Educational Technology Research and Development

Although video is increasingly used in public health education, studies generally do not implement randomized trials of multiple video segments in clinical environments. Therefore, the specific configurations of educational videos that will have the greatest impact on outcome measures ranging from increased knowledge of important public health issues, to acceptance of a voluntary HIV test, remain largely unknown. Interventions can be developed to run on affordable handheld computers, including inexpensive tablets or netbooks that each patient can use individually, and to integrate video delivery with automated data collection. These video interventions can then be used not only to educate patients who otherwise might not be reached, but to examine how content can be optimized for greater effectiveness as measured by cognitive and behavioral outcomes. This approach may prove especially valuable in high volume urban facilities, such as hospital emergency departments, that provide points of contact for lower income, lower literacy, and high-risk populations who may not otherwise interact with healthcare providers or researchers. This article describes the development and evaluation of an intervention that educates emergency department patients about HIV prevention and testing while comparatively examining a set of videos, each based upon competing educational theories. The computer-based video intervention and methodology are both highly replicable and can be applied to subject areas and settings far beyond HIV or the emergency department.

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Corporate and educational settings increasingly address more decision-making, problem-solving and other complex cognitive skills to handle complex cognitive, or heuristic, tasks, but the ever-increasing need for heuristic knowledge has outpaced the refinement of task analysis methods for heuristic expertise. Utilizing the Heuristic Task Analysis (HTA) process, a method developed for eliciting, analyzing, and representing expertise in complex cognitive tasks, a formative research study was conducted on the task of group counseling to further improve the HTA process. Implications of the findings include the need for incorporating various interview strategies and techniques, developing strategies for working with multiple experts, and considering the level of task expertise of the analyst. A revised version of the HTA process is presented based on these implications.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of self-regulated learning strategies (SRLS) on performance in a learner-controlled and a program-controlled computer-based instruction (CBI). SRLS was measured using a self-regulated learning strategies questionnaire. Seventh-grade subjects were divided into high and low levels of SRLS and then randomly assigned to one of two versions of a CBI lesson: one allowing learner control over the sequence and content of the instruction and the other having the learners follow a linear instructional sequence. Results revealed that the performance differences between learners with high SRLS and those with low SRLS were greater under learner control than under program control (p<.05). Poor performance by subjects with low SRLS under learner control indicates a strong need for learners to possess self-regulatory learning strategies to achieve success under learner control. Program control, however, seems to minimize the performance differences between low and high levels of SRLS.

The authors discuss briefly the purposes, trends, problems, and implications of media-attitude research published in AV Communication Review during its 25 years. The remainder of the article consists of abstracts of 68 such experimental studies and reference citations directing the reader to studies originally published elsewhere and abstracted in AVCR.

This article reports on doctoral programs in educational technology during the period 1960-70. Included are figures on degrees granted by the 26 universities that offered such programs in 1970, by sex of recipient and degree awarded (EdD or PhD). The author looks at faculty:doctorate and facultyistudent ratios and concludes with a plea for standards, guidelines, and accreditation of programs.

Suffering intensely from lack of funds for construction of trans mission facilities and under heavy criticism from commercial broadcasters, industry, some federal agencies, and other opponents of ETV expansion for their slow activation of educationally reserved channels, proponents of the ETV movement turned to Congress for help. In 1956, the idea of federal aid to ETV took specific shape with Leonard H. Marks, a Washington communications attorney, Senator Warren Magnuson, and those within the ranks of various educational institutions. Although under constant pressure from the U. S. Office of Education, the NAEB, the NEA, and other educational organizations and citizens who contributed long hours of testimony to show the need for federal assistance to ETV, Congress—especially the House of Representativeswas not altogether willing to enact legislation which would give the federal government even the slightest excuse for becoming involved in what was considered by many to be a state problem. Nevertheless, after considerable testimony and debate, including the addition of a strong “no Federal control” clause, Congress approved a modified version of Magnuson’s original bill; and what has proved to be the most significant development in educational television since the Sixth Report and Order of 1952, Public Law 87–447 provided $32 million for the construction of ETV facilities. Through the efforts of men like Marks, Magnuson, Roberts, and others of the Congress; of organizations such as the NAEB, the NEA, and the U. S. Office of Education; and because of the willingness of the American public to accept promising educational innovation at a time when it was most urgently needed—and via the controversial federal pursestrings, at that—ETV was probably snatched from the jaws of disaster. But now, for better or worse, it is with us to stay—a giant among the new educational technology of the twentieth century.

