Dr. V.K. Maheshwari, Ph.D

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

This period of 900 years from 322 B.C. to 600 A.D. is full of philosophical excitement and innovation. Philosophers transformed old problems and introduced new ones, in such a way as to turn the subject in fresh directions. Much that we encounter in modern philosophy takes its character from the developments of this time. Seventeenth and eighteenth century philosophy cannot be fully understood without it. Since the history of philosophy is a continuous story, this period in its turn cannot be fully understood without some knowledge of Plato and Aristotle. It connects well with the Medieval Philosophy paper, which from 2001 will include Islamic, as well as Latin Medieval Philosophy

The value of the study of the history of philosophy ought to be apparent. Intelligent persons are . interested in the fundamental problems of existence and in the answers which the human race has sought to find for them on the various stages of civilization. Besides, such a study helps men to understand their own and other times; it throws light on the ethical, religious, political, legal, and economic conceptions of the past and the present, by revealing the underlying principles on which these are based. It likewise serves as a useful preparation for philosophical speculation; passing, as it does, from the simpler to the more complex and difficult constructions of thought, it reviews the philosophical experience of the race and trains the mind in abstract thinking. In this way we are aided in working out our own views of the world and of life. The man who tries to construct a system of philosophy in absolute independence of the work of his predecessors cannot hope to rise very far beyond the crude theories of the beginnings of civilization.

By the history of Greek philosophy we mean the intellectual movement which originated and developed in the Hellenic world, Greek philosophy begins with an inquiry into the essence of the objective world. It is, at first, largely interested in external nature (philosophy of nature), and only gradually turns its eye’ inward, on man himself, or becomes humanistic. The first great problem is: “What is nature and, therefore, man? the second: What is man and, therefore, nature? The shifting of the interest from nature to man leads to the study of human-mental problems, the study of the human mind and human conduct, the study of logic, ethics, psychology, politics, poetics. The attention is next centered, more particularly, upon the ethical problem  what is the highest good, what is the end and aim of life? Ethics is made the main issue; logic and metaphysics are studied as aids to the solution of the moral question. Finally, the problem of God and man’s relation to him, the theological problem, is pushed into the foreground, and Greek philosophy ends, as it began, in religion.

Ancient Greek philosophy may be divided into the pre-Socratic period, the Socratic period, and the post-Aristotelian period. The pre-Socratic period was characterized by metaphysical speculation, often preserved in the form of grand, sweeping statements, such as “All is fire”, or “All changes”. Important pre-Socratic philosophers include Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Democritus, Parmenides, and Heraclitus. The Socratic period is named in honor of the most recognizable figure in Western philosophy, Socrates, who, along with his pupil Plato, revolutionized philosophy through the use of the Socratic method, which developed the very general philosophical methods of definition, analysis, and synthesis. While Socrates wrote nothing himself, his influence as a “skeptic” survives through Plato’s works. Plato’s writings are often considered basic texts in philosophy as they defined the fundamental issues of philosophy for future generations. These issues and others were taken up by Aristotle, who studied at Plato’s school, the Academy, and who often disagreed with what Plato had written. The post-Aristotelian period ushered in such philosophers as Euclid, Epicurus, Chrysippus, Hipparchia the Cynic, Pyrrho, and Sextus Empiricus.

Pre-Sophistic period,

The first great problem was taken up in what we may call the Pre-Sophistic period, which extends, let us say, from about 585 to the middle of the fifth century B.C. The earliest Greek philosophy is naturalistic. its attention is directed to nature , it is mostly hylozoistic.it conceives nature as animated or alive ; it is ontological .it inquiries into the essence of things, it is mainly monistic , it seeks to explain its phenomena by means of a single principle ,it is dogmatic : it naively presupposes the competency of the human mind to solve the world-problem. The scene of the philosophy of this period is the colonial world, it flourishes in Ionia, Southern Italy, and Sicily.

The Pre-Sophistic were the first philosophers of the West. They found a way to break out of the reigning mythic mentality and sought to explain nature rationally by means of speculative principles of various kinds generated on the basis of critical observationof the world. Because of this, and because they originated in Milesia on the island of Ionia, the earliest of them are sometimes called Milesian physicists.

This shift from mythic to rational mentality can be characterized as a movement from Who? and Why? questions about the cosmos to What? and How? questions. This shift occurred in part as a side-effect of frustration with the irreconcilable conflict of answers to Who? and Why? questions that were encountered on a regular basis in the trading city of Milesia, where cosmogonic myths would have been swapped along with goods.

The Pre-Sophistic explanations of nature assumed that there were four basic elements (as compared with our much more extensive list of basic elements): earth, water, air, and fire. Their quest to explain nature had to account for these elements as well as the objects and process in nature that these elements made possible.

It can be argued that the Pre-Sophistic bequeathed a number of basic issues to subsequent philosophy.

1. The Problem of the Ultimate Nature of Reality- This problem can be expressed with the following question: What is the ultimate nature of reality, and how can we find out this ultimate nature?

2. The Problem of the Constituents of Ultimate Reality- This problem can be expressed with the following question: What kinds of things, ultimately, are in reality

3. The Problem of Humanity and Ultimate Reality- This problem can be expressed with the following question: How do human affairs relate to ultimate reality?

The  Pre-Sophistic quest to answer the What? and How? questions can be understood to have taken four basic directions.

1. Quest for material principle that explains nature

Thales (c.585, Milesia): water is the fundamental material principle that divides to produce the diversity of natural objects and processes.

Anaximander (c.611-547, Milesia): the apeiron (non-perceptible ultimate) is the fundamental material principle that separates into hot and cold, wet and dry, to form the diversity of natural objects and processes.

Anaximenes (c.550, Milesia): air is the fundamental material principle that divides to produce the natural diversity of the cosmos.

Heraclitus (c.500): fire is the fundamental material principle, which allows speaking of nature as a dynamic process developing within tensions of opposites. Heraclitus said, “you cannot step twice into the same river”.

2. Quest for one formal principle that explains nature

Pythagoras (c.570-c.500): religious leader, mathematician, wrestler, musician, healer, philosopher. He founded a secret society whose members believed the cosmos to be a mathematical-musical harmony.

Parmenides (c.500, Elea): reality is one, eternal, unchanging. From this it follows that the world of appearances is illusory and that the ultimate is non-sensible, reachable only by pure thought and argument (this proved to be a crucial influence upon Plato). Parmenides’ student, Zeno, elaborated famous arguments for his teacher’s viewpoint.

3. Quest for plurality of principles that explain nature

Empedocles (c.490-430): the four elements (fire, air, water, earth) combine or divide (through the basic principles of love and strife) to produce the order and chaos of nature as we experience it.

Democritus (c.460-380): the basic constituents of reality are numerous microscopic, solid, varied, indivisible atoms; these atoms collide in the void of space and accumulate to make the objects and processes of nature.

