学習の機械化とその理論

抄録

A teaching machine is an educational tool designed to provide a program enabling a student to approach a desired educational activity by gradual steps and, by multiple reinforcements of the student's responses immediately after he has given them, to increase learning efficiency. Teaching machines deffer from audio-visual devices in that they envisage individual direction and provide an immediate feedback to the student's responses.
The teaching machines which are now being used are divided into two types, according to their response mechanism : the Pressey model (Recognition system) and the Skinner model (construction system). The effective use of either or these models depends on appropriate programming of the teaching materials used. A “program” is so devised that the student is led to follow cues and prompts which gradually reduce the successive steps necessary for the learning of the apportioned material, which must be so arranged that the student can have his correct responses reinforced at each step and thus reach his learning goal.
Teaching machines not only increase learning efficiency and reduce the teacher's burden but also make possible an empirical analysis of the learning process. As a consequence of this union of educational science and practice a shift in educational emphasis-from teacher-centered to student-centered learning-can be expected.