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In summary, it can be said that the main effects of the model on educational technology research would be to encourage the exploration of the relationships between the “macrovariables” of the learning process (structure, equilibrium, and so on), to study the effects of whole systems of variables on learning, and to look with equal attention at the four basic learning types identified in this paper. While thus loosening up research in a way hinted at by Stowe (1973), the opensystem model of learning also requires the study of individual learners in simple and complex settings. Because of its generality, the model would also seem to encourage research into the effect of complex real-life settings on learning. In this way, it could provide a conceptual framework for scientifically less rigorous, and consequently less limited, research projects. The educational technologist more than any other educational researcher has to deal with the everyday reality of education and the design of functional instructional systems. The model of the learner as a dynamic open system can give a more realistic and more complete picture of learning, and, one hopes, the educational technologist will coordinate his many resources and develop his instructional systems accordingly.

This is a summary of data on doctoral dissertations completed in instructional design and technology programs over the period 1977–88. During this period, 1,518 dissertations were completed at 46 different institutions, with nearly half completed at only 7 institutions. The 1,518 dissertations were chaired by 286 different professors, but approximately half were chaired by just 39 professors. The number per professor ranged from 89 to 1. Output was fairly steady over the 12 years, averaging 127 per year, with a low of 106 in 1980 and a high of 149 in 1983 and 1985.

How will the production of instructional media in the year 2001 differ from 1981 in terms of the basic nature of the process and the technologies involved? This question was addressed by 56 experts in the production of instructional materials, by way of a Delphi study. While the results were many and varied, one thing is clear: The participants expect the electronics revolution and other technological developments to have a major impact on the production and presentation of instructional materials.

This article reports on a bibliometric research study undertaken to identify authors who are most frequently cited inEducational Technology Research and Development, Educational Communication and Technology Journal, and in theJournal of Instructional Development. Thirty-seven authors with 20 or more citations over a five-year period were identified and rank-ordered by total number of citations.

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Scientific communication in the field of educational technology was examined by analyzing references from and citations to articles published in Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) for the period 1990–2004 with particular emphasis on other journals found in the citation record. Data were collected on the 369 core articles found in the 60 issues published during that time period, their reference lists (containing over 14,805 individual items), and citations of those articles in other journals (1,896 entries). The top cited and citing journals during that time period are listed. Nine symbiotic journals (i.e. those that are most cited by ETR&D and frequently cite it) were identified: Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, Instructional Science, Journal of Computer-Based Instruction (no longer published), Journal of Educational Computing Research, Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and the Review of Educational Research. The results provide an in-depth, quantitative view of informal connections within the field via the citation record. Implications for further research and the potential influence of new technologies on scientific communication are also discussed. KeywordsCitation research-Bibliometrics-Scholarship-Scientific communication

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ID Expert is a prototype instructional design expert system that assists an instructional designer in developing instructional materials. The primary purposes for developing ID Expert are to provide tools for making instructional design more efficient and effective and to develop a more precise instructional design theory. The theory underlying ID Expert integrates much of the existing work in instructional design, learning theory, and cognitive science. A set of declarative constructs and prescriptive rules for this theory has been identified and partially implemented as a prototype version of ID Expert. In this article, the process involved in designing a course using ID Expert is demonstrated, and the instructional design theory underlying the system is discussed.

