Can Instructional Design Remain an Independent Activity?
We are at the point where our acceptance of the assumptions of cognitive theory forces us to rethink the procedures we use to apply it through instructional design. The key to what is necessary lies in a second assumption that follows from the assumption of the predictability of behavior. That assumption is that the design of instruction is an activity that can proceed independent of the implementation of instruction. If behavior is predictable and if instructional theory contains valid prescriptions, then it should be possible to perform analysis, select strategies, try them out, and revise them until a predetermined standard is reached, and then deliver the instructional package to those who will use it, with the safe expectation that it will work as intended. If, as we have demonstrated, that assumption is not tenable, we must also question the independence of design from the implementation of instruction (Winn, 1990). There are a number of indications that educational technologists
