"Effective instruction must engage the student in all four levels" (Merrill, 2001).


Merrill’s 1st Principles of Instruction
Instructional Design Model
A cheat-sheet created for educators based on information from M. D. Merrill‘s article “First Principles of Instruction."
The most effective learning environments are those that are problem-based and involve the student in four distinct phrases of learning. According to Merrill (2001) those phrases include:
Activation of prior experience
Demonstration of skills
Application of skills
Integration of these skills into real-world activities