We report on an investigation into the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of an informational and instructional Website in order to generate guidelines for instructional designers of read/write Web environments. We describe the process of design and development research, the problem addressed, the theory-based solution, and the evaluation and testing of that solution. Based on our experience, we then identify sixteen guidelines for future designers and developers of read/write Web-based learning environments. The study demonstrates how read/write Web technologies can be used to address general problems that have intrinsic societal importance; examines implementation of a read/write technology in a real-life context, thereby testing distributed cognitions learning theory; informs the design of similar environments; and provides grounded theory for the design and development of read/write Web learning environments. KeywordsDesign and development research-Read/write Web-Web 2.0-Distributed cognitions-Social constructivism

In this study, we examined the use of cognitive tools provided in a problem-based hypermedia learning environment for sixth graders. Purposes were to understand how the built-in tools were used, and if tool use was associated with different problem-solving stages. Results showed that tools supporting cognitive processing and sharing cognitive load played a more central role early in the problem-solving process, whereas tools supporting cognitive activities that would be out of students' reach otherwise, and hypothesis generation and testing were used more in the later stages of problem-solving. The findings also indicated that students increasingly used multiple tools in the later stages of their problem-solving process. The various tools, performing different functions, appeared to enable students to coordinate multiple cognitive skills in a seamless way and, therefore, facilitated their information processing. Results also suggested that students with higher performance scores made more productive use of tools than students with lower performance scores. Findings of the study, are discussed.

In this study, we examined the educational effects of providing fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade students with 24-hour access to laptop computers. Specifically we examined the impact of laptops on classroom activities, and on student use of technology and their writing and problem-solving skills. Participating teachers received computer integration training using the iNtegrating Technology for inQuiry (NTeQ) model to develop problem-based lessons that engage students in critically examining authentic issues, and strengthen research and writing skills. A matched treatment-control group design was employed, in which classes taught at the same grade levels in five participating schools served as the laptop (1 computer per student) and control (5+ computers per class) contexts. Participants included students, teachers, and parents from the two groups. Although systematic observations revealed relatively few differences in teaching methods between laptop and control classrooms, laptop students used computers more frequently, extensively, and independently. Writing assessment results showed substantial and significant advantages for laptop over control students, with six of eight effect sizes exceeding +0.80. Results also showed significant advantages for the laptop group on five of the seven components of the problem-solving task.

During the past decade, design-based research has demonstrated its potential as a methodology suitable to both research and design of technology-enhanced learning environments (TELEs). In this paper, we define and identify characteristics of design-based research, describe the importance of design-based research for the development of TELEs, propose principles for implementing design-based research with TELEs, and discuss future challenges of using this methodology.

As part of a two-year investigation of technological innovation in one secondary school, nine senior students participated in one-hour interviews that explored their perceptions of the proper role of technology in their schooling. Student responses were analyzed and compared to those of their teachers for similarities and differences in perceptions about desirable uses and goals for technology. Like their teachers, a majority preferred to adapt technology to support traditional, teacher-centered instruction. A minority valued technology as a facilitator of student-centered inquiry and appeared to differ from the majority in beliefs about schooling and in dispositional tolerances for uncertainty.

Within the context of a brief history of information technology in teacher education (ITTE), current research on ITTE is reviewed. It is argued that ITTE research can be categorized into three paradigms: empirical, critical, and interpretive. The need for a clear, multi-paradigmatic approach for future work is emphasized. Examples of exemplary work are cited. Conclusions suggest needs for more sharing of information of “islands of excellence” in work on technology in teacher education, more case studies on diffusion of innovation, more emphasis on bias-related findings from critical theory, and more development and dissemination of resources and tools for using technology effectively in teacher education. Recommendations for further work in the area also include emphasizing instructional design (ID) work to create innovations and recognizing the need for grounded, reflective papers on innovative approaches that have been implemented and studied over several years.

The Eastern cultural tradition, together with other social factors, has shaped a group-based, teacher-dominated, and centrally organized pedagogical culture. Drawing upon this cultural perspective, this article reviews the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) in Eastern schools, including ICT planning and management, hardware infrastructures, software resources and services, professional development, and ICT-supported educational practices. It highlights the impact of the pedagogical culture on technology use, as well as the role of technology in pedagogical change. The review suggests a number of critical challenges Eastern educators need to address.

This qualitative case study focused on the nature of science learning through open-ended problem solving. Twelve eighth graders were asked to find, frame, and resolve subproblems associated with structural failures resulting from earthquakes. Coded interviews, artifacts, and observations from the four-week study suggested students only partially derived accurate mental models about earthquake engineering problems. Recommendations for improving student problem understanding in open-ended environments include the explication of student hypotheses related to problems, and the continual testing of belief via analogical reasoning, research, communication, and tool use.