4. Quest for teleological principles that explain nature

Anaxagoras (c.500-428): “Mind” outside of the cosmos forms a lump of matter that is not distinguished into parts. After this initial originating event, the objects of the ordered cosmos result from natural changes requiring no special Mind-intervention (rather than being Mind-made substances).

Diogenes (c.470): Anaximenes’ air is Anaxagoras’ Mind, or intelligence; it enlivens all things. The world is optimally ordered because Mind is its fundamental principle.

The period of the Sophists

The period of the Sophists, who belong to the fifth century, is a period of transition. It shows a growing distrust of the power of the human mind to solve the world-problem and a corresponding lack of faith in traditional conceptions and institutions. This movement is skeptical, radical, revolutionary, indifferent or antagonistic to metaphysical speculation; in calling attention to the problem of man, however, it makes necessary a more thorough examination of the problem of knowledge and the problem of conduct, and ushers in the Socratic period. Athens is the home of this new enlightenment and of the great schools of philosophy growing out of it.

Protagoras  ( 490-421) B.C. was the most famous of the Sophists, who were free-enterprise, itinerant teachers of philosophy; it is difficult to be sure about their teachings, and its is highly likely that their teachings were greatly varied, as already mentioned. However, there appear to be several theses—moderated aspects of the famous caricature of Sophism—to which Protagoras was committed.

Phenomenalism: Protagoras attempted to explain reality in terms of the world of appearances, with all of its contradictions. He thought observation of those appearances was a more trustworthy way of finding out about ultimate reality than pure reason, unaided by experience. Thus he rejected those elements of the pre-Socratic quest for deep explanations that tried to penetrate behind the veil of appearances. So, for example, he probably would have thought the Eleatic philosophers absurd, obsessed with a vain goal, deluded by their own infatuation of the powers of reason. There is simply not much point in trying to press beyond appearances, because human reason is an unreliable guide. This low view of human reason corresponds to a generally skeptical view of human moral and intellectual capacity.

Relativism: Because access to ultimate reality is not possible or practical for human reason, it is necessary to regard moral, aesthetic and political value as determined not by nature but by convention. Thus the famous phrase, “man is the measure of all things.”

Democracy: On the one hand, virtue and political wisdom so understood can be taught to a considerable extent, and indeed must be taught if it is to be possessed at all, so the right to rule cannot be awarded on the basis of wealth or birth or social position. On the other hand, humans are notoriously corrupt, so the best way to protect societies from the tendency toward corruption of its rulers is to adopt a democratic political policy. It might be messy, but it is more resilient to corruption because power is distributed widely in a democracy. Power might corrupt, but absolute power corrupts absolutely, and this state of affairs is very likely given the natural depravity of human beings.

Sophists thought that thinking about this problem of the one and the many was a waste of time, and so you have to be content with the irreducible plurality of the world of appearances. They believe that  it was vain to try to sort out this dilemma; you have to be content with the apparent flux of reality.

Sophists thought that the sensible, the experience-able, had to be the ultimate guide for human understanding of reality, and that there was no point speculating on the origin of order and chaos, and that equilibrium of individual life and human society was achieved when and so long as human beings made it so.

The humans could know because their experience gave them information about the world. This also indicates the reasons for the limits that exist on the human capacity to know reality, and the happy person was the one who was self-contained, who could take fair advantage of society’s goods to secure his or her needs and desires.

Sophists believes that society was responsible for delivering human beings from savagery and chaos, and that it was steadily evolving through its production of goods and culture. Avoiding the collapse of this evolution is achieved with highest probability when government is democratic.

The Socratic period

The Socratic period, which extends from 430 to 320 B.C. is a period of reconstruction. Socrates was an inspiring philosopher, the teacher of Plato for probably 20 years, and a ceaseless seeker after truth and goodness, according to Plato.

Socrates’ influence is measured especially through Plato, his most famous pupil, who often makes Socrates a character in his dialogues, usually expressing Plato’s point of view (though not always). In the Republic, Socrates is the ideal human, the philosopher-archetype for humanity, an illustration of the key to personal happiness and social justice.

Though reputedly a brilliant dialectician, like the Sophists, Socrates opposed receiving money for his teaching as they did (he probably didn’t need the cash like the Sophists did!). He thought Sophists were not truth-seekers because of their phenomenalism and relativism.

By contrast with Protagoras, Socrates thought that ultimate reality was deceptive at the level of appearances, but that reason, freed from its indebtedness to experience, could penetrate the veil of appearances to discern the form of ultimate reality that lies beyond. This optimistic estimate of human reason corresponds to an optimistic view of the ability of humans to secure happiness and social justice through education in philosophy: the unreflective life is not worth living.

Socrates defends knowledge against the assaults of skepticism, and shows how truth may be reached by the employment of a logical method. He also paves the way for a science of ethics by his efforts to define the meaning of the good. Plato and Aristotle build upon the foundations laid by the master and construct rational theories of knowledge (logic), conduct (ethics), and the State (politics). They likewise work out comprehensive systems of thought (metaphysics), and interpret the universe in terms of mind, or reason, or spirit. We may, therefore, characterize this philosophy as critical: it investigates the principles of knowledge ; as rationalistic : it accepts the competence of reason in the search after truth; as humanistic: it studies man; as spiritualistic or idealistic: it makes mind the chief factor in the explanation of reality. It is dualistic in the sense that it recognizes matter as a secondary factor.

Socrates was suspicious of experience of appearances, and optimistic about the powers of human reason to penetrate those appearances He thought that being was ultimately basic, and becoming a secondary quality of the world of appearances.

Socrates believes that being was ultimately basic, and becoming a secondary quality of the world of appearances. The source of order was the unseen world of forms, and that equilibrium between order and chaos was achieved when society and personal life modeled themselves after the forms

Socrates thought that humans are able to know reality because they bear within themselves the nature of the forms, and a kind of resonance is set up between the world and human understanding, somewhat like remembering. Humans are able to know reality because they bear within themselves the nature of the forms, and a kind of resonance is set up between the world and human understanding, somewhat like remembering.

Socrates thought that the truly happy person is the one who can see the forms, the world of ideas, and so be free of the preliminary, finite concerns and fears of life, and the pure reason could deduce the arrangement of the ideal society, which consisted in a limited aristocracy of education, so that the most gifted would rule and live communally, while others would live according to the laws set by those passing the arduous tests of education

The Post-Aristotelian Period

The last period, the Hellenistic or Post-Aristotelian period of the Ancient era of philosophy comprises many different school of thought developed in the Hellenistic world (which is usually used to mean the spread of Greek culture to non-Greek lands conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th Century B.C.),  which extends from 320 b.c. to 529 a.d., when the Emperor Justinian closed the schools of the philosophers, is called the Post-Aristotelian. The scene is laid in Athens, Alexandria, and Rome. Two phases may be noted, an ethical and a theological one.

