The method of programming outlined in this book represents a major contribution to the growing body of literature in programmed learning. It is the first book in the field to present a carefully designed, complete and integrated system for analyzing, organizing and structuring learning materials in programmed form. Application of the system is illustrated through the step-by-step construction of two short programs. Starting with the analysis of the syllabus and course content, the authors take the reader through each phase of the programming process gathering and organizing the content material, construction of the program matrix and flow diagram and finally, the writing of frames. Every teacher and trainer can benefit from the application of this method to lesson plan preparation and to classroom teaching techniques. Such a method is essential, for all those who are writing programmed materials. In a new computer age classroom environment, programmed learning can be especially beneficial. C. A. Thomas, I. K. Davies, D. Openshaw, and J. B. Bird are instructors or directors at the British Royal Air Force School of Education. They are pioneers in the application of programmed learning in Britain and are highly regarded as forward looking and creative educational research workers. Their accomplishments include, in addition to this ingenious book, the design and development of the Empirical Tutor, one of Britain's major teaching machines, and the publication of a number of technical papers in the field of programmed learning. Lawrence M. Stolurow is professor emeritus of psychological & quantitative foundations at the University of Iowa.

Over the past century, educational psychologists and researchers have posited many theories to explain how individuals learn, i.e. how they acquire, organize and deploy knowledge and skills. The 20th century can be considered the century of psychology on learning and related fields of interest (such as motivation, cognition, metacognition etc.) and it is fascinating to see the various mainstreams of learning, remembered and forgotten over the 20th century and note that basic assumptions of early theories survived several paradigm shifts of psychology and epistemology. Beyond folk psychology and its naïve theories of learning, psychological learning theories can be grouped into some basic categories, such as behaviorist learning theories, connectionist learning theories, cognitive learning theories, constructivist learning theories, and social learning theories. Learning theories are not limited to psychology and related fields of interest but rather we can find the topic of learning in various disciplines, such as philosophy and epistemology, education, information science, biology, and – as a result of the emergence of computer technologies – especially also in the field of computer sciences and artificial intelligence. As a consequence, machine learning struck a chord in the 1980s and became an important field of the learning sciences in general. As the learning sciences became more specialized and complex, the various fields of interest were widely spread and separated from each other; as a consequence, even presently, there is no comprehensive overview of the sciences of learning or the central theoretical concepts and vocabulary on which researchers rely. The Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning provides an up-to-date, broad and authoritative coverage of the specific terms mostly used in the sciences of learning and its related fields, including relevant areas of instruction, pedagogy, cognitive sciences, and especially machine learning and knowledge engineering. This modern compendium will be an indispensable source of information for scientists, educators, engineers, and technical staff active in all fields of learning. More specifically, the Encyclopedia provides fast access to the most relevant theoretical terms provides up-to-date, broad and authoritative coverage of the most important theories within the various fields of the learning sciences and adjacent sciences and communication technologies; supplies clear and precise explanations of the theoretical terms, cross-references to related entries and up-to-date references to important research and publications. The Encyclopedia also contains biographical entries of individuals who have substantially contributed to the sciences of learning; the entries are written by a distinguished panel of researchers in the various fields of the learning sciences.

On Parent's Day, in 1952, B. F. Skinner visited his daughter's fourth grade math class. As he watched the lesson, he became increasingly uncomfortable. Almost every principle of effective teaching that he had studied for more than 20 years was being violated in that classroom. Yet it was a typical class. The teacher showed how to solve the day's problems, then gave the students a worksheet to do. Some children began to work readily while others shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, or raised their hands for help. The teacher went from desk to desk, giving help and feedback. Skinner knew what was needed. Each student should be given a problem tailored precisely to his or her skill level, not to the class average, and every answer needed to be assessed immediately to determine the next step. The task was clearly impossible for one teacher. That afternoon, Skinner set to work on a teaching machine. Today's computers have made the mechanical machine obsolete, but the principles of how to design instruction in steps that lead from a basic level to competent performance are as valid today as they were in the 20th century. This book brings together Skinner's writings on education during the years he was most involved in improving education.

How ed tech was born: Twentieth-century teaching machines--from Sidney Pressey's mechanized test-giver to B. F. Skinner's behaviorist bell-ringing box. Contrary to popular belief, ed tech did not begin with videos on the internet. The idea of technology that would allow students to "go at their own pace" did not originate in Silicon Valley. In Teaching Machines, education writer Audrey Watters offers a lively history of predigital educational technology, from Sidney Pressey's mechanized positive-reinforcement provider to B. F. Skinner's behaviorist bell-ringing box. Watters shows that these machines and the pedagogy that accompanied them sprang from ideas--bite-sized content, individualized instruction--that had legs and were later picked up by textbook publishers and early advocates for computerized learning. Watters pays particular attention to the role of the media--newspapers, magazines, television, and film--in shaping people's perceptions of teaching machines as well as the psychological theories underpinning them. She considers these machines in the context of education reform, the political reverberations of Sputnik, and the rise of the testing and textbook industries. She chronicles Skinner's attempts to bring his teaching machines to market, culminating in the famous behaviorist's efforts to launch Didak 101, the "pre-verbal" machine that taught spelling. (Alternate names proposed by Skinner include "Autodidak," "Instructomat," and "Autostructor.") Telling these somewhat cautionary tales, Watters challenges what she calls "the teleology of ed tech"--the idea that not only is computerized education inevitable, but technological progress is the sole driver of events.

The primary purpose of this book is to trace the theoretical methodological foundations of American educational technology. It must be emphasized that this work is essentially as history of the process of educational technology rather than of products in the form of devices or media. Although media have played an important rode in educational technology, the reader should not lose sight of the central process which characterizes and underlies the true historical meaning and function of educational technology. Moreover, the assumption is made that all current theory, methodology, and practice rests upon the heritage of the past. Indeed, a common problem in the field has been the failure, in many instances, to take adequate account of past history in planning for the present or the future. A related purpose of this book is to provide a selective survey of research in educational technology as it relates to the American public schools. Such research reviews are not intended to be comprehensive, but were included because of their historical importance and their relevance in understanding the process of educational technology.