Management experts claim that organizational learning, knowledge management, intellectual capital, and related concepts are more important to today's organizations than traditional assets such as natural resources and skilled labor. Management thus enters domains more typically studied by those in training, education, and human performance technology, and fundamental questions asked by philosophers are now asked by CEOs; for example, What is knowledge? and How do people learn? Cook and Brown (1999) responded with an attractive metaphor. They claimed that a “generative dance” of knowledge and knowing results in new knowledge and new knowing. However, they portrayed this dance as if it happens automatically. In this article, it is argued that human intentions play a major role, and that when intentions are added, the dance is accurately described as designing. Design, then, provides alternative answers to the fundamental questions about knowledge and learning, as well as different competencies for professional practice and different directions for enhancing organizational success. An attempt at such answers, competencies, and directions is made by linking literatures on learning and performance with design and by articulating what is essentially a design epistemology.

This article describes the design and formative evaluation of a Web-based tool that supports curriculum developers in constructing competence maps. Competence maps describe final attainment levels of educational programs in terms of—interrelated—competencies. Key requirements for the competence-mapping tool were validity and practicality. Validity refers to internal consistency and meaningful links to the external realities represented. Practicality refers to a design approach of evolutionary prototyping, in which feedback from intended users and domain experts is collected throughout the development process. Formative evaluations of four prototypes were conducted. Measures of design, appeal, goal, content, confidence and relevance showed that the tool is practical. The article describes the formative evaluation process and concludes with a description of the modified tool from the perspective of the user and the instructional designer.

The digital age has not simply changed the nature of resources and information; it has transformed several basic social and economic enterprises. Contemporary society—the settings where we live, work, and learn—has likewise changed dramatically. Both the amount of information and access to it have grown exponentially; a significant potential for using varied resources in numerous ways for instruction and learning has emerged. However, several issues related to the educational uses of varied resources (e.g., people, place, things, ideas) must be addressed if we are successfully to implement resource-based learning environments. In this paper, we trace the changing nature of resources and perspectives in their use for learning in the digital age, describe the overarching structures of resource-based learning environments, and identify key challenges to be addressed.

Open-ended learning involves learning processes that are mediated by the unique intentions and purposes of individuals. Open-ended learning environments (OELEs) have been touted to support the building and evolving processes associated with self-directed learning. OELEs provide technological tools and resources for manipulating and exploring concepts. Whereas previous research has provided descriptions of OELE designs and case studies, little insight exists as to the processes used by learners to build and evolve their understanding. This paper describes a rationale for, and conceptual framework of, learning via open-ended environments.

This study investigated whether or not the teaching of matched examples and nonexamples in the form of common errors would improve student performance in applying a procedure to previously unencountered instances, and whether the common errors would be most beneficial in generality form, in example form, or in both forms. Participants were 141 first-year music students, who were randomly assigned to four groups and given the task to learn a procedure that was presented in a self-contained booklet. A pretest-posttest experimental design was used, with a prerequisite test given as a screening device. The two independent variables were the absence and presence of the common errors in the generality form and in the example form (2 x 2 factorial design). Results indicated that the teaching of common errors in the generality form significantly improved learning a procedure at the application level of behavior.

Educational technology seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. Many exciting things are happening in the field, but increasingly we educational technologists find ourselves on the sidelines in our own ballgame. People from other disciplines are taking an interest in educational technology, but they show little interest in our knowledge base (often even little awareness that it exists!) and little interest in our professional organizations and publications. Why is this happening? What can we do about it? To what extent might our mindset be the problem? What new directions do we need to pursue to improve the health and value of our field? These are the central issues which this article discusses.

