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This study aims to examine the instructional preferences exhibited by students in an Australian and a Zimbabwean setting and how cultural conditioning can reflect in the instructional design choice and the effect on the learning process.

Using graphical and textual presentations of an experiment with three instructional designs and 217 undergraduate students, this study empirically examines student understanding of financial accounting in the two countries. Students’ performance scores and reported mental effort ratings were used to determine the instructional preference.

The findings of this comparative study show that Australian accounting students prefer graph and text designs aligned with a low power distance, (PD) while Zimbabwean students prefer graph and text designs associated with a high PD. Deep-rooted cultural values and modes of thinking need to be considered in the learning processes.

The sample used in this study came from first-year undergraduate students studying introductory accounting at two different universities from two different countries (Australia and Zimbabwe). The results may not be generalisable to other universities, although similar patterns were found to be consistent with students’ cultural orientations. In addition, there may be other factors that motivate students’ learning and affect their performance, and those should therefore be considered.

The results suggest that students learning in different cultural contexts learn better with different instructional formats, requiring educators to consider different formats of instructional material.

This study is the first to offer accounting educators insights on one major dimension of cultural variation, using instructional material designed according to cognitive load theory principles in a cross-cultural context.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of two instructional design formats on learning outcomes in introductory accounting.

This study describes split-source instructional designs and uses an experiment administered to two groups of students enrolled in an undergraduate introductory accounting subject. The performance scores in recall and transfer test items are used to evaluate students’ learning outcomes.

The study suggests that instructors can enhance students understanding of introductory accounting by integrating text and diagrams in introductory accounting.

University instructors require evidence of teaching and learning activities that enhance student learning during the study of introductory accounting. This study shows that a redesign of accounting instructional material improves students’ performance and learning experience.

This study addresses a gap in the literature by examining the use of integrated instructional materials as an alternative to the separate diagram and text when learning accounting. The study also explores the effect of reorganising learning material on students load by analysing the mental effort reported by students. Finally, the study contributes useful findings on reorganising accounting instructional material aimed at enhancing the understanding of introductory accounting.

This paper aims to present the finding of a practical lab assessment used to evaluate students’ mastery of Ohm’s law. The researchers used an approach combining different instruction types and lab formats to examine whether this combination produced a unique effect on students’ performance. This multifaceted approach provided evidence about how assessment design could affect students’ lab performance. The study also discussed various strategies that could guide instructors and curriculum designers about how to incorporate lab tasks into their curriculum to facilitate students’ mastery of subject content.

This study was a quantitative experiment that used a factorial repeated measures design. The design allowed the researchers to measure participants’ task scores and time across different treatment conditions, hence enabling the effects of lab format and instructional type to be observed. All participants were recruited through the convenience sampling strategy.

The results suggested that there was a statistically significant difference in the time taken to complete the task. However, no statistically significant difference was recorded in the participants’ task scores. Overall, it appeared that participants performed better in the simulation-based labs with expository instructions.

The current study contributes to the body of knowledge on the effect of lab format and instructional type on students’ performance in lab-based assessments. The results presented here may also help instructors to determine the most appropriate form of lab formats and instruction types to be used in an electronics course.

The process of differentiating each of the dimensions of learning is demonstrated by the application of three possible conceptual frameworks for each dimension, which are based on the theories of learning, instruction, and environment. Multiple existing theories apply to each dimension of the curriculum, including one framework that is a synthesis of several related theories. The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate how theories may be adapted into design templates and used to configure the components of the curriculum. The outcome of this process is to create coherent curricula through the practical application of theories of learning as design templates.

A blueprint template is presented to visualize the internal alignment, interconnectedness, and overall coherence of each curriculum. This template visually depicts the functional interactions between the curricular components as dynamic relationships. This tool reveals the design relationships within the curriculum for purposes of design and evaluation. For curriculum design purposes, this form is used to establish and maintain the alignment among the dimensions of a curriculum (horizontally in the template) as well as the interconnectedness of the components. Engagement with the learning process begins by translating the content of each learning objective into instructional objectives, which aligns the instructional components with each learning objective. The instructional objectives are configured to align the content and structure contained in the outcomes and objectives with the instructional components. In this curriculum design system, the instructional taxonomies of Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, and Krathwohl (1956) are adapted as design templates to demonstrate three strategies to configure the structure of the learning engagement dimension into three distinct purposes of developing cognition, skills, or values within each dimension (vertically in the template).

The learning experience in this curriculum demonstration differentiates three distinct instructional functions: the learning of thinking skills, the learning of performance skills, and the learning of values-based performance. A template adapted from credible theories of instruction configures the specified learning.

