Notes and comment

1974

British Journal of Educational Technology, 1974

It is now about a half century since Sidney Pressey forecast an immanent technological revolution in educational practice. For nearly a quarter century B. F. Skinner has been urging the widespread use of the programmed instruction techniques drawn from behaviorist research, assuring us that they will lead to revolutionary advances in educational efficiency. Largely as a result of Skinner's inventive and promotional work, programmed instruction has become widely known and quite frequently used in schools, but its impact on educational practice has been something less than revolutionary.

Av Communication Review, 1971

This report is a nontechnical summary of the results of the project, Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Learning from Programed Instruction, 3 carried out at the Department of Psychology, Uni-

1960

Instruction Purpose ADD Used for addition SUB Used for subtraction MUL Used for multiplication DIV Used for division FIX Places specified number in specified register LOAD Places contents of specified location in specified register STOR Stores contents of specified register in in specified register , CMP Three-way. branching command JMP Branching command GET Used to specify input during execution of the program PUT The PRINT command for numeric values CPUT PRINT Character AND Logical AND OR Logical OR XCH Exchange registers SHFT Shift register SOP Special operation BEGIN

Programmed Learning is a technique of giving individualized instructions using various educational tools, with or without the help of teacher. The instructional material is arranged in a specific order, and broken into small segments or parts called frames. When an instructional material is prepared by teacher, the student’s entry behavior is considered. The teacher then designs the instructional material that will help the student achieve the terminal behavior required by the course. The student is given a frame, and made to master that frame. The student can evaluate himself, or let the teacher evaluate him. Once he masters the frame, he can move to the next frame. This allows the reinforcement of the topic. The student will know if he knows the topic well, or if he needs improvement and needs to study that topic more.

1971

This report is a nontechnical summary of the results of the project, Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Learning from Programed Instruction, 3 carried out at the Department of Psychology, Uni-

Instructional Science, 1975

A BASIC Instructional Program is being developed as a vehicle for research in tutorial modes of computer-assisted instruction (CAD. Several design features will be appropriate to training in other technical areas and applicable in other instructional settings where the development of analytic and problem-solving skills is a goal.

Educational Technology Research and Development, 2005

This article reports a theoretical examination of several parallels between contemporary instructional technology (as manifest in one of its most current manifestations, online learning) and one of its direct predecessors, programmed instruction. We place particular focus on the underlying assumptions of the two movements. Our analysis suggests that four assumptions that contributed to the historical demise of programmed instruction-(a) ontological determinism, (b) materialism, (c) social efficiency, and (d) technological determinism-also underlie contemporary instructional technology theory and practice and threaten its long-term viability as an educational resource. Based on this examination, we offer several recommendations for practicing instructional technologists and make a call for innovative assumptions and theories not widely visible in the field of instructional technology.

American Journal of Nursing, 1965