(a) The paramount question with Zeno, the Stoic, and Epicurus, the hedonist, is the problem of conduct: What is the aim of rational human endeavor, the highest good? The Epicureans find the answer in happiness; the Stoics in a virtuous life. Both schools are interested in logic and metaphysics: the former, because such knowledge will destroy superstition and ignorance and contribute to happiness; the latter, because it will teach man his duty as a part of a rational universe. The Epicureans are mechanists; according to the Stoics, the universe is the expression of divine reason,

(b) The theological movement, which took its rise in Alexandria, resulted from the contact of Greek philosophy with Oriental religions. In Neo-platonic Era, its most developed form, it seeks

to explain the world as an emanation from a transcendent God who is both the source and the goal of all being.

The loss of political freedom was followed by a period of torpor of the creative energies of the Greek mind Speculation, in the highest sense of constructive effort, was no longer possible and philosophy became wholly practical in its aims. Theoretical knowledge was valued not at all, or only in so far as it contributed to that bracing and strengthening of the moral fiber which men began to seek in philosophy, and for which alone philosophy began to be studied. Philosophy thus came to occupy itself with ethical problems, and to be regarded as a refuge from the miseries of life. All these influences resulted in

(1) a disintegration of the distinctively Greek spirit of philosophy and the substitution of a cosmopolitan spirit of eclecticism;

(2) a centering of philosophical thought around the problems of human life and human destiny; and

(3) the final absorption of Greek philosophy in the reconstructive efforts of the Greco-Oriental philosophers of Alexandria.

But, while metaphysics and physics were neglected in this anthropocentric movement of thought, the mathematical sciences, emancipating themselves from philosophy, began to flourish with new vigor. The astronomers of Sicily and later those of Alexandria stand out of the general gloom of the period as worthy representatives of the Greek spirit of scientific inquiry.

The post-Aristotelian schools of the Roman period were more interested in practical, moral matters than they were in metaphysical speculation. The old Romans had insisted on attention to character and a code of living to build that character. Now that the ideal of the old Roman Republic had been replaced, it was the calling of philosophers to come up with a code for living. With this emphasis on practical and moral standards of living, philosophy gained more popular appeal among the cultured classes of the Hellenistic-Roman world.

The principal schools of this period are:

(a) Stoicism

(b) Skepticism

(c) Epicureanism

(d) Neo-Platonism

Stoicism

Stoicism was by far the most systematic and influential of the Hellenistic schools, yet all the textual evidence for its earliest and philosophically most rigorous period is fragmentary and deficient. Where Socrates seems to have held that the condition of the soul was incomparably more important than that of the body, while bodily health was yet a significant (conditional) good, the Cynics and Stoics alike professed utter indifference to the body, maintaining that virtue of soul was not only necessary but sufficient for happiness. Zeno’s researches in physics, ethics and especially logic were consolidated and extended by the third head of the Stoic school, Chrysippus (280-207 BC), the most important of the Stoics, the loss of whose voluminous writings may well be the most tragic deficiency in the transmission of antique philosophy to modern times.

Stoic philosophy absorbed influences as diverse as Parmenides, Heraclitus, Democritus, Aristotle and the Cynics into its own original outlook with such ingenuity that it became a byword for philosophical systematicity, and was so far from being a contrived amalgam to have provided a natural-seeming guide to life for many subsequent generations of well-born Greeks and Romans, including Cicero and Seneca.

Skepticism

To be skeptical is to cast doubt; to deny that what others claim to be known, can be known. Radical philosophical skepticism attempts to adopt such an attitude toward all knowledge-claims without exception. This kind of skepticism was first formulated in the ancient world, by Pyrrho (365-270 BC) and by Arcesilaus (316-242 BC),.

(A) Pyrrhonian skepticism

Pyrrhonian skepticism takes its name from Pyrrho of Elis, the founder of Greek skepticism Like almost every Greek philosophical outlook, Pyrrhonist was eudaemonist; that is, it supposed that the highest good was eudemonia or human well-being .It identified eudemonia with tranquility or freedom from disturbance (ataraxia). This in turn was held to result only from the suspension of belief  (epochê) attendant upon the impression that the appearances warranted no claims to knowledge.

Recent work by M Burnyeat has drawn attention to the ways in which Pyrrhonian skepticism differs from modern forms of skepticism made possible by Descartes. Most importantly,

(i)                 Descartes’ revolutionary conception of the mind drew the distinction between appearance and reality in a completely new way: what had counted for the ancients as “how things appear” became, for Descartes, elements of an immediately known inner mental reality; and

(ii) the Pyrrhonists put their epistemic theorizing in the service of an ethical purpose in a characteristically Greek way: the whole point, in the end, was the attainment of ataraxic and thereby of eudemonia. Descartes is quite explicit in divorcing his skeptical arguments from any practical considerations.

(B) Academic skepticism

The other strain of ancient skepticism takes its name from Plato’s Academy. It tended to claim descent less from Platonic doctrine than from the results of the Socratic elenchus which were indeed skeptical. But the tradition’s founder, Arcesilaus (316-242 BC) generalized Socratic skepticism: like Pyrrho, who may well have influenced him, he purported to reject all knowledge claims,

Recent scholarly opinion has it that Academic skepticism until the first century BC had much in common with Pyrrhonist: most importantly, a refusal to endorse any knowledge-claims whatsoever, including the claim that nothing can be known. But under the headship of Philo of Larissa (159-84 BC) the Academy became much more moderate, particularly in its opposition to Stoicism .It was partly in response to this rapprochement that Aenesidemus defected from the Academy and revived Pyrrhonism.

Epicureanism

Epicurus (341-271 BC). Epicurean ethics and cosmology have so much in common with Stoicism that it is tempting to see the hostile attitude of many Stoics (Cicero and Plutarch loathed Epicureanism) as an instance of the special enmity reserved for closely-aligned factions in fact Epicurus and his followers so much tempered their philosophical hedonism, according to which pleasure is the only thing good in itself, with rigorous prudential calculation that their conception of the good life ended up very close to an asceticism more usually associated with the Cynics, and indeed with the Stoics themselves. (In this the Epicurean position resembles that set out by Socrates, almost certainly insincerely, toward the end of Plato’s Protagoras.)

De Rerum Natura, Lucretius’s virtuosic Latin hexameter epic written at least two centuries after Epicurus’s death, contains the most influential presentation of Epicurus’s celebrated argument that death is not to be feared: roughly: since we cease to exist at death, the “state” of death cannot be counted an evil for us because it is literally nothing, having no subject to characterize. This argument, or rather its conclusion, was crucial to Epicurean ethics, in that ubiquitous unhappiness was diagnosed as a result of the ambitions, frustrations and anxieties born of a misconceived fear of death. Conversely, happiness (eudemonia) was identified with tranquility (ataraxia) – an identification common to Pyrrhonian skepticism.

Epicurus’s physics, again like the Stoics’, is materialistic – atomistic, in fact, as Epicurus seems to have modified the cosmology of Democritus only to the extent he believed necessary to accommodate the criticisms of Aristotle.

