Three objective rules of sequencing applied to programed learning materials

Abstract

Most educational researchers and instructional development specialists would readily agree that there is an articulation problem between laboratory studies and classroom applications. However, if one of the purposes of research is to provide information for better decisions with regard to technique and methodology, the transformation of theory into practice is necessary. One of the areas in which articulation between basic and applied educational research is a problem is in the transformation of conceptual rules and hypotheses into instructional materials. A survey of literature dealing with the type of learning known as concept acquisition reveals a general lack of attempts to apply the results of years of observation to development of classroom materials (Carroll, 1964; Clark, 1971; K. Stolurow, 1971). This report addresses the issue of the application of concept acquisition theory by 1) discussing the nature of concept acquisition, 2) reviewing several earlier studies dealing with concept acquisition, and 3) describing two related studies which attempt to apply sequencing rules developed in the earlier studies to the design of instructional materials.