The Programmed Instruction Movement

By estrohl

  • Skinner's Programmed Instruction

    Skinner's influential article, "The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching" demonstrated the concept of programmed instruction. It took larger learning task and broke them into smaller chunks in a purposeful sequence. Each part of the programmed instruction provided immediate feedback. This paved the way for the adaptive instructional systems to follow.

  • Bloom's Taxonomy

    It is a framework that list a hierarchy of six cognitive levels that a learner must progress through in order to reach mastery on a subject. It furthers the idea that learning is based on prior knowledge and skills.

  • George Miller's Short Term Memory Theory

    Miller published a paper that argued that humans have a limited capacity when it comes to short term memory. He states that the magically number of items that can be held in the short term memory is seven. This further proves that learning material should be broken down into smaller chunks.

  • Mager's Preparing Instructional Objectives

    Mager's book, "Preparing Instructional Objectives", states that what students should be able to do as a result of instruction should be clearly defined. He helped establish best practices within instructional design. Learning targets should be clear and measurable.

  • Glaser's Criterion Reinforced Measures

    Glaser published an article that countered the traditional way of assessment that compared learner to learner. He proposed measuring students performance to a predetermined set of criterion. This further emphasized that learning targets must be clearly defined.

  • Burner's Cognitive Growth

    Burner published a book that pushed the way instruction is delivered. In his book he argues that student's learn through discovery and development of their own understanding.

  • Scriven's Formative and Summative Evaluations

    Scriven's published an article that stated the importance of evaluation through out the learning process. He argues that evaluations provides critical feedback to both the instructor and learner. Continual evaluations ensure that the learning process stays on track.

  • Early Instructional Design Models

    Influential models include the Dick and Carey Model and the ADDIE Model. These models established a structured systematic approach to instructional design.