Three models also differentiate the learning environment dimension of a curriculum. The learning environment is structured to deliver learning through individual, cooperative, or collaborative processes. Although the environmental considerations mostly impact the activities through which learners interact with the content of the curriculum (reinforcement activities, assignments, assessments), the environmental factors influence all components of the curriculum and can be differentiated to promote and enhance learning. From the learner perspective, the learning environment is created by the dynamic interaction of all components of the curriculum to facilitate an unobstructed path to learning.

Most research using extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) and other technology acceptance models (TAM) are quantitative studies. This leaves room for interpretation when they are applied to university lecturers’ acceptance of online teaching because the models were originally created for the consumer perspective. This study aims to bridge this gap by integrating existing (quantitative) research with (qualitative) reasoning.

This study reflects online and hybrid teaching acceptance by reviewing exemplary existing research using UTAUT2 as the conceptual framework.

UTAUT2 TAMs use a broad range of criteria that do not immediately agree with university lecturers’ acceptance of online teaching. This study finds that existing research results are inconclusive and attempts to link criteria when suitable. Performance expectancy should not only encompass individual attitudes and skills but also the nature of the subject taught. Social influence is driven by recognition and student evaluations. Hedonic motivation best fits the elsewhere well-researched concept of intrinsic motivation. This study suggests that universities choose their online teaching technology wisely, promote its ease of use and offer training as well as continuous support to lecturers, especially when addressing future uncertainties.

This study explains the implications of using TAMs for research of higher education online teaching. Potential reasons and arguments for the inconclusiveness of the studies reviewed are discussed, and measures for university policy and communication improvement are suggested.

In response to the urgent national need to implement evidence-based literacy supports for adolescent struggling readers (ASRs), this chapter provides a framework for addressing reading comprehension instruction. Schools face significant challenges in the education of ASRs including how to address the achievement gap that emerges between proficient readers and a variety of poor reader subgroups predicted by the Simple View of Reading. The authors present current research in the components of reading comprehension (e.g., text structures, vocabulary, prior knowledge, cognitive strategies, and motivation) and explicit pedagogical practices associated with improving outcomes for ASRs, including a school-wide framework called the Content Literacy Continuum. Two specific interventions with supporting research are presented as model practices to improve outcomes for ASRs.

The importance of early and developmentally appropriate science education is increasingly recognized. Consequently, creation of common guidelines and standards in early childhood science education has begun (National Research Council (NRC), 2012), and researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have shown great interest in aligning professional development with the new guidelines and standards. There are some important issues that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement guidelines and make progress toward accomplishing standards. Early childhood teachers have expressed a lack of confidence in teaching science and nature (Torquati, Cutler, Gilkerson, & Sarver, in press) and have limited science and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) (Appleton, 2008). These are critical issues because teachers’ subject-matter knowledge is a robust predictor of student learning outcomes (Enfield & Rogers, 2009; Kennedy, 1998; Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy, 2002) and is seen as a critical step toward improving K-12 student achievement (National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century (NCMST), 2000; NRC, 2000). We argue that the same is true of preschool teachers.

This chapter discusses: (a) theories and practices in early childhood science education (i.e., preschool through 3rd grade) in relation to teaching for conceptual change, (b) research on methods of professional development in early childhood science education, and (c) innovative approaches to integrating scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas with early childhood professional development.

This study aims to provide an understanding of current practice and informs the further development of guides as key instructional tools. To assess the existing landscape of research guides as instructional tools, researchers examined the instructional content and associated media formats of online psychology research guides.

Researchers devised an instrument utilizing Standard Two of the Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL’s) Psychology Information Literacy Standards and inventoried the instructional content and associated media formats of a sample set of 36 psychology research guides.

Although online research guides offer a platform for presenting instructional content in myriad formats, it was found that the sample set of psychology research guides rarely incorporated instructional content.

Psychology course guides were not part of the sample set; it is possible that guide authors approach the addition of instructional content in course guides differently than in general psychology subject guides.

This paper provides an overview of how libraries are, or are not, using research guides as part of their instruction program. The researchers propose a framework for adding instructional content to psychology guides using Standard Two.

Considering the ubiquity of online research guides on academic library Web sites, little research on the existing integration of instructional content into guides has been published. This study offers a snapshot of current guide practice and proposes a practical, systematic and unique model for aligning information literacy standards with guide content areas which has not been proposed elsewhere.

Enacted in August 2008, the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), PL 110-315, represents a landmark public policy effort on behalf of students with disabilities and a natural outgrowth of the impact of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This chapter examines the myriad new provisions in HEOA intended to improve access to higher education for students with disabilities as well as HEOA's provisions related to preparing teachers to effectively instruct students with disabilities in the K-12 environment. Multiple new provisions reflect an invigorated commitment to developing a workforce for today's schools – schools with unprecedented diversity – and to addressing the critical teacher shortages, including special education. This chapter is organized around three themes: access to higher education for students with disabilities, investing in the capacity of higher education to serve students with disabilities, and strengthening the preparation of teachers of students with disabilities, including accountability for this preparation.