Chapter 1.
Status and Directions
Are twentieth-century methods of teaching applicable in the twenty-first century? At heart, that is a key question that this book attempts to answer. Our thinking about this issue is hindered by definitional murkiness and hyperbole surrounding the concepts of media, multimedia, distance education, MOOCs, educational technology, emerging technologies, and social media. Each construct is analyzed and criticized from a “back to basics” perspective, seeking common-sense solutions to perennial concerns of education and training.
Chapter 2.
A Framework for the Instructed Learning Process
The Molenda-Subramony verbal-visual framework is based on several large-scale summaries of research on the factors that influence Instructed Learning. It depicts the flow of influence from those furthest from the “front lines” of Aptitude, Effort, and Instruction and progressing toward factors more closely related to Instructed Learning. This framework can provide a road map for future research and theorizing.
Chapter 3.
Learning, Instruction, and the Elements of Instruction
Begins with a brief overview of contemporary theories of learning, highlighting the support offered for various theories by research in neuroscience. These theories can be viewed as different perspectives on the whole, broad scene of human learning. Some types of human learning occur naturally as the person matures. Other types of learning require conscious effort to master, usually with the guidance of a knowledgeable another person – instructed learning. With this background, we identify the basic elements of instruction – the visible components of any instructional event: learner, facilitator, resources, and the pattern of communication among them.
Chapter 4.
Communication Configurations and Methods
We propose that the multitude of teaching-learning arrangements can be categorized into eight different “buckets,” which we call communication configurations: Presentation, Demonstration, Whole-class Discussion, Small-group Discussion, Tutorial, Repetition, Study, and Expression. Both face-to-face and distance education arrangements utilize the same set of configurations, although in different formats and in very different proportions. We propose a new definition of the construct of “methods,” combinations of various communication configurations.
Chapter 5 to 11.
Each of the Communication Configurations in Turn
Chapters 5 to 11 deal with each of the communication configurations in turn: its definition, its origins, its formats, its strengths and limitations, its best practices, and its possible incorporation into various methods.
Chapter 5 Presentation
Chapter 6 Demonstration
Chapter 7 Discussion
Chapter 8 Tutorial
Chapter 9 Repetition
Chapter 10 Study
Chapter 11 Expression
Chapter 12.
Summary and Conclusions
Summarizes the preceding chapters and concludes with a discussion of the critical importance of ideas drawn from schema theory.
Epilogue.
Authors’ comments about the book’s relevance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Glossary.
Alphabetical listing of key terms in the book and their definitions.
