This article describes a research-based approach for developing new instructional technologies for higher education. The argument is made that the most common instructional methods used by faculty and educational technology in colleges and universities are based on adult learning theories that have not been supported in the past half-century of research. A four-stage process is offered to guide the analysis of research on adult learning and motivation in order to increase the effectiveness of classroom, lecture hall and media delivered higher education instruction. The process emphasizes the identification and application of the "active ingredients" of effective instructional methods and a strategy for translating active ingredients into the most effective instructional technologies for diverse higher education organizational and individual cultural orientations.