1. Gestalt Theory

2. Gestalt Theory
Definition (useful to us): a concerte individual and characteristic entity, existing as something detached and having a shape or form as one of its attributes
Simplified: the Gestalt psychology is how people see and understand the relation of the whole to the parts that make up that whole.

3. Gestalt Theory Perceptual Organization
Good figure
Figure-ground separation
Continuity
Helped form basis message design principles
The part of a whole property is the basis of its importance

4. Gestalt Theory
Visual Literacy - what can be seen and how we interpret what is seen.
study the physical processes involved in visual perception
use of technology to represent visual imagery
develop intellectual strategies used to interpret and understand what is seen.

5. Cognitive Theory and Ed Tech

6. Theory, Practice, and Instructional Design
Design is how theory guides practice
Design works through a process called satisficing
Degree of success
The validity of our knowledge oeffective instruction in a given subject domain
The reliability of our procedures for applying that knowledge

7. Theory, Practice, and Instructional Design
Instructional theory – (opposition) – guided by conditions, methods, and outcomes
Ie. To teach how to form the past tense of regular English verbs (outcome) to advanced students of English who are familiar with all relevant grammatical terms and concepts (conditions), present them with a written description of the procedures to follow (method).
Problem: designer is usually not
Able to make such specific statements
A subject matter specialist
The prescription may not be valid – the test cannot account for every case but rather infers from a sample

8. Theory, Practice, and Instructional Design
Task analysis
Identify exactly what the student must achieve in order to attain the instructional outcome
Learner analysis
Determine the most critical o the conditions under which instruction is to take place
Instructional designers must know instructional theory AND how to do task and learner analysis

9. Theory, Practice, and Instructional Design
Why behaviorism is only a part of our whole
Behavior is not predictable

10. Cognitive Theory and the Predictability of Behavior
The theory shift has occurred, but the procedures of instructional design have not
Cognitives challenges to behavior
Instructional theory is incomplete – there is not a prescription for ever possible combination of conditions, methods, and outcomes
Mediating cognitive variables differ in nature and effect from individuals
Response to stimulus varies among individuals
Metacognition (student)
Students monitor their own progress
Students adjust for poor performance
Plausible thinking
People make decisions and take actions on basis of incomplete information

11. Cognitive Theory and Ed Tech
Unlike behavioral task analysis, which produces task hierarchies or sequences, cognitive analysis produces either descriptions of knowledge schemata that students are expected to construct, or descriptions of the steps information must go through as the student processes it or both
Cognitive approach provides descriptions of students’ mental models, not descriptions of their levels of performance prior to instruction
Instructional strategies are selected on the basis of their likely ability to modify schemata rather than to shape behavior

12. Instructional Design
Conceptualization and doing of instruction must occur simultaneously
Demand for “empty technologies” that can be filled with anything the student or teacher wishes

13. Scholarship 3 “Ages” Age of Instructional design Age of Message design
Dominated by behavioral theories
Decisions are driven by task analysis – we need all 3
Age of Message design
Shift from Instructional content to instructional formats
Format of content affects how it is encoded in memory structures
Age of Environment design
Based on cognitive theory
Interaction leads to construction of understanding
Virtual environments can empower educators to control this