====== Component Display Theory ======

===== General =====

Component display theory is one of the [[learning_paradigms:cognitivism#&instructional_design_theories_and_learning_models:|cognitivist instructional design models]] introduced by [[http://mdavidmerrill.com/index.htm|Dave Merrill]] in the 1980s, whose original intention was to **separate content from instructional strategy**. Component display theory was greatly influenced by [[http://www.ibstpi.org/Products/pdf/appendix_A-C.pdf|Robert Gagne]]'s [[learning_theories:conditions of learning]]. In his own words,

  * "//Component Display Theory was an attempt to identify the components from which instructional strategies could be constructed.//"(([[http://mdavidmerrill.com/Papers/InstructionalTransactionTheoryReigeluth.pdf|Merrill, M. D. Instructional transaction theory (ITT): Instructional design based on knowledge objects. Instructional-design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory 2: 397–424. 1999.]]))

Aside from identifying those components, Merrill suggested their usage in order to create successful instructions. 
===== What is component display theory? =====

Influenced by [[http://www.animukerji.com/newfaculty201/gagne_bio.htm|Robert Gagne]]'s theory of [[learning_theories:conditions of learning]], Merrill agreed that **different learning outcomes require different learning strategies**, and his idea therefore was to suggest learning strategies according to target content and performance. Merrill suggested four different **categories of content**(([[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kPB-_L4JcOoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Merrill,+M.D.+%281994%29.+Instructional+Design+Theory.+Englewood+Cliffs,+NJ:+Educational++Technology+Publication.+&ots=kCYq7mNHW2&sig=t_3TvHaY0oP0MXL4ab2E5cYRQTU#v=onepage&q&f=false|Merrill, M. David. The Descriptive Component Display Theory. In Merrill, M. David, and David Twitchell. Instructional design theory, p. 112. Educational Technology, 1994.]])): 

[[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kPB-_L4JcOoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Merrill,+M.D.+%281994%29.+Instructional+Design+Theory.+Englewood+Cliffs,+NJ:+Educational++Technology+Publication.+&ots=kCYq7mNHW2&sig=t_3TvHaY0oP0MXL4ab2E5cYRQTU#v=onepage&q&f=false|{{  :images:performance-content.jpg|The Performance-Content Matrix. Source: Merrill, M. David. The Descriptive Component Display Theory. In Merrill, M. David, and David Twitchell. Instructional design theory, p. 112. Educational Technology, 1994. Click on the picture to follow the link.}}]]

  * **facts** ("//arbitrarily associated pieces of information//")
  * **concepts** ("//a set of objects, events, or symbols with shared common characteristics//"),
  * **procedures** ("//an ordered sequence of steps necessary for the learner to accomplish some goal//"), and
  * **principles** ("//or predictions of why things happen in the world//"),

and three different **categories of desired performance**(([[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kPB-_L4JcOoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Merrill,+M.D.+%281994%29.+Instructional+Design+Theory.+Englewood+Cliffs,+NJ:+Educational++Technology+Publication.+&ots=kCYq7mNHW2&sig=t_3TvHaY0oP0MXL4ab2E5cYRQTU#v=onepage&q&f=false|Merrill, M. David. The Descriptive Component Display Theory. In Merrill, M. David, and David Twitchell. Instructional design theory, p. 111. Educational Technology, 1994.]])):

  * **remember** ("//search memory in order to reproduce or recognize some item of information previously known//"),
     * generality ("//a statement of a definition, principle or the steps in a procedure//")
     * instance ("//specific illustration of an object, symbol, event, process or procedure//")
  * **use** ("apply a generality to a specific case"), and
  * **find** ("derive or invent a new abstraction").

The performance-content matrix is used to **identify learning objectives**. Each of the matrix fields presents one possible arrangement of learning content and target performance. For example, objective to teach a student to memorize facts and dates referring to First World War refers to the remember instance/facts field in the matrix, and objective to teach a student to identify humanist ideas in paintings of renaissance artists refers to the find/concept field.

Each so defined learning **objective** is further **characterized by** three components: **conditions, behavior and criterion**. Merrill constructed tables addressing these components for each of the mentioned matrix fields (Still in the mentioned tables he did not distinguish between two types of //remembering// mentioned above). An example row from the table(([[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kPB-_L4JcOoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Merrill,+M.D.+%281994%29.+Instructional+Design+Theory.+Englewood+Cliffs,+NJ:+Educational++Technology+Publication.+&ots=kCYq7mNHW2&sig=t_3TvHaY0oP0MXL4ab2E5cYRQTU#v=onepage&q&f=false|Merrill, M. David. The Descriptive Component Display Theory. In Merrill, M. David, and David Twitchell. Instructional design theory, p. 111. Educational Technology, 1994.]])) looks like this:

[[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kPB-_L4JcOoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Merrill,+M.D.+%281994%29.+Instructional+Design+Theory.+Englewood+Cliffs,+NJ:+Educational++Technology+Publication.+&ots=kCYq7mNHW2&sig=t_3TvHaY0oP0MXL4ab2E5cYRQTU#v=onepage&q&f=false|{{:images:component_row.jpg?567x150  |Specification of objectives for performance-content matrix. Image borrowed from: Merrill, M. David. The Descriptive Component Display Theory. In Merrill, M. David, and David Twitchell. Instructional design theory, p. 111. Educational Technology, 1994. Click on the picture to follow the link.}}]]

An example of interpretation is following:

  - (Under conditions when/If) given pictures/drawings (column 1)
  - of/referring to unspecified categories (column 2),
  - student will (behave to) invent categories (column 3)
  - by observing, specifying and sorting attributes (column 4),
  - with no time limits, but high correlation when others use concept (column 5),
  - which will be shown by - (column 6).

