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-- --.-.- )-. . - _____ pi j ~1’

. . ii r .. ._. /A -

l,. Explaining Veaching Machines”

and Programming

By DAVID CRAM Division of Audio- visual Services San Jose State College

Fearon Publishers San Francisco

E -1 . iii

Objectives When you have finished reading this book, you should be able to define the term “teaching machine,” and distinguish between devices that fit the definition and those that don’t. You should be able to describe the relationship between the machine and its pro- gram with some understanding of the relative importance of each. You will have had practice in working through two styles of pro- gramming and will have an acquaintance with some of the rationale and advantages of these two styles. You will have read about two other programming styles and, finally, will have been introduced to some advantages, actual and potential, of the machines themselves.

Foreword , V

This afternoon, a school principal asked me, “What would be your advice to us about ‘teaching machines’? We are being visited by salesmen, and we think there must be something we should do to be prepared to analyze the whole teaching machine idea.” I wish that this book had been in my hand to give to him! It is my belief that he, and others concerned with education, would be helped by it.

Are you one of these: a teacher, a future teacher, a teacher of teachers, a school administrator, a school board member, a parent, a citizen concerned with the welfare and future of education? If you are, it is my guess that you will enjoy this book, and will find it will take you on your first step toward understanding programs and teaching machines. This is all to the good, too, since it seems in- evitable that what are now known as “teaching machines” and “programmed self- instruction” will hold a significant place in edu- cational programs in the immediate future.

That wise decisions be made in the selection and use of pro- grams is of great importance; that the values and special contribu- tions of teaching machines be understood by all concerned is an urgent necessity.

Before adopting programmed instruction and teaching ma- chines, the judicious will, of course, ask many questions and deserve clear answers: How do teaching machines and programs fit into the pattern of traditional instruction? What do they replace? What do they supplement ? Will teaching machines help teachers to be more effective, and if so, in what ways? What can programs and machines contribute to the solution of immediate and continuing problems of education ? Will students using programs learn more, learn better, learn faster than by present procedures? In what subjects and in which grade levels can programmed self- instruction be used? And, simply, and first, what is programmed self- instruction, and what are teaching machines?

For people asking questions such as these, I believe this book is a practical and useful introduction. Not that it tells all that is known or all that is needed to be known! Rut it does explain and illustrate this new and challenging technique in education.

RICHARD B. LEWIS San Jose State College

June 1961 -

Vii Contents:

Introduction ________. _ _______._______.______________ _ ____ ____ _____ _ ____ _ _____ _ ____._._ ____ 1 1 Definition of the term “teaching machine” ____.___________ _ _____.___ 8 P Linear programming - rationale and uses _________._____ _ ___. _ _.___ 15 3 Branching programming - rationale and uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 4 Comparison of linear and branching styles

- advantages and disadvantages ____.__._..____._.._...........~...... ___ 50 s Other programming styles _._._____.__________.......... _ _____ _ ._._.__ _ __._.____ 66 6 Conclusion ._..._..__.__.______..... _____ . . . . . . . . . _.._ . . . . . . . . . . . .._._ __ .__......... . . . .._ 77

Picture section . . . . . ..___ ___ .______.______._.......... _ _.___._____.______.________ _ ____. 83

I. ..‘! introducing the Scrambled Book

No matter whether you have heard only distant rumblings about “teaching machines” or whether you belong to the swelling legion who are all fired up about them, sooner or later you will wonder what kind you or your school district should buy. Well please don’t buy yet- let this book give you some background first.

This book is programmed like a “teaching machine” - some call it a “scrambled” book. If you are familiar with this type of book, there’s no need for you to read the explanation that follows - just turn to page 8 and plunge right in.

00000 I

The purpose of this book is, in part, to explain programming. Since this is in itself a programmed book, I won’t give you, at this point, a detailed discussion of the reason for its structure. Instead, 1’11 tell you what to expect, and a little of why, and ask your patience in following it through to the fuller explanations that come later.

, A “scrambled” book first presents an amount of information, usually less than one page. The reader must then make a response to indicate whether or not he understands the information presented. The response he makes directs him to the next page he is to read in the program. Th e new page will either correct misconceptions or present new information. The pages are numbered consecutively, but the content is scrambled to prevent anticipating where the cor- rect answer page may be found; this compels attention. Now it is time to begin the program. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8. AND REhIEhIBER, YOUCAN'TREADTHE PACESINSEQUENCE.

