A Comparison of Programmed Learning and Note‐making at Two Age Levels*

S ummary . Two investigations were undertaken to examine learning from two different forms of programmed instruction. In one condition, subjects were asked to make continuous responses to a linear programme; in the other, subjects were asked to work through the same programme presented in the form of a text‐book, and to make their own notes. Differences in learning were examined at two age levels. Twenty postgraduate students in a Department of Education took part in one investigation, and thirty‐six first year grammar school pupils formed the subjects for the other. The students reached the same level of achievement from both forms of the programme, but the grammar school pupils who worked from the programme learned better than those who worked from the text. Student comments on learning by these methods are described and the use of the efficiency index as an evaluative measure is discussed.