Research On Instructional Complexity

The researches on the instructional complexity is an entirely new subject which takes place against a background of booming of complexity science which increasing effect of social sciences, flourishing of the research on educational complexity. And this entirely new subject is also under the background of developing of education reform forwarding open, self-organization and individuality, and is also under the background of instructional studies paradigm converting from simple to complex. The aim of the subject is, no doubt, to reveal the essence of instructional complexity, to probe the mechanism of instructional system, to post the manners of the instructional body in class, to clarify the student's acquisition in instruction. All the aim above is for the cause of revealing the instruction methodology in order to provide a basis for views on instruction and to provide source and suggestion for instruction practice.Theoretically, complexity science is the principle source of the research on the instructional complexity including general system theory, dissipative structure theory, synergetics, emergentism, chaos theory, complex adaptive system theory and self-organization theory. General system theory describes the natural qualities, structure and function and running rules of the system. Synergetic theory reveals the mechanism of multi-components system produced orderly structure through the cooperation and competition between components. Synergetics expounds how system complexity generates. Chaos theory describes the special system states between order and disorder, its characters and rules. Complex adaptive system theory describes the laws of the adaptive subject as reacting and promoting. Self-organization theory reveals the principles of the self-organization of system. All these theories put emphasis on researching system, by exploring complicacy of system, and they all provide stable theory for instructional complexity research.Essentially, instruction activity is a complex adaptive system composed by a number of students and a specific teacher under a certain instructional purpose. The subject of the complex adaptive system is the teacher and students, and the processing object is instructional information. This system is constructed by reciprocity between instructional subjects, aiming at promoting the students to develop. Teaching system characterizes by opening, adaptability, self-organization, dissipative structure. Instructional complexity is the appearance to dimensional relation and composition mingling with temporal evolution of the teaching system and the properties of teaching system would be emerged from the reciprocity between teacher and students. The constitution of instructional complexity is four components such as component complexity, structure complexity, operation complexity and evolution complexity. Component complexity means the complexity of instructional subjects itself in instruction system. Structure complexity equals to the complexity of relations and structure which form from the interaction between teacher and students in inner instruction system. Operation complexity means the complexity of instruction system and its subjects'response to instructional information. And evolution complexity indicates the complexity of the evolutional course of instruction system in instruction activities. Instruction complexity will be born with the establishment of instruction system, will be evolve with the development of instruction system, and will be also remove with the disintegration of instruction system. Instructional complexity will be visualized by instruction sceneries and teaching phenomenon.Instructional complexity bases on instructional subjects'adaptive behaviors which is under the restriction by certain rules and emerged from the interacting of the instructional subjects. Instructional subjects are of adaptability. The subjects constitute the adaptive behavior mechanism with detector, filter, memory store, processor and effector, and they can receive environmental information and transfer information to environment besides internalizing information processed to knowledge and experiences. Instructional subjects interact under certain rules."Instruction should be helpful for the development of students"is the basic rule of instruction system. Interaction between subjects is the basic mechanism which instructional complexity generates. Certain relations of subjects and the structure of instruction system will be built during interacting of instructional subjects. Meanwhile, competition and cooperation of the instructional subjects make instruction system in constantly and gradually evolving. Instructional subjects realize development by object matching, resource exchange and self-construction in the interaction. When the balance of system breaks up, instructional complexity will be born with a new aggregate model and reconstructing of the system by interacting between subjects which basis on subjects'adaptive behaviors.By exploring the principles, types and generative mechanism of instructional complexity, We can conclude the following points: (1) Instructional complexity is the properties of instruction system. (2) The origin of instructional complexity is the complexity of human. (3) Instructional complexity generates and evolves by interacting subjects. (4) Instructional complexity has its own characteristic and laws of evolution. (5) Instructional complexity has wide effect on instruction activity. Instructional complexity embraces rich meanings as following: Students are the subjects of instruction and their study is a course of self-construction. Teacher equals students in status, but he plays a different role. Teacher-student relationship produces in interaction realistically. The choice of instructional contents should lay emphasis on relevancy, suitability, exuberance and development. And the process of contents must be diversification, constructive and dynamic. Instructional process is a self-organizing process of communication and construction. Instructional environment should be a"learning community", etc. Digging the meaning of instructional complexity deep has significant guiding to instructional practice.