Neo-Platonism

Neo-Platonism is the tradition, founded by Plotinus  (205-271 AD), of reformulating Platonic doctrine, with major modifications and accretions partly designed to accommodate criticisms of Aristotle and the Stoics.

(a) Plotinus and pagan Neo-Platonism

The highest principle of the Plotinian system is the One, which is strictly ineffable and eludes any characterization. All modes of being are “emanations” of the One. These form a hierarchy. The perfection of a mode of being is correlated with its degree of unity, and (what coincides with this) with its independence from the spatiotemporal order. The highest mode is the “World-mind” (nous), which shares many features of Aristotle’s unmoved mover and contains the Platonic Forms as elements. Next is the “World-soul” (psuchê), which creates time and space through its discursive thought. Nature (phusis) is the lowest creative principle, corresponding to the Stoic World-soul Bare matter is the lowest possible mode of being.

The asceticism and mysticism characteristic of Plato’s middle period are especially pronounced in Plotinus. The perfection of the soul requires a turning-away from material nature, through intellectual self-purification. The utmost mental discipline might yield a glimpse of ecstasy, wherein the soul is fleetingly identified with the supreme unity of the One.

(b) St Augustine and Christian Neo-Platonism

Augustine was born in Thagaste, in Algeria, in 354, A.D .The philosophy he unsystematically expounded in some of these works is an ingenious synthesis of neo-platonic and Christian doctrine. God plays the role of the Plutonian One, and an understanding of his reality and nature can only be attained by the divine illumination attendant upon an act of faith.

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

Epicurus quotes (Greek philosopher, BC 341-270)

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

Marks are the bases for important decisions made by the student, teachers, councilors, parents, school administration and employers. They can also serve as incentive for increased motivation. Presently marks and reports become the bases for crucial decisions about the educational and occupational destiny of the student.

How marks are the bases for the following decisions:

A) Teachers and counselors use marks to assess past accomplishments , and to assess present ability to  help the student in making educational and vocational plans for the future.

B ) The student uses marks to appraise his own educational accomplishments, to select major and minor areas of study, and  to decide whether to terminate or to continue his formal education.

C ) Parents use marks to determine which ( if not all ) of their children should send to some specific college and to estimate the probability of success any one child might have in advanced study and particular vocation

D) School and college administrators, faced with limited educational facilities, use marks as the basis for admission to advance study and as indications of the student’s  progress after admission.

E) Employers use marks in selecting the applicant most likely to perform best the service they require. Park of hue and cry over marks and marking systems stems from the major role marks desirably and undesirably play in the lives of our students.

Marks can also serve as incentives or positive reinforces. Incentives can increase motivation by raising the anticipation of reaching a desired goal. Incentives can yield learned expectancies. A student who has learned to expect good marks for competent performances will approach most educational tasks with more vim and vigor than will the student who has learned to expect poor marks for inadequate performances. Marks, therefore, not only convey information for crucial decisions but also provide important motivational influences.

The Bases of Marks

In terms of performance assessment, the basis for the assignment of marks is the student’s achievement of the instructional objectives. Unfortunately all teachers do not agree that achievement of instructional objective should be the exclusive basis for marking. Instead they use several other basis.

A)     They often base grades on the student’s attitude, or citizenship, or desirable attributes of character. A student who shows a cooperative attitude, responsible citizenship, and strength of character receives a higher mark than a student who shows a rebellious attitude, under developed citizenship, and weakness of character.

B)       Teachers often base marks on the amount of effort the student invests in achieving instructional objectives, whether or not these efforts meet with success. Conceivably, the student who expends more effort and does not succeed may receive a higher mark than does a student who expends less effort and does succeed.

C)      Teachers base marks on growth or how much the student has learned, even though this amount falls short of that required by the instructional objective.

The Marking Systems

The marking system generally used are based on three types of standards:

A) Absolute

B) Criterion-related

C) Relative standards

Absolute-

It is some times called the absolute system because it assume the possibility of the student achieving absolute perfection. It is based on a 100% mastery. Percentage below 100 represents less mastery. According to the definition of absolute standards of achievement, 100% could simply mean that the student has attained the standard of acceptable performance specified in the instructional objective. With the absolute standard, it is harder to explain the meaning of any percentage below 100 since the student achieves or does not achieve ( all or none ) the required standard. A grade of less than 100% could indicate  the percentage of the total number of instructional objectives a student has achieved at some point  during or at the end of the course.

Criterion-related-

Criterion-related standards do not rely on absolute mastry of every  objective. Instead they depend on criterion established by the teacher who has considered the number and kind of objectives which must be met before the next  stage of instruction can be entered. In this way they are more meaningful because they can recognize differential levels of competence and achievement and allow some students  to achieve above the minimum performance required for  all students. Teachers who use percentage grades rarely adopt either of these interpretations, and their grades, despite their deceptive arithmetical appearance, convey no clear information about student achievement.

Relative standards-

The more popular marking system consists of the assignment of letter grades: A, B, C, D, and F. A denotes superior, B good, C average, D fair and F failing or insufficient achievement. It is sometimes called the relative system because the grades are intended to describe the student’s achievement relative to that of other students rather than to a standard of perfection or mastery. An ordinary but by no means universal assumption of this marking system is that the grading should be on the curve.  The  curve in question is the normal probability curve. A teacher may decide that one class has earned more superior or failing grades than another class which, in turn, has earned more average and good grades.

Scoring Essay Test

Essay test scoring calls for higher degrees of competence, and ordinarily takes considerably more time, than the scoring of objective tests. In addition to this, essay test scoring presents two special problems. The first is that of providing a basis for judgment that is sufficiently definite, and of sufficiently general validity, to give the scores assigned by a particular reader some objective meaning. To be useful, his scores should not represent purely subjective opinions and personal biases that equally competent readers might or might not share. The second problem is that of discounting irrelevant factors, such as quality of handwriting, verbal fluency, or gamesmanship, in appealing to the scorer’s interests and biases. The reader’s scores should reflect unbiased estimates of the essential achievements of the examinee.

One means of improving objectivity and relevancy in scoring essay tests is to prepare an ideal answer to each essay question and to base the scoring on relations between examinee answers and the ideal answer. Another is to defer assignment of scores until the examinee answers have been sorted and resorted into three to nine sets at different levels of quality. Scoring the test question by question through the entire set of papers, rather than paper by paper (marking all questions on one paper before considering the next) improves the accuracy of scoring. If several scorers will be marking the same questions in a set of papers, it is usually helpful to plan a training and practice session in which the scorers mark the same papers, compare their marks and strive to reach a common basis for marking.

The construction and scoring of essay questions are interrelated processes that require attention if a valid and reliable measure of achievement is to be obtained. In the essay test the examiner is an active part of the measurement instrument. Therefore, the viabilities within and between examiners affect the resulting score of examinee. This variability is a source of error, which affects the reliability of essay test if not adequately controlled. Hence, for the essay test result to serve useful purpose as valid measurement instrument conscious effort is made to score the test objectively by using appropriate methods to minimize the effort of personal biases and idiosyncrasies on the resulting scores; and applying standards to ensure that only relevant factors indicated in the course objectives.