{{:images:white.jpg?10x1|}}

Now when the learning objective is fully defined, a learning presentation should be designed. According to Merrill, all cognitive matter can and should be presented as a sequence of discrete presentations composed out of primary and secondary presentation forms. **Primary presentation forms** are:

[[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kPB-_L4JcOoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Merrill,+M.D.+%281994%29.+Instructional+Design+Theory.+Englewood+Cliffs,+NJ:+Educational++Technology+Publication.+&ots=kCYq7mNHW2&sig=t_3TvHaY0oP0MXL4ab2E5cYRQTU#v=onepage&q&f=false|{{  :images:primary_presentation_forms.jpg|Primary Presentation Forms. Source: Merrill, M. David. The Descriptive Component Display Theory. In Merrill, M. David, and David Twitchell. Instructional design theory, p. 112. Educational Technology, 1994. Click on the picture to follow the link.}}]]

  * expository((The term //expository// can here roughly be explained as //talk//, //present//, or //show//.)) presentation of a generality (**rules**, //EG//)
  * expository presentation of instances (**examples**, //Eeg//)
  * inquisitory((The term //inquisitory// can here roughly be explained as //question//, //ask//, or //require practice//.)) generalities (**recall**, //IG//)
  * inquisitory instances (**practice**, //Leg//)

Merrill's **secondary presentation forms**, added in order to enhance learning, facilitate information processing and add context, include **prerequisites objectives**, **helps**, **mnemonics** and **feedback**. 

A successful instructional design should **include both primary and secondary presentation forms**. Fundamental elements of all four types of primary presentation forms based on the content type which should be learned are suggested by Merrill((See: [[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kPB-_L4JcOoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Merrill,+M.D.+%281994%29.+Instructional+Design+Theory.+Englewood+Cliffs,+NJ:+Educational++Technology+Publication.+&ots=kCYq7mNHW2&sig=t_3TvHaY0oP0MXL4ab2E5cYRQTU#v=onepage&q&f=false|Merrill, M. David. The Descriptive Component Display Theory. In Merrill, M. David, and David Twitchell. Instructional design theory, p. 123. Educational Technology, 1994.]])). He also describes them in more details and recommends them on practical examples of a simple computer application for learning. While doing that, he keeps in mind that "//one of the primary functions of instruction is to promote and guide active mental processing on the part of the student//" and that the learner should also be provided with a number of examples he wants.

===== Criticisms =====

A number of limitations of component display theory were described by Merrill himself(([[http://id2.usu.edu/Papers/ID1&ID2.PDF|Merrill, M. David, Zhongmin Li, & Jones, Mark K. Second generation instructional design (ID2). Educational Technology0: p7-14. 1990.]])):

  * Content analysis **focuses on (micro) components, rather than integrated wholes**. Each phase of instructional development is performed independently of other phases.
  * It does not really address the **issues of knowledge acquisition**.
  * The resulting instruction often** remains passive** and teaches components but not integrated knowledge and skills.
  * An instructional designer must build **every presentation from fundamental components**.

Other criticisms include lack of empirical evidence on connections between internal processes and external events, too little explanations on internal processes, and lack of category for complex learning of problem-solving(([[http://books.google.hr/books?id=NR4zexzw8wIC&pg=PA391&lpg=PA391&dq=Reigeluth+simplifying+conditions+method&source=bl&ots=jLEH-YKcNZ&sig=Dq6xOuGUFSJmjvKrAL5KSwqnUAY&hl=hr&ei=euJ9Te3aMM_HswaIy-DdBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Reigeluth%20simplifying%20conditions%20method&f=false|Spector, J. Michael. Handbook of research on educational communications and technology. Taylor & Francis, 2008.]])). In the late 1980s Merrill introduced his reconsiderations of the componend display theory named //**[[instructional_design:component design theory]]**//.
===== Keywords and most important names =====

  * **Component display theory**, **categories of content**, **categories of desired performance**, **performance-content matrix**, **primary/secondary presentation forms**
  * [[http://mdavidmerrill.com/index.htm|Dave Merrill]]
===== Bibliography =====

[[http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kPB-_L4JcOoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Merrill,+M.D.+%281994%29.+Instructional+Design+Theory.+Englewood+Cliffs,+NJ:+Educational++Technology+Publication.+&ots=kCYq7mNHW2&sig=t_3TvHaY0oP0MXL4ab2E5cYRQTU#v=onepage&q&f=false|Merrill, M. David. The Descriptive Component Display Theory. In Merrill, M. David, and David Twitchell. Instructional design theory. Educational Technology, 1994.]]

[[http://im404504.wikidot.com/cognitive-apprenticeship-component-display-theory|Learning and ID: Cognitive Apprenticeship and Component Display Theory. Learning and Instructional Design Wiki.]] Retrieved: 10. March 2011.

[[http://www.personal.psu.edu/wxh139/CDT.htm|Ho, Wenyi. Merrill's Component Display Theory (CDT). Penn State University.]] Retrieved: 10. March 2011.

[[https://sites.google.com/site/elearningsnippets/a-wiki-page/component-display-theory|An Atomic Meme wiki: Component display theory - eLearning snippets.]] Retrieved: 9. March 2011.

[[http://mdavidmerrill.com/Papers/InstructionalTransactionTheoryReigeluth.pdf|Merrill, M. D. Instructional transaction theory (ITT): Instructional design based on knowledge objects. Instructional-design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory 2: 397–424. 1999.]]

===== Read more =====

[[http://www.isbnlib.com/preview/0898592755/Instructional-design-Theories-and-Models-An-overview-of-their-current-status|Reigeluth, Charles M. Instructional-Design Theories and models: An Overview of their Current Status. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Hillsdale, New Jersey London, 1983.]]