Educational Theorist

When it comes to educational theory, I see myself as somewhat of an eclectic. I get a little nervous when someone thinks that they have all the answers. Often a new theory is a reaction to an earlier theory that has produced unacceptable side affects. The constructivist have correctly pointed out that too much focus on individual objectives may get in the way of understanding complex tasks. Objectives must be understood in the context of the whole task. I guess this is where the theorist for my paper comes in -- Mike Spector applies System Dynamics to the learning process.

I got really excited reading the chapter by Merrill and his "First Principles". I first heard about these over 10 years ago but didn't follow up on it. There is always the danger of losing vigor when ideas are divided into categories (prinicples) which are by nature arbitrary. But regardless of the divisions, the accompanying questions can be a quality checklist for a learning activity or course. I'm going to see how I can apply them to my own e-learning design ontology (SCUeL).