Programmed learning

Programmed learning, teaching method whereby matter to be learned is arranged in a coherent sequence of small, clear steps (programmed), enabling the student to instruct, test, and, if necessary, correct him or herself at each step. The learning program is usually embodied in a book or booklet or adapted for use in conjunction with a teaching machine. The linear program, based on the work of psychologist B.F. Skinner, obliges the student to compare his or her own response at each step with the correct response. The intrinsic (or branching) program offers a limited choice of responses at each step. The correct response is immediately reinforced; an incorrect response obliges the student to follow a corrective subprogram leading back to the point at which the error occurred.