Design Principles for Computer-assisted Instruction in Histology Education: An Exploratory Study Hasan Deniz, 1,3 and Hasan Cakir 2 The purpose of this paper is to describe the development process and the key components of a computer-assisted histology material. Computer-assisted histology material is designed to supplement traditional histology education in a large Midwestern university. Usability information of the computer-assisted instruction (CAI) material was obtained through formative research methodology. Findings indicate that computer-assisted instruction should be used as complimentary to traditional histology instruction. KEY WORDS: histology education; computer-assisted instruction (CAI); microscopy; design principles. INTRODUCTION The advancements in computer technologies and the Internet have created new opportunities for teaching and learning environments (Khan, 1998). One of these opportunities is computer-assisted learning environments that simulate hands-on labo- ratory experiences in science classes, such as biology, to enhance students learning process. Combination of computer based learning environments with the Internet can provide anytime anywhere access to science laboratories to overcome inherent difficulties in the science instruction. However, the studies that report how students use this kind of environments and student attitudes towards the experience to establish design principles of these learning environ- ments are virtually non-existent in the literature. In order to address this gap, the current study investi- gates the student attitudes and utilization of a computer based learning system for histology edu- cation in a large Midwestern university. THE ROLE OF LABORATORY IN SCIENCE EDUCATION Providing students with opportunities to apply newly learned knowledge from classes to real life situations or to explore the knowledge is a crucial part of any teaching environment for student learning (Jonassen, 1998; Merrill, 2002; Savery and Duffy, 1995). One method to provide these opportunities is to add hands-on activities in the learning process. Research on teaching has shown strong ties between student achievement and implementation of hands- on activities across different grades, subjects, and schools (Brophy and Good, 1986; Von Secker and Lissitz, 1999; Wenglinsky, 2002). Hands-on activities have been widely used by educational contexts of physical and biological life sciences in secondary and higher education institutions in form of laboratory practices. Laboratory has a long lasting legacy in science education. When it was first introduced towards the latter third of the nineteenth century it created a major shift from book study of sciences (DeBoer, 1991). The Benchmarks for Science Literacy (American 1 Science Education Program, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Indiana University School of Education, Bloomington, USA 2 Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University School of Education, Bloomington, USA 3 To whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail: hdeniz@ indiana.edu Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol. 15, No. 5, December 2006 (Ó 2006) DOI: 10.1007/s10956-006-9031-5 399 1059-0145/06/1200-0399/0 Ó 2006 Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, LLC