Kent Gustafson

Design Approaches and Tools in Education and Training

In our contemporary learning society, expectations about the contribution of education and training continue to rise. Moreover, the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) creates many challenges. These trends affect not only the aims, content and processes of learning, they also have a strong impact on educational design and development approaches in research and professional practices. Prominent researchers from the Netherlands and the USA present their latest findings on these issues in this volume. The major purpose of this book is to discuss current thinking on promising design approaches and to present innovative (computer-based) tools. The book aims to serve as a resource and reference work that will stimulate advancement in the field of education and training. It is intended to be useful in academic settings as well as for professionals in design and development practices.

Paradigms in the Theory and Practice of Education and Training Design

Over the years, many authors have tried to describe, conceptualize, and visualize the instructional design or development processes via a variety of process models. Most descriptions imply a rather homogeneous view of design, depicting it as an overall problem-solving process following general phases such as analysis, design and development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE). However, researchers who have investigated how instructional designers actually work suggest that the process is much more heterogeneous and diverse than these ADDIE models suggest. This study collected case study data from 24 instructional designers in six different settings; they were identified as experts by their peers. The design processes they used for a specific project were compared to four different paradigms created from the literature. The four paradigms and their underlying theoretical foundations are described and illustrated. Detailed results are reported, and reasons that designers did or did not use a particular paradigm are considered.

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.

Instructional design tools: A critique and projections for the future

This article critiques the instructional design tools described in the special issue of Educational Technology Research and Development, Volume 50 Number 4, “Computer-Based Tools for Instructional Design.” Although focusing on four tools, (a) digital management systems, (b) CASCADE, (c) knowledge management systems, and (d) ADAPTIT, the author also comments on the introductory article (van Merriënboer and Martens), and compares the four described tools with earlier models.

Educational Design and Development: An Overview of Paradigms

This chapter will provide four different perspectives on educational design and development: instrumental, communicative, pragmatic, and artistic. The perspectives will be compared, and upon technical as well as social aspects of design will be their different views described. We will argue that designers should be aware of the usefulness of these perspectives and use the one that is most adequate for a certain design situation.

Characteristics of Computer-based Tools for Education and Training Development: An Introduction

Currently, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) permeates almost every profession, including those of designers and developers in education and training. This part of the book consists of ten examples of recently created design and development tools (see chapter 14 through 23). These tools can be classified in many ways. A conceptual framework can be of help when organizing the tools into different types. In this introductory chapter such a framework is presented with the following set of attributes: type of output; purpose and evidence of benefits; type of development process supported and any underlying theory; task support; and intended user group. The framework appeared to be useful in analyzing the tools presented in the following chapters. Results of the analysis are presented in an extended table. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the interpretations of the analysis and projected future trends.

Instructional improvement centers in higher education

A random sample of 72 instructional improvement centers in higher education were sent a questionnaire to determine their current status.Data were collected concerning whether the centers were in operation, whether they had been evaluated, the type of activities they pursued, their budget, and their staff sizes.Seventy-two percent of centers survey were still in operation. Both open and closed centers reported engaging in a wide variety of activities. Budget size and increase/decrease patterns varied widely with a general downturn noted after 1975. Few centers had been the subject of formal evaluations and evaluation data was not a factor in the decision to close all but one of the closed centers. Comparing the pattern of closed centers to some operating centers suggests more closings may occur in the next few years. Additional research on the history and life cycle of centers is recommended.

IMHO (In my humble opinion)

When he came back an hour later, the sequence had evolved differently. Instead of the same pattern as before, it diverged from the pattern, ending up wildly different from the original. (See figure 1.) Eventually he figured out what happened. The computer stored the numbers to six decimal places in its memory. To save paper, he only had it print out three decimal places. In the original sequence, the number was .506127, and he had only typed the first three digits, .506.

Succeeding as a Faculty Member in an Instructional Design Program.

This article first defines criteria one might apply in judging success as a faculty member. The criteria are then examined in detail, typical activities described and their relative importance judged. The article concludes with a summary of suggestions for how to be successful.

Using a barcode reader with interactive videodiscs

SummaryUsing a barcode reader is a simple, effective means of controlling existing videodiscs for presentations or individual study. Using a barcode reader is less complex and cumbersome than controlling the program from a computer. The reader also allows for more versatile control than using a videodisc remote control.