The Point or Analytic Method

In this method each answer is compared with already prepared ideal marking scheme (scoring key) and marks are assigned according to the adequacy of the answer. When used conscientiously, the analytic method provides a means for maintaining uniformity in scoring between scorers and between scripts, thus improving the reliability of the scoring.

This method is generally used satisfactorily to score Restricted Response Questions. This is made possible by the limited number of characteristics elicited by a single answer, which thus defines the degree of quality precisely enough to assign point values to them. It is also possible to identify the particular weakness or strength of each examinee with analytic scoring. Nevertheless, it is desirable to rate each aspect of the item separately. This has the advantage of providing greater objectivity, which increases the diagnostic value of the result.

The Global/Holistic of Rating Method

In this method the examiner first sorts the response into categories of varying quality based on his general or global impression on reading the response. The standard of quality helps to establish a relative scale, which forms the basis for ranking responses from those with the poorest quality response to those that have the highest quality response. Usually between five and ten categories are used with the rating method with each of the piles representing the degree of quality and determines the credit to be assigned. For example, where five categories are used, and the responses are awarded five letter grades: A, B, C, D and E. The responses are sorted into the five categories

This method is ideal for the extended response questions where relative judgments are made (no exact numerical scores) concerning the relevance of ideas, organization of the material and similar qualities evaluated in answers to extended response questions. Using this method requires a lot of skill and time in determining the standard response for each quality category. It is desirable to rate each characteristic separately. This provides for greater objectivity and increases the diagnostic value of the results.

Improving Objectivity in Marking in Essay Test

The following are procedures for scoring essay questions objectively to enhance reliability.

i. Prepare the marking scheme or ideal answer or outline of expected answer immediately after constructing the test items and indicate how marks are to be awarded for each section of the expected response.

ii. Use the scoring method that is most appropriate for the test item. That is, use either the analytic or global method as appropriate to the requirements of the test item.

iii. Decide how to handle factors that are irrelevant to the learning outcomes being measured. These factors may include legibility of handwriting, spelling, sentence structure, punctuation and neatness. These factors should be controlled when judging the content of the answers. Also decide in advance how to handle the inclusion of irrelevant materials (uncalled for responses).

iv. Score only one item in all the scripts at a time. This helps to control the “halo” effect in scoring.

v. Evaluate the answers to responses anonymously without knowledge of the examinee whose script you are scoring. This helps in controlling bias in scoring the essay questions.

vi. Evaluate the marking scheme (scoring key) before actual scoring by scoring a random sample of examinees actual responses. This provides a general idea of the quality of the response to be expected and might call for a revision of the scoring key before commencing actual scoring.

vii. Make comments during the scoring of each essay item. These comments act as feedback to examinees and a source of remediation to both examinees and examiners.

viii. Obtain two or more independent ratings if important decisions are to be based on the results. The result of the different scorers should be compared and rating moderated to reflect the discrepancies for more reliable results.

Scoring Objective Test

Answers to true–false, multiple-choice, and other objective-item types can be marked directly on the test copy. But scoring is facilitated if the answers are indicated by position marking a separate answer sheet. For example, the examinee may be directed to indicate his choice of the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth alternative to a multiple-choice test item by blackening the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth position following the item number on his answer sheet.

Answers so marked can be scored by clerks with the aid of a stencil key on which the correct answer positions have been punched. To get the number of correct answers, the clerk simply counts the number of marks appearing through the holes on the stencil key. Or the answers can be scored, usually much more quickly and accurately, by electrical scoring machines. Some of these machines, which “count” correct answers by cumulating the current flowing through correctly placed pencil marks, require the examinee to use special graphite pencils; others, which use photoelectric cells to scan the answer sheet, require only marks black enough to contrast sharply with the lightly printed guide lines. High-speed photoelectric test scoring machines usually incorporate, or are connected to, electronic data processing and print-out equipment.

Objective test can be scored by various methods. Various techniques are used to speed up the scoring:

i. Manual Scoring

In this method of scoring the answer to test items are scored by direct comparison of the examinees answer with the marking key. If the answers are recorded on the test paper for instance, a scoring key can be made by marking the correct answers on a blank copy of the test . Scoring is then done by simply comparing the columns of answers on the master copy with the columns of answers on each examinee’s test paper. Alternatively, the correct answers are recorded on scripts of paper and this script key on which the column of answers are recorded are used as master for scoring the examinees test papers.

ii. Stencil Scoring

Here separate sheet of answer sheets are used by examinees for recording their answers, it’s most convenient to prepare and use a scoring stencil. A scoring stencil is prepared by pending holes on a blank answer sheet where the correct answers are supposed to appear. Scoring is then done by laying the stencil over each answer sheet and the number of answer checks appearing through the holes is counted. At the end of this scoring procedure, each test paper is scanned to eliminate possible errors due to examinees supplying more than one answer or an item having more than one correct answer.

iii.  Machine Scoring

If the number of examinees is large, a specially prepared answer sheets are used to answer the questions. The answers are normally shaded at the appropriate places assigned to the various items. These special answer sheets are then machine scored with computers and other possible scoring devices using certified answer key prepared for the test items. In scoring objective test, it is usually preferable to count each correct answer as one point. An examinee’s score is simply the number of items answered correctly.

Correction for guessing

One question that often arises is whether or not objective test scores should be corrected for guessing. Differences of opinion on this question are much greater and more easily observable than differences in the accuracy of the scores produced by the two methods of scoring. If well-motivated examinees take a test that is appropriate to their abilities, little blind guessing is likely to occur. There may be many considered guesses, if every answer given with less than complete certainty is called a guess. But the examinee’s success in guessing right after thoughtful consideration is usually a good measure of his achievement.

Since the meaning of most achievement test scores is relative, not absolute—the scores serve only to indicate how the achievement of a particular examinee compares with that of other examinees—the argument that scores uncorrected for guessing will be too high carries little weight. Indeed, one method of correcting for guessing results in scores higher than the uncorrected scores.

The logical objective of most guessing correction procedures is to eliminate the expected advantage of the examinee who guesses blindly in preference to omitting an item. This can be done by subtracting a fraction of the number of wrong answers from the number of right answers, using the formula S = R – W/(k – 1) where S is the score corrected for guessing, R is the number of right answers, W is the number of wrong answers, and k is the number of choices available to the examinee in each item. An alternative formula is S = R + O/k where O is the number of items omitted, and the other symbols have the same meaning as before. Both formulas rank any set of examinee answer sheets in exactly the same relative positions, although the second formula yields a higher score for the same answers than does the first.

Logical arguments for and against correction for guessing on objective tests are complex and elaborate. But both these arguments and the experimental data point to one general conclusion. In most circumstances a correction for guessing is not likely to yield scores that are appreciably more or less accurate than the uncorrected scores.

