Instructional Systems program, professor recognized

Professor Robert Reiser and the Instructional Systems program at The Florida State University were recently ranked among those authors and organizations that, over the past 20 years, have had the most articles published in Educational Technology Research and Development, a leading research journal in the field of instructional design and technology.

Robert Reiser

Instructional Systems, a graduate program in Florida State's College of Education, was ranked second overall and first for first authorships (meaning its faculty members were the primary researchers and authors of collaborative papers) over the past 20 years in a field of 272 institutions that spans 26 countries.

"This study is truly a testament to the outstanding scholarly work in the Instructional Systems Program," said Marcy Driscoll, dean of the College of Education. "To be recognized in this study offers concrete evidence of the continued impact our program is having on the field of instructional design."

For individual authors, Reiser, a University Distinguished Teaching Professor and past program coordinator, was ranked fifth overall and third for first authorships over the same 20-year time span.

"We could not be more proud of Professor Reiser and his work," Driscoll said. "It is a tremendous opportunity for both students and faculty to be able to work with such an outstanding scholar."

Three of the five top authors overall have present or past affiliations with Florida State. In addition to Reiser, they are former professor Michael J. Hannafin and alumnus James D. Klein.

Educational Technology Research and Development is a bimonthly publication of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology and is the only scholarly journal in the field focusing entirely on research and development in instructional design and technology.

Instructional design is the process by which instruction is improved through the analysis of learning needs and systematic development of learning materials. Instructional designers often use technology and multimedia as tools to enhance instruction.

The Instructional Systems program at Florida State was founded by Robert M. Morgan in 1968 and is consistently ranked among the top programs for instructional design in the country. Faculty in the program currently hold more than $1 million in federally funded contracts and grants, together with an estimated $2 million to $3 million from sources in areas of educational technology, information technology and educational psychology. According to a 2004 study, three of the five most frequently used textbooks in the field of instructional design and technology, including the top two, were written by faculty in the Instructional Systems program at Florida State.