ABSTRACT
A major goal of instruction is to improve students’ abilities to perform tasks they were not able to perform well prior to instruction. Of course, such improvement can only come about if students learn something as a result of their exposure to instruction; that is, if the students’ knowledge undergoes some changes during the instructional process. The primary task facing educators, then, is to set up the instructional conditions under which desired changes in students’ knowledge will occur. Ideally, the design of instruction should be guided by general theoretical principles about the relationship between instructional conditions and changes in student knowledge. Without such general principles, the development of effective instruction remains heavily dependent on the skills, experience, and frequently the personality of the particular educator designing or delivering the instruction.
