The order that material, for both facts and skills, is presented or explored by a learner can influence what is learned, how fast performance increases, and sometimes, even that the material is learned at all. This volume explores some of the foundational topics in this area of intersection between psychology, machine learning, and others.

SECTION 1. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS; SECTION 2. FUNDAMENTAL EXPLANATIONS OF ORDER: EXAMPLE MODELS; SECTION 3. GETTING IN AND OUT OF ORDER: TECHNIQUES AND EXAMPLES FROM EDUCATION AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN; SECTION 4. CONCLUSIONS

"...full of good content and an extensive set of references."--Ergonomics in Design "...a detailed book on the role of order in learning. Authors deal with the main goal of showing the relevance of the sequence of information, topics, procedures, etc. in learning. The book is very well organized and it comes from a research program involving five work groups all interested in learning, and the influence of 'order' on learning... A great effort has been put into guiding the reader through the contents of the book in a gentle and effective manner....I would suggest this book to researchers interested in the topic of learning and teaching because it develops an original and uncommon point of view that could be difficult to find in more general educational literature; it also provides a valuable resource to reflect on the role of order in learning and teaching practice."--Paola Palladino as reviewed in Infant and Child Development

Frank Ritter helped start the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State, and is affiliated with the psychology, computer science and engineering departments. He also helped start the International Conference on Cognitive Modeling and the tutorial series at the Cognitive Science Conference. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Technische Universität Chemnitz in 2005. Josef Nerb is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Education in Freiburg, Germany, where he also serves as a Vice Dean for teaching and learning. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Freiburg and did a post-doc at the University of Waterloo, Canada, supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellowship. Erno Lehtinen is Vice rector and former Dean of the School of Education at Turku University, where he is a professor of education. He is a past president of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI). Tim O'Shea is the Principal (President) of the University of Edinburgh. Previously he was Master of Birkbeck College, and professor of information technology and education at the Open University.