Programmed instruction is an instructional technology based on principles of behaviorism that involves matching a learner’s ability to instruction level and successively shaping correct responses until a learner has mastered a particular skill (Lockee et al. 2004).
B.F. Skinner coined the term program instruction (PI; 1954) and developed PI in response to problematic educational practices such as (1) aversive teacher-child interactions, (2) lack of attention to contingencies for students’ behaviors, (3) lack of instructional programs that shaped a series of behaviors into a single complex behavior, and (4) infrequent reinforcement provided to students following appropriate behavior. Skinner was inspired to develop PI following a visit to his daughter’s class in which he observed these problematic educational practices (Lockee et al. 2004). Initially, research examining PI was based on the use of teaching machines to enhance learning.
