About this book

How to help people learn better. That is what instructional theory is all about. It describes a variety of methods of instruction (different ways of facilitating human learning and development) and when to use - and not use - each of those methods.

Volume I of Instructional-Design Theories and Models provided a "snapshot in time" of the status of instructional theory in the early 1980's. But the nature of instructional theory has changed dramatically since then, partly in response to different needs in educational and training environments, partly in response to advances in knowledge about the human brain and learning theory, partly due to a change in educational philosophies and beliefs, and partly in response to advances in information technologies, which have made new methods of instruction both possible and necessary - necessary to take advantage of the new instructional capabilities offered by the technologies. These changes are so dramatic that many argue they constitute a new paradigm of instruction, which requires a new paradigm of instructional theory.

In short, there is a need for a Volume II of Instructional-Design Theories and Models, to provide a concise summary of a broad sampling of the new methods of instruction currently under development, but also to help show the interrelationships among these diverse theories and to highlight current issues and trends in instructional design. To attain this broad sampling of methods and theories, and to make this book more useful for practitioners as well as graduate students interested in education and training, this volume contains twice as many chapters, but each half as long, as the ones in Volume I, and the descriptions are generally less technical than in Volume I.

Because this volume contains a lot of theories to understand and compare, I have tried to make this task easier for the reader by preparing a rather unconventional kind of chapter foreword that summarizes the major elements of each instructional-design theory. Hopefully, these forewords will be as useful for reviewing and comparing theories after you have read them, as they will for previewing a theory to decide whether or not it interests you and developing a general schema that will make it easier to understand. Furthermore, the editor's notes, which are also rather unconventional for an edited volume, will hopefully help you in this task of understanding and comparing the theories. Finally, Units 2 and 4 both have introductory chapters that are intended to help you analyze and understand the theories in those units.

Unit 1 describes what instructional-design theory is like and the ways it is changing and why. It also discusses current issues and trends in instructional-design theory. I strongly recommend reading the two chapters in this unit before reading any of the theory chapters. Unit 2 provides concise summaries of a broad sampling of the new instructional-design theories (methods and when to use them) currently under development in the cognitive domain, while Unit 3 provides the same for one highly integrative theory in the psychomotor domain, and Unit 4 provides the same for five theories in the affective domain. Finally, Unit 5 provides a general discussion of the various theories presented in Units 2-4 and a research methodology for further developing this emerging knowledge base about the new paradigm of instruction.

I hope you will enjoy exploring these fascinating new approaches to fostering human learning and development. They have helped me greatly to think "Outside the box" about ways to better meet the needs of learners in all kinds of learning contexts.