Reporting-

The most popular method of reporting marks is the report card. Most modern report cards contain grades and checklist items. The grades describe the level of achievement, and the checklists describe other areas such as effort, conduct, homework, and social development.

Because the report card does not convey all the information parents sometimes seek and to improve the cooperation between parents and teachers school often use parent-teacher conferences. The teacher invites the parents to the school for a short interview. The conferences allow the teacher to provide fuller descriptions of the student’s scholastic and social development and allow parents to ask questions, describe the home environment and plan what they may do to assist their children’s educational development. There are inherent weaknesses in the conferences and ordinarily they should supplement rather than replace the report card.

Despite the rather obvious limitations of validity, reliability, and interpretation, reform of these marking systems has had only temporary appeal. Reforms advocating the elimination of marks have failed because students teachers, counselors, parents, administrators, and employers believe they enjoy distinct advantages  in knowing the student’s marks. Many know that marks mislead them, but many believe that some simplified knowledge of the student’s achievement is better than no knowledge at all.

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

Discovery learning is known as active learning because you participate actively in the learning process rather than passively receiving knowledge as if you are an empty vessel to be filled by the instructor.

Discovery learning has been on the educational forefront since the 1940s, when psychologist Jerome Bruner developed the first theories around the idea that perception is an active process. Aligned with the research of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980), Bruner expanded on the concept that people are better able to remember new information when they are able to connect it to something they already know.

Discovery learning is a powerful instructional approach that guides and motivates learners to explore information and concepts, embrace new knowledge, and apply new behaviors back on the job.  Discovery learning is an inquiry-based, constructivist learning theory that takes place in problem solving situations where the learner draws on his or her own past experience and existing knowledge to discover facts and relationships and new truths to be learned. Students interact with the world by exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments. As a result, students may be more likely to remember concepts and knowledge discovered on their own .

Discovery learning can be defined simply as a learning situation in which the principal  content of what is to be learned is not given, but must be independently discovered by  the learner, making the student an active participant in his learning. It is a learning method that encourages students to ask questions and formulate their own tentative answers, and to deduce general principles from practical examples or experiences.

Nature of Discovery Learning

Unfortunately there has been considerable confusion over whether learning by discovery refers to

1-      A method of teaching

2-       A method of learning, or

3-       Something you learn

Even when there Is agreement that is something you learn, it is not clear whether this some-thing refer to specific principles or problem solutions , the ability to solve many problems by the application of a single principles, a structure of knowledge in a given discipline, the technique of discovery, or simply interest in the satisfaction of creative urge. You can take your pick of these and many other outcomes In order to perform some useful pedagogical function with regard to discovery learning; we will adopt a particular definition of it. Discovery learning refers to those teaching situations in which the student achieve the instructional objectives with limited or no guidance from the teacher. The chief characteristic is the amount of guidance the teacher provides Wittrock(1963) developed a useful scheme for classifying the amount of instructional guidance the teacher may provide in problem solution;

1-      The teacher may give the principle and problem solution- a situation which later call expository teaching

2-      The teacher may give the principle which applies but not give the problem solution

3-       The teacher may not give the principle but give the problem solution

4-      The teacher may give neither the principle which applies nor the solution to the problem- a situation which we shall describe as unguided discovery.

Between expository teaching and unguided discovery we have an intermediate area often described as guided discovery. The procedure  which we examined for problem solving fall into this intermediate zone. The teacher assists in the recall and application of the relevant principles-in this sense he gives the principles but not the solution of the problem.

Attributes of discovery learning

Discovery learning is based on the assumption that education is a process, not a set of facts.

1) Exploring and problem solving to create, integrate, and generalize knowledge-

The first attribute of discovery learning is a very important one In this attribute, students rather than the teacher drive the learning. Expression of this attribute of discovery learning essentially changes the roles of students and teachers and is a radical change difficult for many teachers to accept. students take on an active role to create, integrate, and generalize knowledge. Instead of engaging in passively  accepting information through lecture or drill and practice, students establish broader applications for skills through activities that encourage risk-taking, problem solving, and an exa mination of unique experiences

2) Student driven, interest-based activities in which the student determines the sequence and  frequency-

A second attribute of discovery learning is that it encourages students to learn at their own pace .Through discovery learning, some degree of flexibility in sequencing and frequency with learning activities can be achieved. Learning is not a static progression of lessons and activities. This attribute  contributes greatly to student motivation and ownership of their learning.

3) Activities to encourage integration of new knowledge into the learner’s existing knowledge base.

Through exploring and problem solving,- it is based on the principle of using existing knowledge  as a basis to build new knowledge .Scenarios with which the students are familiar allow the students to build on their existing knowledge by extending what they already know to invent new

4)learning is process-oriented rather than content-oriented,– the focus shifts from the end product, learning content, to the process, how the content is learned. The focus in discovery learning is learning how to analyze and interpret information to understand what is being learned rather than just giving the correct answer from rote memorization. Process-oriented learning can be applied to many different topics instead of producing one correct answer to match one question that is typically found in content-oriented learning. Discovery learning pushes students to a deeper level of understanding. The emphasis is placed on a mastery and application of overarching skills (Bonwell, 1998).

5) Learning is active rather than passive — (Mosca & Howard, 1997), First, in discovery learning, students are active. Learning is not defined as simply absorbing what is being  said or read, but actively seeking new knowledge. Students are engaged in hands-on activities that are real problems  needing solutions. The students have a purpose for finding answers and learning more (Mosca & Howard, 1997).

6) Failure is important,– , failure in discovery learning is seen as a positive circumstance (Bonwell, 1998). Discovery learning emphasizes the popular lesson learned from Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison is said to have tried 1,200  designs for light bulbs before finding one that worked (Love, 1996). When someone asked Edison if he felt  discouraged by so many failures, he responded that he never felt discouraged because he had learned thousands of  designs that do not work. Learning occurs even through failure. Discovery learning does not stress getting the right  answer. Cognitive psychologists have shown that failure is central to learning (Schank & Cleary, 1994). The focus  is learning and just as much learning can be done through failure as success. In fact, if a student does not fail while  learning, the student probably has not learned something new (Schank & Cleary, 1994).

7) Feedback is necessary–, an essential part of discovery learning is the opportunity for feedback in the learning process (Bonwell, 1998). Student learning is enhanced, deepened, and made more permanent by discussion of the topic with other learners (Schank & Cleary, 1994). Without the opportunity for feedback, learning is left incomplete. Instead of students learning in isolation, as is typical in the traditional classroom where silence is expected, students are encouraged to discuss their ideas to deepen their understanding. (Bonwell, 1998), and 5) understanding is deeper (Papert, 2000).

Planning or Designing of Discovery learning

Dr. Roger Schank and Chip Cleary (1994) have proposed five main designs for categorizing the  planning, /designing,  for discovery learning. These are

1) case-based learning,

2) incidental learning,

3) learning by exploring/conversing,

4) learning by reflection, and

5) simulation-based learning. By utilizing these architectures, teachers can build activities to allow their students to discover the desired concepts.