This paper reports on a curriculum project in which principles of instructional design are integrated with real-world experiences in a corporate environment. Working in design teams, graduate students served as instructional developers in a corporate environment. The course instructor acted as project leader. Initially, both the client organization and design teams expressed confusion concerning their roles in relation to the course instructor. Design teams initially used technical language not readily understood by the client. The lack of guidance in instructional models on the development of appropriate instructional strategies was noted by all teams. Design teams concluded that knowledge of instructional design principles is a necessary but not sufficient preparation for professional activity as instructional developers. By the end of the three-month project, both the client organization and the design teams expressed strong satisfaction with the process and the outcome.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the process used by learners to seek, locate, and integrate information resources for use in a project-based environment. Four cases (n=9) were analyzed from an introductory educational technology course during a unit on telecommunications. Participants were asked to generate projects for integrating the Internet into the curriculum. Within this project-based context, learners searched for information resources that would accompany their project ideas. Three major findings related to use of hypermedia systems during project-based learning are discussed: (a) progressing from data-driven to goal-driven approaches was critical to developing coherent project ideas; (b) consolidation of information resources with project methods and rationales was challenging for learners, often resulting in topic “drifts” or idea simplification; and (c) metacognitive, domain, and system knowledge appeared critical to achieving coherence in project development. Implications related to the role of instructional scaffolding in encouraging goal-driven and metacognitive processing during open-ended learning are considered.

We examined how self-regulated learning (SRL) and externally-facilitated self-regulated learning (ERL) differentially affected adolescents’ learning about the circulatory system while using hypermedia. A total of 128 middle-school and high school students with little prior knowledge of the topic were randomly assigned to either the SRL or ERL condition. Learners in the SRL condition regulated their own learning, while learners in the ERL condition had access to a human tutor who facilitated their self-regulated learning. We converged product (pretest-posttest shifts in students’ mental models and declarative knowledge measures) with process (think-aloud protocols) data to examine the effectiveness of self- versus externally-facilitated regulated learning. Findings revealed that learners in the ERL condition gained statistically significantly more declarative knowledge and that a greater number of participants in this condition displayed a more advanced mental model on the posttest. Verbal protocol data indicated that learners in the ERL condition regulated their learning by activating prior knowledge, engaging in several monitoring activities, deploying several effective strategies, and engaging in adaptive help-seeking. By contrast, learners in the SRL condition used ineffective strategies and engaged in fewer monitoring activities. Based on these findings, we present design principles for adaptive hypermedia learning environments, engineered to foster students’ self-regulated learning about complex and challenging science topics.

Although teachers today recognize the importance of integrating technology into their curricula, efforts are often limited by both external (first-order) and internal (second-order) barriers. Traditionally, technology training, for both preservice and inservice teachers, has focused on helping teachers overcome first-order barriers (e.g., acquiring technical skills needed to operate a computer). More recently, training programs have incorporated pedagogical models of technology use as one means of addressing second-order barriers. However, little discussion has occurred that clarifies the relationship between these different types of barriers or that delineates effective strategies for addressing different barriers. If pre- and inservice teachers are to become effective users of technology, they will need practical strategies for dealing with the different types of barriers they will face. In this paper, I discuss the relationship between first- and second-order barriers and then describe specific strategies for circumventing, overcoming, and eliminating the changing barriers teachers face as they work to achieve technology integration.

The purpose of this case study was to explore the issues involved in implementing a technology-enhanced student-centered unit in order to provide recommendations to improve and enhance these types of learning activities. Specifically, the study examined problems students encountered in completing the unit activities, problems the teacher encountered in facilitating the delivery of the unit to her students, and strategies to improve and enhance these types of learning activities. One teacher and the 21 students in her intact United States history class participated in the study. The central unit problem required students to determine the strategies that should be pursued in 1968 to continue the struggle for a more just, equal United States society. Students worked in teams to gather data from an electronic database of primary- and secondary-source materials, and use the data to develop solutions to the unit problem. Results of this study suggest that a variety of factors impact the success or failure of student-centered activities, including student orientation to the unit problem, student collaboration, teacher management strategies, and student accountability mechanisms. These results also provide insight into how the design of these types of activities can be improved. Perhaps the most important considerations that need additional attention are the additional aids required by teachers as they struggle to implement these types of activities in their classrooms.

