Programmed Instruction

Programmed Instruction (PI) is one of the earliest teaching methods that derive from behavior analysis. The PI movement was influenced by B.F. Skinner's early work with “teaching machines,” and possibly because of these roots, it is characterized by small units of learning, and small steps from one concept to the next, with speedy feedback on active responding. PI tries to achieve errorless learning in this way. Early computer-based training followed a similar model, although the capabilities of the computer to “branch” based on learning progress and errors committed allowed CBT to be less linear.