The triad of science foundations, instructional technology, and organizational structure.

Full Abstract

Over the centuries and across all societies educational achievement does not improve. The attempt to improve the instructional process has concentrated on instructional technology. But these attempts have overlooked the importance of two other factors: the science that should underlie the instructional technologies and the organization that must operate those technologies. A considerable step forward in handling the problems of instructional effectiveness has been the derivation of instructional technologies based on Skinnerian science. But the instructional technologies based on Skinner's analysis of behavior are promoted as if they were to operate in an organizational vacuum. The division of labor, and its necessary coordination and control, is taken for granted. But in any large scale enterprise, the organization of the division of labor must fit the technology through which that enterprise achieves its mission. Educational technology must tie directly to a pertinent science and to a proper organizational structure. To teach effectively requires an overhaul along three lines: 1) a relevant science that reflects and encapsulates an accurate understanding of behavior; 2) a contingency-based technology of instruction that directly derives its practices upon proper scientific principles; and 3) a suitable organization based on teaching teams that operate the new instructional technology.

Author information

Author/s: Vargas, E A (EA);

Affiliation: B F Skinner Foundation, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States. eav222nets(-atsign-)netscape.net

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Historical Article; Journal Article; Review

Journal: The Spanish journal of psychology (Span J Psychol), published in Spain. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2004-Nov; vol 7 (issue 2) : pp 141-52

Dates: Created 2004/12/07; Completed 2005/06/14; Revised 2005/11/16;

PMID: 15581235, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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