The Programmed Sequence as an Exercise in Precise Writing

Abstract

General Electric's ' I Hanford Atomic Products Operation in Richland, Washington, is pursuing two educational goals that have become one. The first is the constant improvement of an established course in business and technical report writing. The other is a three-year-old exploration of the possible applications of programmed instruction. Surprisingly, the seemingly parallel lines leading to these separate goals have converged. Among the 300 or so students in report writing classes, there have been several manual writers and others whose job is to prepare instructional materials. These men were, of course, among the more proficient students of report writing. When the need arose to write self-instructional programs locally, these men were logical choices to do the writing. Then what happened?To answer that question, we need a preliminary review of what programmed instruction is and how programs are written.Programmed instruction is a new, effective way to train people. Either through programmed textbooks or through teaching machines, each individual student learns what he needs to know at his own pace. Students receive their knowledge from-a program writer who must do several things. The writer must know precisely and must have stated accurately his own objectives in writing the program. He must, that is, have stated to himself the exact behavior he expects of his students when they have completed the program. He must, in addition, have stated to himself accurate assumptions about the knowledge the students will bring with them when they begin the program.After this preliminary work has been done, the writer must present the subject to the students in small, learnable bits (called frames or items). He must present incremental, or increasingly