Business, academia, industry, and the military require well trained personnel to function in highly complex working environments. To reduce high training costs and to improve the effectiveness of training, training system developers often use sophisticated training media such as, simulators, videodisks, and computer-based instruction. The designers of these training media are continually striving to provide maximum training effectiveness at minimum cost. Although literature is available on the implementation and use of specific training media, there is little guidance on a major feature that is central to these media. All of these media present the learner with an interactive simulation of the real world. Effective training system design can be facilitated if the requirements of the real-world task are properly included in training. A conceptual bridge is necessary to link these actual task requirements to the characteristics of the training system. This book provides such a conceptual bridge. The need for improved training is critical in the area of equipment operation, maintenance, and decision making tasks. For example, the importance of improved operator training in the nuclear power industry has become paramount since the Three Mile Island accident and the more serious accident at the Chernobyl reactor in the U. S. S. R. Technology, such as the availability and power of computers, offers a wider variety of training options, but requires additional training system design decisions

This book provides a theoretically- and empirically-based method to evaluate the instructional quality of computer-delivered courseware. The book is intended to help instructional developers, instructional procurement officials, instructors, and other individuals responsible for ensuring that the resources invested in courseware result in the highest instructional quality. The method can be applied throughout the instructional systems development process, from earliest requirements analysis to the delivery and implementation of the computer-delivered courseware.

The Science of Learning: A Systems Theory Approach provides authoritative, comprehensive, learner-centric reviews and discussions of theories and research on learning processes, instructional approaches, and the uses of instructional media. It includes over 600 references to the most influential theoretical and empirical literature in the field. It also provides discussions on the scientific method and how to apply science and scientific thinking to the study of learning, the development of instruction, and the evaluation of instructional programs. The systems-theory orientation provided in the book helps the reader understand the diverse data on learning and helps to integrate these data into a rich knowledge base. The book also summarizes guidance on the application of learning research to enhance learning effectiveness and illustrates this guidance with real-world examples.