-2 2 (from page 4)

NOTE: If you came to this page from page one, you came the wrong way. The pages in this book can’t be read in sequence, so please go back to page one and read the directions.

While it is certainly possible to require responses from students during a motion picture showing, either through a film especially designed for this purpose or by interrupting the showing at certain moments, these response requirements are directed indifferently at all students. The slowest student in the audience is required to answer at the same rate as the fastest student - and one of advan- tages of “teaching machines” is that this lock- step is, if not finally broken, at least being seriously challenged.

Please reread the question on page 4 and choose the other alternative.

3 (from page 12)

Right! While we are possibly coming closer to a “teaching machine,” a class is not an individual; and the “teaching machine” is designed so that the student can work ir& dually with a measure of control over his own rate of progress.

To qualify as a “teaching machine,” a motion picture would have to:

1. First present information and then ask for periodic re- sponses from the student. 2. Shut itself off and wait for the student to make his response

and then start the projector again. 3. Inform the student, after he had restarted the projector, of

the appropriateness of his response. Dr. A. A. Lumsdaine designed a machine in which films con- tained in pre- threaded magazines are inserted into a projector and projected onto a small screen. In one application, a how- to- do- it film was used to show a technician how to repair a device he had never seen before. After each step in the procedure was shown, the pro- jector stopped while the technician imitated what he had seen. When each step was completed, the technician restarted the machine and went on to the next step.

Does this now constitute a “teaching machine”? Page 5 Yes Page IO No

Right .I .

4 (from page 8)

! The educational motion picture, as it is normally used, is not a “teaching machine.”

1. Although the motion picture presents information, it does not require periodic responses from the student in the form of answers, selections, or motor responses. 2. Since it does not ask for responses, it does not indicate

whether the responses are appropriate or not. 3. It does not allow the individual class member to adjust his

rate of progress to his own needs and capabilities. Imagine, however, an educational motion picture which requires that the students answer questions periodically on a printed answer form. Would this then constitute a “teaching machine”?

Page 2 Yes Page I2 No

(trom; a* e 3) Suppose an inattentive or unqualified person were to try to repair the device, using this machine to help. One mistake on the part of the technician could be disastrous, There is no way to guar- antee that a mistake will be noticed, because no means are provided for either the machine or the student to detect erroneous responses. If a mistake is made, it will he noticed only by chance.

i Please return to page 3 and take i

6 (from page 8)

The educational motion picture, as it is normally used, does present factual information but does not satisfy any of the other conditions set down for a “teaching machine;” no response is called for, no feedback is given, and the student has no control over his rate of progress.

The standard educational motion picture, then, is similar to a well- prepared lecture, but is not a “teaching machine.”

(from iage 10) At last we’ve set up the conditions under which a motion picture and a projector can constitute a “teaching machine.” Notice that it is the organization (programming) of the film and the way it is used, and not the projector, that determines whether it is a “teach. ing machine.”

What, then, is meant by the term “teaching machine”? This term has been used loosely to refer to programmed self- instruction in general; but as we have seen, the organization of the program (and the program itself) determine whether it fits the criteria. We could, perhaps, refer to the machine simply as a “program holder” thus placing it in a more appropriate relationship to the program; but while this would be adequate for most of the machines now in existence, it would exclude machines that add important instruc tional dimensions of their own. In this book, for want of better terminology, “program” will refer to content and organization; “machine” will mean most presentation devices; and “program holder” will include programmed books (like this one) and the simplest of machines.

Please accept a word of caution: In the field of programmed self4nstruction, the newcomer is often confronted with flashing lights, levers, and other intricate and exciting visual and auditory events, making it too easy to be dazzled by the presentation device before the essence of the matter- the program- is even men- tioned. Since the same “program” may often be adaptable to several different modes of presentation, only some of which require ma- chines, I shall deliberately play down the role of the machine until later, when we’ll see that there may be distinct advantages to ma. chines in some situations.

Please choose between these rtcrtements: Page I4 I accept your remarks about programs and machines,

at least for the time being. Page 13 I’m not sure I understand what’s so wrong with get-

ting the machlnes first and h figuring out the bett ways of using them.