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World War II (1939 – 1945)
Psychologists and educators; such as Gagne, Briggs, and Flanagan, called upon to develop training materials for the military – especially to evaluate and test trainees to select those that were most likely to benefit from a particular training program. Very similar to the ASVAB – Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery – designed to identify the strengths of trainees for proper placement for training. -
1954 – B.F. Skinner publishes “The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching”
Skinner argued that learning was best done in small – incremental units with active participation on behalf of the learner, immediate feedback provided, self-paced learning, and evaluation of the effectiveness of the instructional materials and methods and revisions made accordingly. -
1956 – Benjamin Bloom publishes “Taxonomy of Educational Objectives”
The main argument of this work was that there are various types of learning outcomes and objectives can be classified according to the type of learner behavior described within the objective – and that a hierarchal relationship exists among the various outcomes -
1958 – National Defense Education Act
In response to the launch of Sputnik, federal aid was provided for science, math, and foreign language – indirectly launching the need for formative assessment (the testing of instructional materials, and possible revision, before they reach their final form). -
1965 – Gagne publishes “The Conditions of Learning”
Describes five domains of learning outcomes – verbal information, intellectual skills, psychomotor skills, attitudes, and cognitive strategies. Furthermore, Gagne describe nine teaching activities that he argues essential for attaining learning outcomes – along with matching these activities with their most efficient learning outcome counterpart -
1970’s – US Military & Business/Industry began instituting instructional design
Seeing the value of instructional design to improve the quality of their training and increase efficiency. -
1974 – ASVAB used in all branches of the military
