Instructional Transaction Theory: Instructional Design Based

ion transactions Abstraction instructional transactions enable the learner to acquire class, subclass, and instance relationships between knowledge objects. Abstraction transactions promote the ability to transfer or use a skill acquired for one set of instances or subclasses with a new8 set of instances or subclasses. Abstraction transactions enable the learner to generalize knowledge by acquiringion instructional transactions enable the learner to acquire class, subclass, and instance relationships between knowledge objects. Abstraction transactions promote the ability to transfer or use a skill acquired for one set of instances or subclasses with a new8 set of instances or subclasses. Abstraction transactions enable the learner to generalize knowledge by acquiring 7 There is a significant body of direct and indirect research supporting Gagne's conditions of learning (e.g. see Merrill, 1994). 8 New means new to the student. We speak of previously unencountered instances which means that the instances used for practice or assessment are not the same as the instances used for instruction. The learner is able to generalize the skill acquired to a previously unencountered situation. Instructional Transaction Theory Merrill & ID2 Research Group page 11 an abstraction model. An abstraction model is knowledge about the general case of an entity, activity, or process. A judge transaction enables the learner to order new instances of a class. The learner acquires knowledge of dimensional properties and is able to order instances with respect to these dimensional properties. A classify transaction enables the learner to sort new instances into subclasses. The learner acquires knowledge of discriminating properties and is able to sort instances with respect to these discriminating properties. A generalize transaction enables the learner to combine instances into a single class. The learner acquires knowledge of generalizing properties and is able to group instances based on these properties. A transfer transaction enables the learner to apply skills acquired in one situation in a new, but related situation. The learner first acquires the ability to do the steps of an activity with respect to one or more specific entities. The learner then acquires the general form for the steps (abstraction model) and then practices applying these generalized steps in with new entities. For processes, the learner first acquires the ability to make predictions about the events of a process with respect to one or more specific entities (situations). The learner then acquires the general form for the events (abstraction model) and then practices applying these generalized events to predicting events with respect to new entities (situations). Association transactions Association instructional transactions enable the learner to acquire important relationships between knowledge objects. A decide transaction enables the learner to select among alternative entities, activities, processes. Decision making involves an association between target PEAnet knowledge objects and decision PEAnet knowledge objects. Changing the property values of the decision PEAnet knowledge objects causes changes in the target PEAnet knowledge objects. The learner acquires the rules that relate the decision knowledge objects with the target knowledge objects and thus is able to select these property values for the decision knowledge objects that result in the desired changes in the target knowledge objects. A tool transaction enables the learner to use one activity to do another activity. A tool is an activity-entity which is used to change the property values of an application process-entity. Effective tool use requires the learner to have knowledge about both the tool and the application. The learner must learn to do the steps of the tool. But the learner must also learn to predict the changes in the application that result from applying and doing the tool. An analogy transaction enables the learner to learn a target PEAnet (process-entity-activity) from a similar original PEAnet. The learner must first have acquired the relevant knowledge with regard to the original PEAnet. The learner must then learn the mapping from the original to the target. The learner must also learn where the analogy stops and where the target goes beyond the analogy. A substitute transaction enables the learner to modify an original process or skill (PEAnet) to acquire a new target process or activity (PEAnet). The learner must first have acquired the Instructional Transaction Theory Merrill & ID2 Research Group page 12 relevant knowledge with regard to the original PEAnet. The learner must then learn what is different in the target and where the target goes beyond the original. A design transaction enables the learner to invent a new entity or activity. A discover transaction enables the learner to discover a new process. Sequence transactions Rules for sequencing transactions are conditional on student characteristics. Table 2 illustrates two such rules for transaction sequence and interaction sequence within a transaction. These rules use the student characteristics of motivation and experience as conditions. The rules define a variable set of default values for the parameters. Learner control means that the learner is given a menu from which to select the next transaction or interaction within a transaction. Integrated means that all of one kind of interaction, such as presentation, is enacted for all of the transactions in a segment, before the next type of interaction is enacted for all of the transactions in the segment. Remedial means that test or practice interactions are enacted first, and then presentation or exploration interactions are enacted for those topics for which the learner did not meet criterion. Standard means that the interactions follow the order: presentation, exploration, practice and assessment. If a given type of interaction is not included in a given transaction it is skipped in the standard sequence. Table 2 Configuration rule for determining transaction and interaction sequence.