Reviews the current state of research paradigms in the field of instructional technology from the perspective of research standards and paradigms recommended by Leslie J. Briggs in early 1980s. Analysis of articles published in "Educational Technology Research and Development" from 1992 to 1996 revealed that relatively few research paradigms were…

Examines the extent to which a group of superior elementary and secondary school teachers employed systematic instructional-planning practices. The two approaches were found to be different in several important ways: teachers did not place much emphasis on specifying objectives, creating objectives-based tests, or making other instructional…

Reviews changes in the original Dick and Carey model of instructional design and considers its future usefulness. Topics include alternative instructional design textbooks, the influence of constructivist theory on the 1996 version of the model with its systems approach, and the influence of constructivist and objectivist models. (Author/LRW)

Describes study that examined similarities and differences between the "Journal of Instructional Development" and "Educational Communication and Technology Journal." Highlights include the results of a content analysis, and the extent to which novices and experts could distinguish between the journals by classifying articles based on titles and…

Describes a new model for evaluating instructional software that focuses on the extent to which students learn the skills a software package is intended to teach. Results of a field test of fifth grade students are reported, and implications of the initial evaluation of the model are discussed. (14 references) (LRW)