Case-based learning

The first design is case-based learning. Case-based learning has been in use for a long time. Business, law, and medical schools were some of the first groups of educators to adopt case based learning. Schools of education investigated case-based learning in the early 1900s, Teacher education programs are now beginning to adopt the method (Baker, 2000). Essentially, case based learning is done through the use of stories or vignettes (cases) that contain the information or circumstances the teacher wants the students to learn. Students must examine the cases and base their attempts to make decisions on their knowledge of the content area

Incidental learning

Incidental learning is probably the most entertaining form of discovery learning. In incidental learning, students gain knowledge “in passing” Learning is a by-product of an incidental learning task in which the students are engaged. Students typically love participating in incidental learning because many times the task takes the form of a game. Incidental learning activities work well with dull topics and rote memorization  because they provide motivation to learn topics or skills that are typically perceived by students as not very interesting but are in the curriculum. Two examples of incidental learning would be to have a classroom game show or to make a crossword puzzle on the desired topic. Incidental learning, because of its game-like quality, can be motivational to students. Students often become interested in the topic of study and look for answers because they want to do the activity and must have the knowledge to do it. Many incidental activities are also suited to students being involved in the creation process; hence, additional discovery opportunities result.

Learning by exploring/conversing Learning

Learning by exploring/conversing Learning by exploring is also known as learning by conversing. This type of discovery learning is based on an organized collection of answers to questions individuals can ask about a particular topic or skill. The learning by exploring method is much like the Socratic method of questioning, answering, and In this architecture, curiosity is intended to serve as a dramatic motivational tool.

Learning by reflection

In learning by reflection, students learn to apply higher-level cognitive skills by using an interrogative Learning by reflection allows the student to learn to ask better questions. By learning to ask better questions, the students learn to do more sophisticated analyses. A teacher who employs the learning by reflection architecture typically answers questions with more questions to model how to better ask questions so that answers can be found. The teacher does not answer the student’s question directly. Instead, the teacher leads the student through reflecting on what he or she already knows and then guides the student in finding the answer. Students not familiar with discovery learning find learning by reflection exasperating until they become better at the skill of asking good questions . Learning by reflection requires a great deal of patience on the part of the teacher also because the purpose of this architecture is to discover better lines of questioning and reflect on previous knowledge. Teachers must watch as students struggle and follow errant lines of questioning when seeking an answer. The students must make the mistakes and learn from them in order for their ability to ask sophisticated questions to develop so that they might better reflect on topics.

Simulation-based learning

Simulation-based learning is essentially role-playing. Students are given an artificial environment that allows for the opportunity to develop and practice a complex set of skills or witness the application of abstract concepts. The benefit of students learning in a simulation rather than a real-life situation is that time and or the natural environment can be manipulated to guide discovery .Also, students do not have to worry about the impact of failing in a simulation. Technology has played a major role in making simulations easier to incorporate into the classroom. Computers allow for variability in more components of the simulation environment by taking the burden of manually manipulating data. Through technology, simulations can be much more realistic and authentic than without the use of the technology..

Teaching Strategies

Taba and his associates(1964), using a social studies curriculum, for the elementary schools, studied the effect of various  teaching strategies on thought processes. The curriculum was organized as series of basic  ideas the students were to learn and apply in a variety of contexts. Taba’s major objective was to teach thinking rather than substantive knowledge. She classify thinking as  occurring at three levels.

1-      The lowest level is the grouping and labeling of information

2-      Interpreting information and making inferences

3-      Predicting consequences

Taba believed that these levels describe specific thought processes the student must master in sequential order. When introducing new subject matter, the teacher must recycle the student through the three levels of thought.

The teacher employs four teaching strategies in this recycling process:

1-      He provides focusing, which establishes both the topic and the particular angle for its treatment. For example, the teacher makes this statement: “If the desert had all the water it needed, what would happen?” In this way the teacher focuses the ensuing discussion.

2-      The teacher extends the thought at the same level. He does this by giving or seeking information or by providing elaboration or clarification on already established thought levels.

3-      The teacher lifts the thought to a higher level. He may do this, for example, by asking why something occurs—in this case giving information( the first level) is raised to explanation ( the second level).

4-      Finally, the teacher controls thought by assigning a cognitive task for the student to perform. In effect, this final strategy constitutes an expository rather than a discovery mode of teaching. The teacher is classifying information, making inferences, and predicting consequences.

In Taba’s program the emphasis is on the acquisition of techniques of problem solving, not on the  acquisition of substantive knowledge. She allowed the teacher to perform a variety of functions in response to the student’s needs as evidenced in the quality of verbalized thought. Unfortunately she employed her techniques almost exclusively with groups, so that  we do not know how the effectiveness relates to variations in the entering behavior of the students.

Barriers to discovery learning

Generally it is noticed that the teachers and school systems hesitate to adopt discovery learning. Some reasons are based more on self-imposed misconceptions and attitudes than on discovery learning’s  creative and practical demands (Bicknell-Holmes & Hoffman, 2000). Some reasons are because of imposed  accountability and the structure of the educational system. Three major reasons teachers do not teach using  discovery learning are that they believe

1) discovery learning will not cover the course content, – Educators fear that discovery learning will not cover the course content. This belief may stem from the fact  that discovery learning is a square peg that is being placed in a round hole. Current curricula for  education do  not outline broad concepts to be learned. Instead, curricula detail isolated facts that students should know by a  certain age . Also, the structure of grade levels hinders discovery learning’s natural  progression. Students are given limited days to learn a certain amount of content. Teachers cannot offer the amount of  time some students would require to discover the content the teachers are held accountable for teaching . Discovery learning does not work well on the same timeframe or with such specific, fact-based,  information.

2) discovery  learning will require too much preparation and learning time, — A second reason for a lack of discovery learning strategies in education is the belief that discovery learning  will require too much time for preparation and learning.   The idea in discovery learning is to teach processing skills so that the initial investment in  preparation is high, but the exercises and activities can be used repeatedly with minor adjustments to address  different content areas (Bonwell, 1998). The preparation done by the teacher in discovery learning is simply to  guide students as they build the investigation skills and then allow their investigation of the topic. Since the skills  are easily transferable, creating new lessons do not take a great deal of time.  Preparation time should be less, however, learning time will be greater because students must be given time  to explore. In the Nelson and Frayer (1972) study, it was noted that the students learning through a discovery  learning method spent more time studying the lessons than those in the expository group. With current school  structures and curricula, many times it is impossible to allow the time needed for discovery learning.

3) class sizes are too big or too small to permit the strategy’s use

A third barrier to discovery learning is that class sizes are too large or too small for discovery learning.  The class sizes are almost  always too large to use discovery learning in the way described because of the importance of one-on-one interaction. On the other hand, group interaction is also important so that the collective experiences of the group can assist in the  creation of new knowledge; therefore, if class sizes are too small, the collective experiences are limited. The key to  addressing this disadvantage is finding the architecture that best fits the circumstances (Bonwell, 1998).

