Rethinking classroom-oriented instructional development models to mediate instructional planning in technology-enhanced learning environments

Although classroom-oriented instructional development (ID) models have the potential to help teachers think and plan for effective instruction with technology, research studies have shown that they are not widely employed. Many of these models have not factored in the complexities that teachers faced when planning for instruction in technology-enhanced learning environments (TELE). They also fail to facilitate teachers’ critical re-examination of their existing practices and exploration of other practices to take up the affordances of technologies for effective instruction. Adopting an activity theoretical perspective towards instructional planning in the TELE, this paper examines two existing ID models: Reiser and Dick [1996. Instructional planning: A guide for teachers. Boston: Allen and Bacon] and Morrison, Ross, and Kemp [2004. Designing effective instruction (4th ed.) New York: Wiley]. It then constructs a classroom-oriented expansive and reflective ID model that: (1) facilitates the teacher's re-examination of their existing practices to identify contradictions in his/her instructional planning process in the TELE; (2) treats the ID elements in a nonlinear and non-sequential way; (3) accounts for the decisions made by other participants in the TELE, especially students and other teachers; (4) supports teachers’ formulation of solutions to the contradictions and transforms practices to take up the affordances of technology in the TELE; and (5) recognizes the need for teachers to move beyond the current activity by reflecting upon it so as to enable the emergence of new norms of practice.     

Research on instructional development

The instructional technology field is periodically faced with discussion of the appropriate direction of its research and more specifically of the relationship between research and practice. This paper extends the discussion by examining the nature and scope of developmental research. Two categories of developmental research are explored. They vary in terms of the extent to which the conclusions resulting from the research are generalizable or contextually-specific. Type 1 research tends to be case studies of specific design, development, or evaluation projects with its findings directed toward the improvement of a product or identification of those conditions conducive to efficient product development and use. Type 2 research typically addresses the validity and/or effectiveness of an existing or newly constructed development model, process, or technique. The promise of developmental research as a vehicle for creating sound methods for linking research and practice is discussed.     

Cognitive development and instructional theory

The foundations of the cognitive-developmental curriculum movement are briefly examined in this paper. The key features of this movement are the recommendations it makes in three areas: curriculum sequencing, curriculum content, and teaching strategies. Each of these areas is critically examined. It is concluded that the grounds for all proposals are purely theoretical. When the data are considered, they either contradict specific proposals or provide no direct evidence.     

Formative evaluation of instructional development

Summary In this paper we have tried to describe the research pertinent to the activity of formative evaluation. While the number of good examples of formative evaluation is expanding, the level of research into the process is relatively limited. Perhaps a compromise to the difficult task of accumulating research data on formative evaluation might be suggested. When formative evaluation activities have been successful in terms of program effects and staff satisfaction, then detailed technical reports might be made available to the evaluation public. Formative evaluation might improve as a consequence of the technology developed in the course of finding solutions to development data problems. Both the increase in technology as a result of dissemination of successful procedures and the pursuit of experimental research on the process of evaluation might ultimately remove formative evaluation recommendations from the realm of seers and clairvoyants and thrust it closer to, if not into, the domain of scientific application. This article is the second ERIC/AVCR Annual Review Paper, preparation of which was supported by the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Clearinghouse on Media and Technology, Stanford University, Stanford, California. The authors acknowledge with appreciation the assistance of Laura Spooner and Bea Kass.     

Revisioning models of instructional development

Instructional development (ID) models are almost as numerous as the practitioners of instructional development. The role of models in instructional development is to provide conceptual and communication tools that can be used to visualize, direct, and manage processes for generating episodes of guided learning. Instructional development can be practiced in a variety of settings and various models have been created that reflect this variation. This article presents some of the early history of instructional development models, reviews some of the more influential ID models, and discusses the possible impact of selected trends on futgure models of instructional development.     

A layers-of-necessity instructional development model

Instructional design and development models are sometimes criticized for being unnecessarily complex and for requiring an unrealistic amount of precision. To counter this criticism, some will argue that the complexity and precision are necessary to help ensure a quality instructional product. This article offers a solution to the problem of practicality versus precision by introducing a “layers-of-necessity” model of instructional design and development. By recognizing that instruction evolves over time rather than emerges fully developed, the model offers an alternative means of achieving quality instruction.     

Intellectual development beyond formal operations

Post‐formal operations as a stage of cognitive development beyond Piaget's formal operations state are discussed. It is argued that thinking abilities are of major importance for an adequate understanding of quantum‐mechanical and relativistic issues as they occur in modern science, especially physics. Some pedagogical consequences of the ‘fifth stage’ of cognitive development are discussed and proposals made about how post‐operational thinking abilities might be developed in students.