Discusses legitimate peripheral participation and the idea of apprenticeship, in educational settings as well as in broader communities of practice. Highlights include the historical and situational aspects of learning; the contrast with constructivism; instructionism; the influence of computer technology; and empirical research. (11 references)…

Examines evaluation in a situated learning context. Topics discussed include a model for evaluation in a computer learning environment; portfolios, including written, electronic, and video formats; summary statistics; diagnosis; reflection and self-assessment; story construction or scenario design; learners as designers of instruction; and…

Discussion of situated learning focuses on classroom instruction. Topics addressed include individual uniqueness; a knowledge community, including the process of knowledge acquisition; situated instruction, including the role of the teacher; authentic activity, including teacher-student interaction; and implications for educational technology. (26…

Reviews theories of anchored instruction and addresses issues related to learning, transfer, and assessment. Highlights include video-based macrocontexts; videodisc anchors versus computer-based simulations; cooperative learning; transfer outside the classroom; authenticity; visual anchors versus verbal anchors; situated cognition; and using…

Discusses situated learning and instruction. Topics discussed include situated cognition theories; prescriptions for instructional design; adapting instructional design to situated learning; evaluating situated learning; situated cognition and the role of the teacher; different types of problem-solving activities; and the work of the Cognition and…

Describes the development of a demonstration prototype Research Reference Interface (RRI) that was designed to assist novice instructional designers in justifying the instructional decisions of knowledge-based instructional design tools such as expert systems, decision support tools, intelligent job aids, and hypertext systems. Additional…

Examines desirable functional features of hypermedia; describes its instructional uses and limitations; and discusses research issues, including learner control principles, the selection of information representation forms, the use of hypermedia as a knowledge base for computer-based instruction (CBI), and the development of intelligent…

Discusses the use of computers in college classrooms as presentation systems, as structured laboratories, to modify traditional lectures, and for self-paced instruction. Classroom dynamics are discussed, needed curricular modifications are considered, appropriate evaluation techniques are suggested, and problems are examined, including a lack of…

Discusses theories of constructivism, educational technology, and instructional design that were raised in an earlier issue. Topics discussed include process versus content of learning; collaboration; prespecification of knowledge in building instruction; and the design of learning environments. Two examples contrasting objectivist and…

The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt addresses concerns related to constructivism and instructional design that were raised in an earlier issue. Relationship of ecological psychology and constructivist theory is described, constraints on constructed knowledge are discussed, and the complexity of the Jasper series of math problems that…

Discussion of constructivism that is based on concerns raised in an earlier issue focuses on demands placed on the learners. Three areas are explored: (1) cognitive complexity; (2) task management, to help sequence students through a learning experience; and (3) learners "buying in" to the constructivist agenda of the instruction. (10 references)…

Expands on constructivist theories that were discussed in an earlier issue. Highlights include cognitive flexible theory; multiple knowledge representations; prespecification of knowledge; teaching content versus skill; and cognitive flexibility hypertexts (CFHs), including the kinds of knowledge domains for which they should be used and the…

Presents remarks on constructivism that are based on a discussion in an earlier issue. Topics addressed include the role of theory in the instructional design process; the construction of knowledge; differences between objectivists and constructivists; knowledge representation; entry behaviors and task analysis; and instructional systems…

Addresses problems in evaluation that are raised by constructivism. Highlights include a comparison of objectivism and constructivism; constructivistic criteria, including goal-free evaluation, which focus on authentic tasks, knowledge construction, context-driven evaluation, the appropriate stages of knowledge acquisition, and multiple…

Discusses three assumptions that relate to constructivism and instructional design which are based on articles in an earlier issue: (1) an emphasis on learning rather than on performance and instruction; (2) the changing role of technology for promoting learning rather than to teach content; and (3) the changing roles of instructional designers.…