This article provides an overview description of the four-component instructional design system (4C/ID-model) developed originally by van Merriënboer and others in the early 1990s (van Merriënboer, Jelsma, & Paas, 1992) for the design of training programs for complex skills. It discusses the structure of training blueprints for complex learning and associated instructional methods. The basic claim is that four interrelated components are essential in blueprints for complex learning: (a) learning tasks, (b) supportive information, (c) just-in-time (JIT) information, and (d) part-task practice. Instructional methods for each component are coupled to the basic learning processes involved in complex learning and a fully worked-out example of a training blueprint for “searching for literature” is provided. Readers who benefit from a structured advance organizer should consider reading the appendix at the end of this article before reading the entire article.

In this article, the author comments on the preceding article, A Critical Review of Elaboration Theory, by Brent Wilson and Peggy Cole

In this article we suggest a method of evaluating learner experties based on assessment of the content of working memory and the extent to which cognitive load has been reduced by knowledge retrieved from long-term memory. The method was tested in an experiment with an elementary algebra tutor using a yoked control design. In the learner-adapted experimental group, instruction was dynamically tailored to changing levels of expertise using rapid tests of knowledge combined with measures of cognitive load. In the nonadapted control group, each learner was exposed to exactly the same instructional procedures as those experienced by the learner's yoked participant. The experimental group demonstrated higher knowledge and cognitive efficiency gains than the control group.

Two studies analyzed impacts of writing and receiving web-mediated peer reviews on revision of research reports by undergraduate science students. After conducting toxicology experiments, 77 students posted draft reports and exchanged double-blind reviews. The first study randomly assigned students to four groups representing full, partial, or no peer review. Students engaging in any aspect of peer review made more revisions than students confined to reviewing their own reports. In the second study, all students engaged in peer review, and the influence of writing versus receiving critiques was analyzed using linear regression. Both studies showed receiving reviews to be more significant than writing them in terms of triggering report revisions. Students valued the peer review experience and credited it with giving them insights about their work. Conclusions address implications for optimal design of online peer review systems and for further research into student learning gains.

While the importance of viewing learning as knowledge creation is gradually recognized (Paavola et al. Computer-supported collaborative learning: foundations for a CSCL community 2002; Rev Educ Res 74:557–576 2004), an important question remains to be answered—what represents an effective instructional design to support collaborative creative learning? This paper argues for the need to move away from efficiency-oriented instructional design to innovation-oriented instructional design if learning as knowledge creation is to be pursued as an important instructional goal. The rationale in support of this argument is discussed from four different theoretical perspectives and an idea-centered, principle-based design approach as an example is proposed for discussion.

The demand for good instructional environments presupposes valid and reliable analytical instruments for educational research. This paper introduces the SMD Technology (Surface, Matching, Deep Structure), which measures relational, structural, and semantic levels of graphical representations and concept maps. The reliability and validity of the computer-based and automated SMD Technology was tested in three experimental studies with 106 participants. The findings indicate a high reliability and validity. The discussion focuses on the development and realization of the three levels of the SMD Technology and applications for research, learning and instruction.

This paper has two objectives. First, to determine whether interactions exist between the intellectual abilities of learners and the different ways instructional media may be designed and produced; and, second, to translate the findings from this search into prescriptions for the actual development of instructional products. The accomplishment of these objectives is a difficult task. As has been convincingly pointed out by Bracht (1970) and by Cronbach and Snow (in press), there is little definitive evidence from the aptitude-treatment interaction research that points conclusively to the employment of practices that might guide the selection of the more general instructional strategies, much less lead to the design of specific instructional media. The research results are so fragmentary and diverse that generalizations from these alone are virtually impossible. Thus, if an application to practice is to be made, Editor's Note. The material in this article was prepared pursuant to a contract with the National Institute of Education, U.S. Deparlment of Health, Education and Welfare. Contractors undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their judgment in professional and technical matters. Points of view or opinions do not necessarily represent the official view or opinions of the National Institute of Education.

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This study examined the effect that systematically loading story presentations with criterion information has on the recall of abstract and concrete prose. Results indicated that aal plus picture presentations were most effective for the learning of both abstract and concrete content. Furthermore, the loading of additional detail into visual presentations resulted in greater recall than with simple pictures and also provided a greater supplementary effect to oral prose. © 1983 Association for Educational Communications and Technology.