Instructional design for online course delivery in engineering management: Synthesizing learning styles, pedagogical perspectives and contingency factors

Online course delivery can not only help meet the increasing flexibility demanded by students, but also enhance collaborative learning. Moreover, online delivery allows access to students and markets that are not served through the traditional face-to-face delivery mode. Despite these potential benefits, and the opportunities created by the advancements in information and communications technologies, there are still many barriers to the market penetration of online education programs. This paper explores the implications of learning theories, pedagogical aspects and other contingency factors for instructional design in the context of online delivery of tertiary courses. A synthesis of extant knowledge pertaining to these perspectives is presented in the form of an integrated conceptual framework for guiding future work.