Avoiding Simplicity Confronting Complexity

Researchers from all over the world are fascinated by the question on how to design powerful learning environments and how to effectively integrate computers in instruction. Members of the special interest groups 'Instructional Design' and 'Learning and Instruction with Computers’ of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction belong to this group of fascinated researchers. By presenting their research on these questions in this book, these researchers provide empirically based answers, finetune previously suggested solutions, and raise new questions and research paths. The contributions each try to deal with the actual complexity of learning environments, while avoiding naïve simplicity. The book presents an up-to-date overview of current research by experienced researchers from well-known research centers. This book is intended for an audience of educational researchers, instructional designers, and all those fascinated by questions with respect to the design of learning environments and the use of technology.

“By deconstructing learning science and making the connection to technology, Hess and Saxberg have outlined key strategies for school leaders as they work to transform traditional practices in schools. Whether it is whole-school reform or targeted interventions, principals will be motivated to rethink or‘re-engineer’ the use of technology to optimize teaching and learning.” —Gail Connelly, Executive Director National Association of Elementary School Principals.

Understanding how task complexity affects second language learning, interaction and spoken and written performance is essential to informed decisions about task design and sequencing in TBLT programs. The chapters in this volume all examine evidence for claims of the Cognition Hypothesis that complex tasks should promote greater accuracy and complexity of speech and writing, as well as more interaction, and learning of information provided in the input to task performance, than simpler tasks. Implications are drawn concerning the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that tasks should be sequenced for learners from simple to complex during syllabus design. Containing theoretical discussion of the Cognition Hypothesis, and cutting-edge empirical studies of the effects of task complexity on second language learning and performance, this book will be important reading for language teachers, graduate students and researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and cognitive and educational psychology.

First Published in 2008. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

As society continues to experience increases in technological innovations, various industries must rapidly adapt and learn to incorporate these advances. When utilized effectively, the use of computer systems in educational settings creates a richer learning environment for students. The Handbook of Research on 3-D Virtual Environments and Hypermedia for Ubiquitous Learning is a critical reference source for the latest research on the application of virtual reality in educational environments and how the immersion into three-dimensional settings enhances student motivation and interaction. Exploring innovative techniques and emerging trends in virtual learning and hypermedia, this book is ideally designed for researchers, developers, upper-level students, and educators interested in the incorporation of immersive technologies in the learning process.

With the contributions from leading national and international scholars and practitioners, this volume provides a "state-of-the-art" look at ID, addressing the major changes that have occurred in nearly every aspect of ID in the past decade and provides both theory and "how-to" information for ID and performance improvement practitioners practitioners who must stay current in their field. This volume goes beyond other ID references in its approach: it is useful to students and practitioners at all levels; it is grounded in the most current research and theory; and it provides up-to-the-minute coverage of topics not found in any other ID book. It addresses timely topics such as cognitive task analysis, instructional strategies based on cognitive research, data collection methods, games, higher-order problem-solving and expertise, psychomotor learning, project management, partnering with clients, and managing a training function. It also provides a new way of looking at what ID is, and the most comprehensive history of ID ever published. Sponsored by International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), the Handbook of Improving Performance in the Workplace, three-volume reference, covers three core areas of interest including Instructional Design and Training Delivery, Selecting and Implementing Performance Interventions, and Measurement and Evaluation.

This handbook enables readers to gain a deep understanding of past, current, and forthcoming research and applications in the field of educational technology. Readers develop an in-depth understanding of complex theories, strategies, concepts, and methods underlying the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of educational technologies. Discussing both the current state-of-the-art as well as emerging technologies, the handbook serves as a comprehensive guide for researchers and practitioners working in education and training. This Second Edition features completely revised and updated chapters that reflect the latest developments in the field.

This essential text unpacks major transformations in the study of learning and human development and provides evidence for how science can inform innovation in the design of settings, policies, practice, and research to enhance the life path, opportunity and prosperity of every child. The ideas presented provide researchers and educators with a rationale for focusing on the specific pathways and developmental patterns that may lead a specific child, with a specific family, school, and community, to prosper in school and in life. Expanding key published articles and expert commentary, the book explores a profound evolution in thinking that integrates findings from psychology with biology through sociology, education, law, and history with an emphasis on institutionalized inequities and disparate outcomes and how to address them. It points toward possible solutions through an understanding of and addressing the dynamic relations between a child and the contexts within which he or she lives, offering all researchers of human development and education a new way to understand and promote healthy development and learning for diverse, specific youth regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or history of adversity, challenge, or trauma. The book brings together scholars and practitioners from the biological/medical sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, educational science, and fields of law and social and educational policy. It provides an invaluable and unique resource for understanding the bases and status of the new science, and presents a roadmap for progress that will frame progress for at least the next decade and perhaps beyond.