David Merrill Biography

Biography
EDTC 5753
Mark Jones

M. David Merrill, PhD


Dr. David Merrill is one of the most influential names in the field of Instructional Design. For over four decades, Merrill has provided many contributions to Instructional Design. This is a brief summary of his background and accomplishments.

Dr. Merrill’s interest in instruction began while on his mission for the Mormon Church in 1959. The range of teaching abilities of the missionaries that he observed intrigued him. When he returned from his mission, he decided to pursue his interest in how to best teach people.

Merrill earned his bachelor’s in secondary education from BYU in 1961, and he earned his master’s and PhD from the University of Illinois in 1964. Throughout his preparation, however, he still felt that no one was directly addressing the issue of how to design effective instructional materials. This fact inspired his research and development that today qualifies him as a pathfinder in the field of Instructional Design.

Throughout his career, Dr. Merrill has developed or co-developed several Instructional Design theories, including Component Display Theory, Elaboration Theory (with Charles Reigeluth), and Instructional Transaction Theory (with the ID2 Research group). Component Display Theory is considered by Merrill to be a first generation ID theory and was based on Gagne’s conditions for learning. Instructional Transaction Theory, a second generation ID theory, is intended to provide the specificity lacking in CDT that is necessary to develop the components needed for creating instructional design expert systems, such as an instructional design algorithm and the construction of knowledge objects.

Merrill has also been a pioneer in the development of computer-based instruction. He led the team that developed an instructional authoring system known as TICCIT (Time-shared Interactive Computer Controlled Information Television), which was funded by the NSF. TICCIT has served as a benchmark in many ways to the development of CAI systems today.

Merrill has provided his knowledge and expertise to several academic institutions and corporations. Merrill has been a faculty member for Utah State University since 1987 where he is now an emeritus professor. Other academic institutions he has worked with include the University of Southern California, Brigham Young University, and George Peabody College for Teachers. He has also taught in several institutions internationally, such as Twente University in The Netherlands, and the University of Indonesia. Corporately, Merrill has provided leadership for educational technology companies, including being founder, director, and president of Microteacher, Inc., as well as being founder, director, and Vice President for Research for Courseware, Inc.

Today, Dr. Merrill independently contracts himself as an instructional effectiveness consultant. He has held many major instructional consulting contracts throughout his career, including Arthur Anderson & Company, IBM, the US Air Force Human Resources Lab, and United Airlines Services Corporation. His major research contracts have included the National Science Foundation, Navy Personnel Research and Development Center, US Air Force, US Department of Defense, Apple Computer Corporation, and others.

As stated earlier, Dr. Merrill has been a pathfinder in Instructional Design. This is exemplified by the fact that he founded and directed the Instructional Science Department as well as the Division of Instructional Research, Development, and Evaluation at BYU. Merrill has been a prolific author on topics related to Instructional Design. His publications include 12 books, 65 journal articles, 16 book chapters, 123 technical reports, and more. He has also performed work on 18 instructional computer products and expert system prototypes.

Merrill is widely considered one of the founding fathers to the field of instructional design. Just as a father laments seeing his child go astray, Merrill has expressed his disappointment in how the field has moved towards a philosophical base. Merrill firmly believes that designing instruction should rely on scientifically proven methods and procedures. These feelings were outlined clearly in one of the most often quoted instructional design articles, “Reclaiming Instructional Design”, which “threw down the gauntlet” on what Instructional Design should and should not be. He best summarizes his thoughts with the statement. “It is possible to know where we are going. We still have a long way to go, but abandoning the path of scientific method and following the uncertain wilderness of philosophical relativism will distract us from our goal and unnecessarily delay our journey” (Merrill, 1996).

Dr. Merrill now resides in Kahuku, Hawaii with his wife Dixie where he works with BYU Hawaii. They have 6 children and 24 grandchildren. His birthday is March 27th (which is 4 days after mine).


References:

Merrill, D., Drake L., Lacy M. J., and Pratt, J. (1996). Reclaiming
instructional design. Educational Technology, 36(5), 5-7.

Merrill, D. (n.d.). M. david merrill resume. Retrieved Mar. 16, 2006,
from http://cito.byuh.edu/merrill/text/resume.htm.

Morad, O. A. (1997). Research project. Retrieved Mar. 16, 2006,
from http://research.umbc.edu/~hodell/602rp5.htm.

Instructional Technology Global Resource Network, (n.d.). Merrill. Retrieved Mar. 16, 2006, From
http://www.ittheory.com/merrill.htm.

Amazon, (n.d.). Profile for m. david merrill. Retrieved Mar. 16, 2006,
From http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A32KC62XUJ7YW6/104-2486362-5056749.