A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE ASSUMPTIONS AND ASPIRATIONS OF INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Instructional development (ID), a subset of educational technology, is a rational, systematic approach to the development of instruction. It applies behavioral science principles to solving instructional problems and aspires to become a "design science," whereby instructional processes, products, learning outcomes, and the ID process itself are empirically verifiable and replicable. This conceptual study examines assumptions about human nature and human potential undergirding the approaches and aspirations of ID. It looks at ideological, technological, and methodological antecedents of and influences upon the field which have shaped its premises, standards, and procedures. In particular it looks at ways of thinking, learning, and dealing with the world which the conventional models and strategies appear to favor. Some of the assumptions and values of ID are brought into relief, too, by filtering them through alternative philosophical and psychological systems.; The discussion of which realities the models and strategies appear to "select in" is followed by an exploration of realities related to learning that fall through the net of pre-ordinate, behaviorally-referenced instructional design. A sampler of concepts from clinical, social and cognitive psychology, philosophy, sociology, education and organizational development are grouped into four major factors which are not adequately attended to in the ID literature. They are also not amenable to closed-system, tightly coupled aproaches to instructional planning. Nonetheless, these factors may significantly affect or alter intended learning experiences and outcomes. They are (1) personal schemata--superordinate frames for meaning, (2) alternative modes of thought, (3) interpersonal influences, and (4) contextual factors such as socio-political forces and "hidden curriculum" norms and expectations within settings.; The central problem of the inquiry is the juxtaposition of the formal schemata of ID against contrasting philosophical, psychological and sociological perspectives. It is a problem-raising, rather than a problem-solving exercise, although implications of ideas are teased out, a central argument is presented, and recommendations offered. The recommendations are essentially paradigmatic, attitudinal, and tactical challenges to the field.; The study does not deal directly with the practice of ID. It focusses instead on the formal presentation of the field via its major authors, articles and texts. It is a study which more closely resembles critical treatises in the humanities than historical, theoretical, or experimental inquiries in education. Specifically, the methodological paradigm for the study is literary criticism.