The Fragmented Nature of Learning and Instruction

This chapter falls roughly into the intersection formed by the philoso phy of science, cognitive psychology, and instructional design. I have drawn heavily on notes written for my students that have been read and commented on by Professor Seel in their earlier incarnations. Seel’s work on the progressive development of mental models and the implications for the design of instruction have inspired many of my remarks. I regard this general domain of discourse as somewhat like a puzzle with missing pieces and pieces that should fit together well but often do not. It is almost as if the building blocks of instructional systems research were pieces from different puzzles thrown together hastily. The general thrust of my argument is that we do not yet have comprehensive and completely coherent accounts of how people learn and, as a consequence, we lack a complete theory of how best to design instruction and assess its effectiveness. Seel’s research over the years represents important steps towards such a comprehensive theory of instruction.