Evolution of Instructional Materials Design

Responsiveness by Publishers
The general idea is that publishers develop their materials to meet the standards of the formal statewide adoption. Continually publishers refine and reshape through the information with teachers and school activities.
Effective materials include generally a teacher's manual, test items or resources, a study guide, and acitivity guide.

Visual Presentation
In the 90s, many publishers began investing in multimedia systems. Such systems include program related add-ons, such as pre-built tests and exercises, CDs, audiocassettes and videodiscs. 

Controversies
Controversies concerning teaching methods include whether to teach basic or higher-order skills; meaningful applications or discovery learning; facts, laws, and theories or the process of disciple; emphasis on relevant knowledge or personal development and social values and conflicts.

Innacurate Content
Research shows that materials often do not give topics the treatment they deserve, contain factual errors, or persist in presenting disproved concepts.

Priority Area: Presentation
Presentation review includes teacher and student resources, and alignment of instructional components, organization, readability, pacing, and ease of use.
The teacher's manual should align with students' activities in the content, sequence, pacing, and procedures for teachers, and should be of high quality.
Visuals play an important role. Too many visuals can distract learners from learning process. But relevant visuals support readability when integrated with text in a form different, but explanative, of the content.
Other important aspects to remember are: materials should be easy to use, support lesson planning, teaching and learning, as to be align with the curriculum.

Logical Organization
Students need organized knowledge structures to learn new information. Poor organization is detrimental to learning, an explicit and teachable conten structure can double the amount remembered. Some examples: outlines of main ideas, advance organizers with major questions, steps, or parts, cognitive maps for problem solving.
Simplicity avoids extraneous and redundant information and focuses attention. Examples include:
* avoidance of "unneeded colors and details"
* symmetry, simple lines; and
* plain shading such as gray, solid pastel, or black.
Remember that you as an outstanding teacher knows the best suitable materials for your students.