Wendy Catwright, age 15, of Dodge City, Kan., for her question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST TEACHING MACHINE USED?
A teaching machine is a device that presents instructional material to students and requires that they respond to it. The first teaching machines were testing machines and their programs were tests. An American psychologist named Sidney Pressey first used these machines during the 1920s.
Modern teaching machines use a technique developed by B.F Skinner, another American psychologist. During the 1950s, Skinner investigated the learning process and found that people efficiently learn complicated behavior if they receive an immediate reward each step toward that behavior. A person using a teaching machine is rewarded by being told that an answer was correct and by going on to new material.
Unlike television and motion pictures, which also may present educational material, teaching machines require active participation by the student. The student may push a button, type on a keyboard or write on paper in the machine.
The educational material in a teaching machine is called a program. Pressey's first machines asked multiple choice questions, one at a time. The student answered each question by pressing a lever. The machine did not present a new question until the correct lever had been pressed.
Students prepared for the early machine tests by studying with a teacher. But they also learned from the tests because they could correct errors immediately.
Teaching machines are based on the view that a student learns best by working in small steps that gradually increase in difficulty.
Teaching machines range from simple cardboard or paper devices to complex electronic equipment. The three major types are programmed texts, mechanical devices and computers.
The effects of teaching machines are much like those of tutors working individually with students.
Computers present lessons on a printed sheet, on a screen similar to a television screen or by audio messages. Students respond by typing answers, touching the screen or pointing a lighted wand at the screen.
Before instruction begins, the computer can test students to determine the best instructional material for each. During the session, it can check a student's progress to determine whether to provide extra help.
At the end, the computer can measure the student's achievement and report it to the student. This teaching method is called computer assisted instruction (CAI).
Drill and practice CAI supplements study with a teacher. It gives practice in applying what the teacher has taught. It usually does not introduce new material.
Tutorial CAI develops ideas and skills independent of a teacher.
Dialogue CAI allows students to make up problems and have the computer show how to solve them. With one system, students carry on a "conversation" with the computer and ask it questions.