Behavioral Instruction in the College Classroom

Although the cornerstone of modern experimental psychology has been the investigation of learning, only in recent years has behavioral technology been systematically applied to college teaching. Prior to the 1950's most research on college teaching consisted of comparisons of traditional lecture, discussion, and independent study techniques. Dubin and Taveggia (1968) re viewed 91 such comparisons and concluded that there were no significant differences in achievement favoring any of these methods; they suggested the need for developing new models of the teaching-learning situation. In the 1950's experimental psy chologists started to develop such new models by applying learn ing principles to individualize instruction (Skinner, 1954, 1958), and within several years a sophisticated technology of pro grammed and computer-ass is ted l ea rn ing had evolved (Lumsdaine & Glaser, 1960; Stolurow, 1961; Taber, Glaser, & Schaefer, 1965). Although programmed and computer-assisted instruction individualized learning, these technologies replaced the human element with high speed, and in many cases, high-cost machines. The specialized knowledge, long preparation times, and large budgets necessary to develop and maintain pro grammed systems have often proved prohibitive. Recently, an alternative strategy for individualizing instruc tion without eliminating human interaction and without adding prohibitive cost-training factors has evolved under the name of