Instructional design for distance learning

An intrinsic link exists between instructional design (ID) and distance learning (DL). Their inextricability in the real world raises specific problems of interest in the field of ID. In no other teaching/learning situation is ID so essential as in DL. The conditions of DL make it a necessity to have long-term instructional planning, cost analysis, curriculum and course development, instructional materials development and maintenance, delivery plans, and detailed evaluation rules. Without all of these components, DL simply could not happen. It took some time for this neccessity to be acknowledged, as can be seen in the history of DL. However, ID becomes even more critical as increasingly costly and complex means are used. Conditions of learning have special features in DL, such as the role of media, since the professor, teacher or instructor is replaced by media for either transmitting information or for organizing learning activities. In this paper, the term distance learning will be used to mean media-based, remote or asynchronous learning supported by an instructional system. This paper introduces general features of DL and examines essential aspects of ID for DL, with special emphasis on ID methodologies and on media selection.     

Double Degree Courses: A Viable Proposition for the CAE Sector

Double‐degree courses (studies in which two disciplines are taught in conscious relationship to one another) are almost exclusively a phenomenon of the university sector in Australian tertiary education. This article examines the double‐degree program from the college perspective. It describes a rationale for the approach and suggests why colleges should pursue this type of study program; it describes several organisational models which have been initiated in various institutions both in Australia and overseas; it considers the areas in which such development might take place in a college; it discusses the advantages and limitations of these courses and it highlights some of the difficulties and issues in their implementation.     

An Unplanned Journey into Individualised Planning

This paper tells the story of my research and experience with the concept and practice of individualised planning for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities--a prominent issue in my 1977 paper in The Exceptional Child on "Special Education and the Law in United States: Implications for Australian Educators." The current paper overviews the results of research on individualised planning that my colleagues and I have conducted since that time. I also draw attention to relevant changes in the values, philosophies, policies and developments that have occurred during the last 25 years and discuss how these have influenced planning for, with, and by, people with disabilities. Policy and research issues in individualised planning in the context of contemporary values and policies are also explored.     

A reevaluation of the CS− hypothesis for schedule-induced polydipsia under intermittent schedules of pellet delivery

Lashley and Rosellini (1980) have recently suggested that schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) is determined by the occurrence of absolute periods within schedules of periodic food delivery which are associated with a low probability of food delivery, that is, CS? periods. To assess this hypothesis, SIP was examined in the present experiments under three schedules—fixed time, variable time, and random time (RT)—which differed in probability of occurrence and/or duration (Experiment 1), and under a range of RT schedules in which the CS? period was systematically varied by changing the interpellet interval (Experiment 2). In both experiments, the level and temporal distribution of SIP did not seem to be related to the absolute period associated with the absence of food. Instead, SIP was more systematically related to the average length of the interpellet interval and, therefore, to the average period associated with no food. It was suggested that drinking under intermittent schedules of pellet delivery, that is, SIP, is determined by an average CS? period and not by an absolute period associated with the unavailability of food.     

Contextually Influenced Patterns of Play-Developmental Age Associations for Preschoolers With and Without Mental Retardation

The purpose of this paper is to present data demonstrating the differential pattern of association among play behaviors and developmental age that emerge for children with and without mental retardation across play situations. Seventeen preschool children with mental retardation and 17 preschool children without mental retardation were matched on developmental age and sex and observed during both home-based independent play and classroom-based freeplay. Results are presented for (a) between-group comparisons of home-based and classroom-based categorical–developmental age and sequential play–developmental age correlational patterns, (b) between setting comparisons of home-based and classroom-based categorical–developmental age and sequential play–developmental age correlational patterns within each group, and (c) comparisons of the pattern of categorical play–developmental age and sequential play–developmental age correlations within both setting and group. Results suggest both group and setting variation in the play–developmental age correlational patterns. Implications for multi-contextual understanding of children’s play and the use of play in early childhood assessment are discussed.     

Epidemiology of child homicide in Jefferson County, Alabama

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to present the epidemiology of homicide among children younger than 6 years of age in Jefferson County, Alabama. This study focused on obtaining great detail on homicides and suspicious deaths occurring within a fixed population. METHODS: For purposes of this study, cases included Jefferson County deaths attributed to "homicide" or that were "undetermined" as noted in the coroner files among children younger than 6 years of age who were born and died between January 1, 1988 and December, 31, 1998. Victim and offender characteristics were obtained from the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner Office records. Environmental factors and circumstances surrounding the death were noted as well. RESULTS: The 53 study subjects were mainly female (55%), Black (69%), younger than 2 years of age (85%), had single mothers (38%), and a history of abuse (53%). Offenders were more likely to be male (64%), Black (73%), and a parent of the victim (53%). Homicides primarily resulted from an angry impulse (61%), with hands the most common weapon (61%). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of deaths in this study occurred among children younger than age 2, with a high proportion of fatalities among Black children of unmarried mothers. The offender most often knew the victim, with half of all homicides and two-thirds of all infant homicides involving a parent. More than half of the homicides resulted from an angry impulse, while the most common scenario for deaths with undetermined intent involved the caretaker finding the child unresponsive.     

Psychological symptoms in sexually abused girls

This study examined psychological symptoms exhibited by children who had recently been sexually abused. Twenty-four girls aged 6 to 12 years old were evaluated within six months of being abused using a variety of standardized child psychiatric instruments. Results showed a marked discrepancy between child and parent reports of symptoms. The abused children did not exhibit significant depressive, anxiety, or low self-esteem symptoms by self-report; however, their parents rated them as having significantly more behavioral problems than a normative sample but as somewhat less pathological than a clinical sample. The implications of these findings in relation to our current understanding of the psychological problems manifested by sexually abused children and for future research are discussed.     

Free‐choice environmental education: understanding where children learn outside of school

Free‐choice learning and, derivatively, free‐choice environmental learning emerges as a powerful vehicle for supporting diversity in learning styles (Falk & Dierking, 2002 Falk J Dierking L (2002) Lessons without limit: how free choice learning is transforming education New York NY Altamira Press  [Google Scholar]). In this article, I argue that free‐choice environmental learning holds great potential for enabling us to understand what is at stake in environmental learning and thus help us build a sustainable future. I examine the different informal learning contexts for children, home (family and play), museums, zoos, nature parks and wilderness, among many others, and offer an explanation for how learning occurs in these settings, and how such domains or sectors can contribute to free‐choice environmental learning. This article also examines the nature of environmental learning in free choice settings to establish a connection with stages of childhood development. In the final section of this article, I draw on these examples to discuss research issues that emerge within various free‐choice settings.