This paper provides an overview of research trends around three First Principles regarding the design of instruction. Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction proposes five common principles based on constructivist theories of instructional design. Reigeluth adopted them as foundational principles in his work, together with situational principles to propose a scheme of common knowledge base. Keller has proposed First Principles of Motivation to Learn, consisting of five ground rules based on commonly used ARCS Model with a newly added factor of “Volition.” It reflects current research focus on self-regulated learning. Parrish’s Aesthetics Principle of Instructional Design tries to advocate aesthetic consideration to design not only learning materials, but also experiences of learning.
