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- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!purdue!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!pop.stat.purdue.edu!hrubin
- From: hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)
- Newsgroups: sci.edu
- Subject: Re: What's happening with programmed learning/teaching machines?
- Summary: What should be; they are not good for much
- Message-ID: <55455@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
- Date: 29 Jul 92 18:08:01 GMT
- References: <13643@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> <1992Jul29.012704.23784@uvm.edu>
- Sender: news@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
- Organization: Purdue University Statistics Department
- Lines: 50
-
- In article <1992Jul29.012704.23784@uvm.edu> cavrak@emba-news.uvm.edu.UUCP (Steve Cavrak) writes:
- >From article <13643@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, by steffen@mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu (David Steffen):
-
- > ... Teaching machines simply automated this process.
-
- > This seemed like a good idea at the time, it still seems like a
- > good idea to me, and given the wide availability of computers,
- > seems much more practical now than then. Does anyone know
- > what ever happened to this concept? Has it been discredited
- > in educational circles, has it fallen between the cracks, or
- > is it in widespread use, and everyone knows about it but me?
-
- >While not totally "discredited", it certainly has passed out out vogue.
-
- >There are a number of things that are "wrong" (i.e. limiting) about
- >it.
-
- >- Skinner, who was very instrumental in proposing the original models,
- >was quite insistant that the number of "stimulus - response" pairs
- >required in getting to a level of competence was quite large. He
- >estimated something like 100,000 arithmetic "problems" to reach a 3rd
- >grade level.
-
- This exemplifies well what can be taught with programmed learning;
- manipulations and nothing else.
-
- ..................
-
- >- most of learning is not "rote" memorization or "stimulus - response"
- >but "model acquisition". People try to understand what is going on
- >about them, how things work, and what they can do next. Jerome
- >Bruner, a colleague of Skinner across the street, was one of the
- >people to point out the difference between "teaching" and "learning".
-
- Unfortunately, at this time the great bulk of material presented is
- exactly stimulus-response. It is trying to make humans act like
- computers. What is needed in education is concepts. There is a
- big amount of talk of transfer of training; what I have seen on
- this is either negative, or it is application.
-
- I was on the faculty at Michigan State University when the then
- president tried to get the various departments to adopt computer
- courses. I do not know if any did; it would have required many
- hours of manpower to produce the materials, and they would not be
- useful in 2-3 years.
- --
- Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
- Phone: (317)494-6054
- hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet)
- {purdue,pur-ee}!pop.stat!hrubin(UUCP)
-