Defines return on investment (ROI); describes the individual articles included in this special section of the journal which focuses on the process of ROI in organizations. Together, this collection of articles displays a wide variety of views about the necessity for ROI and the quality and quantity of its use. (AEF)

Discusses how design projects can best be encountered through a designer approach that is inclusive of theoretical and practical knowledge as well as the capacity for pragmatic action. Highlights include design cultures and cultures of design; foundations of design; fundamental activities supported upon the foundations of design; and design…

This article is a partial look at what the future of education might be if educational resources become open online. Intertwingularity is discussed as a general term for what OER will do online. Predictions about an open education future are based on nine quotations from books by popular writers about our networked age. When the network mechanisms…

Describes a plan for a professional development program in educational systems design to prepare facilitators in educational change and restructuring efforts. Highlights include roles in the change process; values and criteria for design; change strategies; emotional stages; attitudinal roadblocks; and needed competencies and skills, including…

Presents guidelines for effective distance education planning that confront the issues of planning/organization, technology, and faculty development/academic policies. Concludes that understanding the unique characteristics and constraints of any particular program or target audience is the first step in selecting appropriate distance education…

A description of how Southern California Regional Occupation Center at Torrence, California, teaches marketable skills and career training. (HB)

A look at the essential steps important for an instructional system to operate effectively. (HB)

This article offers some strategies for closing the linkage between initial needs assessment and the implementation of change. Examined are: prioritizing needs through criteria analysis, developing a cyclical implementation/staff inservice plan, and utilizing an analytical problem solving approach to curriculum and decision making. (Author/RAO)

Describes the instructional redesign of a physical therapy course through the stages of planning, implementation, and evaluation following a model developed by the Instructional Development Institute. (RAO)

Examines changes in the "supersystem" of instructional systems design (ISD) that indicate the need for a paradigm of training and education based on learning instead of sorting students. Emphasizes the necessity of developing initiative, teamwork, thinking skills, and diversity, as well as new learning-focused instructional theories and…

Discusses conceptual frameworks for the designing process, including conclusion-oriented design and decision-oriented design; describes the systemic quality cube of design that incorporates process, product, efficiency, and effectiveness and considers total, global, and systemic quality; and discusses present applications, including computerized…

Discussion of inquiry and technology within elementary and secondary school science curriculum focuses on WISE (Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment) that was developed to provide effective designs for inquiry activities and assessments, technology supports for students and teachers, authoring partnerships to create a library of inquiry projects,…

A discussion of how peer - prepared learning activity packages are used. (HB)