods, testing and recording, individualization, program…

Describes a training program developed for graduate students who serve as instructors of the introductory course in economics instruction at Syracuse University. Considers the problems involved in developing coherence and quality control in a multisection/multiteacher course. Reviews the instructional development process and evaluates the quality…

Assessed a preschool health education program. Preschoolers of four, five, and six years attended a 15-week health education program, and 19 of the children took pretests and posttests of health knowledge. Results indicated an increase in health knowledge. Six curriculum objectives were shown to have higher scores at the posttest than at the…