1. Instruction should be organized in increasing order of complexity for optimal learning: choose an epitome and add elaborations in subsequent lessons. Reigeluth (1979) used the analogy of a zoom lens to explain the nature of this elaborative sequence.

• " A person starts with a wide angle view, which allows one to see the major part of the picture and the major relationships among those part (e.g. the composition or balance of the picture), but without any detail."
• "Zooming in at one level on a given part of the picture allows the person to see the major subparts."
• "After having studied those subparts and their interrelationships, the person could then zoom back out to the wide-angle view to review the other parts of the whole picture and to review the context of this part within the whole picture."
• " The person continues this pattern of zooming in at one level to see the major subparts of a part and zooming back out for context and review, until the whole picture has been seen at the first level of detail."
• " The person follows the same zoom-in/zoom-out pattern for the second level of detail, the third level, and son on, until the desired level of detail is reached."

2. The learner needs to develop a meaningful context into which subsequent ideas and skills can be assimilated.
3. Sequencing Strategies may be topical or spiral.

1. Organizing Course Structure: An elaborative sequence: the organizing structure may be one of three types: conceptual, procedural, or theoretical
2. Simple to complex: choose an epitome, which contains simplest and most fundamental ideas, in the first lesson, and then add elaborations in subsequent lessons.
3. Within-lesson sequence: general to detailed, simple to complex, abstract to concrete.
4. Summarizers are content reviews
5. Synthesizers: they are presentation devices designed to help the learner integrate content elements into a meaningful whole and assimilate them into prior knowledge.
6. Analogies relate the content to learners' prior knowledge.
7. Cognitive strategies: variety of cues--pictures, diagrams, mnemonics, etc.--can trigger cognitive strategies needed for appropriate processing of material.
8. Learner control: Learners are encouraged to exercise control over both content and instructional strategy. Clear labeling and separation of strategy components facilitates effective learner control of those components.

Two fundamental types of sequencing strategies in elaboration theory

1. Topical Sequencing: a topic or task is taught to whatever depth of understanding or competence is required before moving to the next one.
2. Spiral Sequencing: the learners mater a topic or task gradually in several passes, i.e. learning the basics of one topic, then another, then another before returning t learn more about each topics.
   

Wilson and Cole (1992) make four recommendations for restructuring Reigeluth's elaboration theory:

1. Deproceduralize the theory: In its current form, explicit steps are provided for designing and sequencing instruction. Elaboration theory should be reformulated into a set of guiding principles referenced more clearly to learning processes. A principle-based formulation will allow practicing designers to adapt the concepts to a greater variety of instructional situations.
2. Remove unnecessary design constraints: A number of ET prescriptions constrain designer options without a demonstrable return in the form of instructional effectiveness. Examples include: the use of three primary structures (conceptual, procedural, and theoretical); tying together the primary course goal and primary organizing structure; and using a single structure as a basis for organizing the entire course. These prescriptions make ET's application more standardized and parsimonious.
3. Base organization and sequencing decisions on learners' understandings as well as the logic of the subject matter
4. Assume a more constructivist stance toward content structure and sequencing strategy

A New Approach: SCM (Simplifying Conditions Method)
Reigeluth (1999) proposed a specific method to provide practical guidelines to make a very different kind of simple-to-complex sequence from the hierarchical sequence. It is more holistic approach than the hierarchical task analysis.

How to design an SCM sequence?

1. Phase One: Prepare for analysis and design:]

• Establish rapport with a SME
• Identify the characteristics of the task in general
• Identified the characteristics of the learners in general
• Identify the delivery constraints

2. Phase Two: Identify the first learning episode:

• What is the simplest version of the task that is representative to the task as a whole and to describe the conditions
• Organizing content: the organizing structure differs based on the nature of the task: procedural, heuristic (causal model), or combination of both
• Supporting content: identifying information, understanding, skills, metacognitive/higher order thinking skills, and affective qualitative directed to the task; analyze the above information and skills down to the entry level
• Size: making sure the amount of learning required for this version of the task fits the size of the episode for your course
• Within-episode sequence

3. Phase Three: Identify the Next learning episode

• Identify the next simplest version of the task that is fairly representative of the task as a whole
  
• Organizing content, supporting content, size and within-episode sequence
• Remaining version

The major contributions of this theory are identified by Reigeluth (1999):

• Detailed guidance for designing holistic sequences for several kinds of course content.
• Guidance for scope and sequence decisions for heuristic tasks, including heuristic task analysis methods.

References:
Reigeluth, C. M. (1979). In search of a better way to organize instruction: The elaboration theory. Journal of Instructional Development, 2 (3), 8-15.

Reigeluth, C. M. (1999). The elaboration theory: Guidance for Scope and Sequences Decisions. In R. M. Reigeluth, (Ed.), Instructional-design theories and models: An new paradigm of instructional theory, Volume II, pp. 425-454. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Reigeluth, C. M., & Stein, R. (1983). Elaboration theory. In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional-design theories and models: An overview of their current status. Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum.

Wilson, B., & Cole, P. (1992). A critical review of elaboration theory. Educational Technology Research and Development, 40 (3), 63-79.

Behaviorism

• Skinner's Programmed Instruction
• Keller's Personalized System of Instruction (PSI)

Cognitivism

• Gagné's Nine Events
• Reigeluth's Elaboration Theory
• Component Display Theory (CDT)
• Instructional Transaction Theory (ITT)

Constructivism

• Anchored Instruction
• Case-Based Reasoning
• Cognitive Flexibility Theory (CFT)
• Jonassen's Constructivist Learning Environments (CLEs)
• Mayer's SOL
• Open-Ended Learning Environments (OELEs)
• Perkins and Unger's Teaching and Learning for Understanding (TfU)
• Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
• Situated Learning