Discovery Learning versus Traditional Learning

There appear to be four main areas of focus for  comparing the discovery learning method and traditional teaching.  . These areas are

1) Motivation

A significant advantage of the discovery learning method is its capacity to motivate students. Discovery learning allows learners to seek information that satisfies their natural curiosity. It provides the opportunity for students to explore their desires and consequently creates a more engaging learning environment. Simply put, discovery learning makes learning fun

2) . Retention,

In terms of information retention, discovery learning appears to be at least similar to the level found when  using traditional teaching methods and possibly increases information retention. Genrally  majority of students recalled activities that involved opportunities for experiential learning and  higher order applications, characteristics of discovery learning, than activities that involved repetitive, low level  seatwork. Students remembered more of what they learned in discovery learning activities than traditional activities.

3) Achievement on pre- and post-tests

Discovery learning increases student achievement when the students are learning skills rather than facts. The students who were taught with the discovery learning method showed a  positive significant difference in achievement on pre- and post-tests measuring anthropological understandings over  those students taught using the lecture method. Rachel Mabie and Matt Baker in 1996 also showed an increase in  achievement with their study of students learning about nutrition. They  found that the traditional methods were found to be significantly better for achievement; however, the content taught  in the Nelson and Fayer and Peters studies measured fact-based information and did not provide for open-ended  responses that are more consistent with the discovery learning method.

4) Transference

The fourth area of discovery learning versus traditional learning is transference. D. W. Chambers (1971)  did a study that compared discovery learning with overlearning. Overlearning is a traditional method of drill and  practice in which students practice a skill many times. Chambers found that students learning with the overlearning  method were better at transferring what they had learned than those who learned the concept through discovery  learning. This study is greatly flawed due to the topic the students were learning which was rote memorization of  math facts. Again, the fact that discovery learning does not work well with rote memorization impacted this study  greatly.

Advantage of discovery learning

The chief advantage of discovery learning is that questioning and solving problems without expecting someone to give you the answer enables you develop confidence in your own ability to handle problems in this area, which in turn encourages you to go further.

Active learning supports the belief that knowledge can be constructed by you rather than received from a higher authority.

Active learning puts the responsibility on you. When you are placed in the position of having to figure out a problem, you are much more likely to take charge of your own learning.

while you are participating, you are paying more attention and the activities focus your attention on the key ideas or techniques that are being examined;

In discovery learning] active involvement forces you to construct a response and this results in processing of information deeper than mere memorization, discovery learning provides you with an opportunity to get early feedback on your understanding: gaps in your understanding cannot be ignored;

In discovery learning] active learning results in “episodic memory,” a deeper kind of memory specific to an event so that if you cannot at first remember the idea or technique you can reconstruct it from the event.  This way discovery learning can be more motivating, incorporating the pleasures of solving puzzles and controlling an environment.

Limitations of Discovery Learning

Ausubel believes that the adherents of discovery learning make several unsupportable claims. Among these are the following: that the discovery method is the best method for transmitting subject matter; that problem solving is the primary goal of education; that there can be training in the techniques of discovery; that every child can become a critical and creative thinker; that expository teachingis authoritarian; and that discovery methods are unique generators of motivation and self-confidence. Ausubel believes that the primary purpose of teaching is to present in some systematic way an organized body of knowledge. The organization should be explicit and given in explicit form of the student. He does not believe that you can teach creative thinking and critical thinking outside the context of a specific discipline. Such thinking, he contends (p. 158), can only be learned by “adopting a precise, logical, analytical, and critical approach to the teaching of a particular discipline, an approach which fosters appreciation of the scientific method in that discipline”

Gagne (1970) also repudiates the notion that a discovery method of learning if constantly used wil finally result in the individual’s making the great discovery.

Lastly, incorporating all of these differences, discovery learning provides for deeper learning opportunities. Learners internalize concepts when they go through a natural progression to understand them (Papert, 2000). Discovery learning is a natural part of human beings.   People are born with curiosities and needs that drive them to learn. Infants learn to talk by discovery. They listen to others around them talk, mimic  sounds, and try putting together the pieces of language they have discovered (Percy, 1954). The infant develops a  deep understanding of language by figuring it out one piece at a time.

Discovery learning is considered more meaningful because it makes use of your own personal associations as a basis for understanding vs. parroting back the instructor’s version of a concept.  It figure out the process rather than just following directions results in a solution unique to the learner, one ultimately easier to reconstruct;

In discovery learning you are forced to confront your current ideas about the subject, many of which may be misconceptions, and reconcile them with what you now observe to be the case, because you are able to see the principles actually at work, you have a better grasp of the ideas.

In discovery learning you learned in a context similar to the eventual context of use you will be able to recognize an opportunity to use the information more easily,  because you began connecting the information to the “real world” its value is clearer to you.

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ~William Arthur Ward

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

Expository teaching strategy is basically direct instruction. A teacher is in the front of the room lecturing and students are taking notes. Students are being told (expository learning), what they need to know. However, expository instruction goes beyond just presenting students with the facts. It involves presenting clear and concise information in a purposeful way that allows students to easily make connections from one concept to the next. The structure of an expository lesson helps students to stay focused on the topic at hand. Often times, when students are discovering information on their own, they can get distracted and confused by unnecessary information and have difficulty determining what’s important. This is why expository instruction is one of the most common instructional strategies. Most educators believe students learn new concepts and ideas better if all of the information they need to know is laid out before them.

Expository teaching is a teaching strategy where the teacher presents students with the subject matter rules and provides examples that illustrate the rules. Examples include pictorial relationships, application of the rules, context through historical information, and prerequisite information. Examples are provided to give contextual elaboration and to help students see the subject matter from many different perspectives.

In expository teaching teacher gives both the principles and the problem solutions. In contrast to his role in discovery learning, the teacher presents the student with the entire content of what is to be learned in final form; the student is not required to make any independent discoveries. The usual verbal instruction of the lecture hall exemplifies expository teaching. It is sometimes called deductive teaching because the teacher often  begins with a definition of concepts or principles, illustrates them, and unfold their implications. Asubel believes that the reason for the lack of research in is that expository teaching has been identified with rote learning. The students, presumably, can only memorized the lectures by constant review and repetition.  Indeed, it is possible to present a body of material so poorly that unless the students commit it to rote memory (as in the case of nonsense syllables), they have no way of remembering it. Expository teaching, however, can present a rich body of highly related facts, concepts, and principles which the students can learn and transfer. Textbooks are examples of expository teaching, and, as you very well know, they can vary in their methods of teaching subject matter and in their organization of that subject matter.

As in the case of discovery learning, it is probably difficult to find pure examples of expository teaching. In most classes we find a combination of lectures (or teacher explanation) and discussions or lectures and laboratory and field work. In these situations, although most of the instruction is under the direct guidance of the instructor, much of it is the most or less independent effort of the student.

Expository Teaching Procedure

Expository teaching is a lecture, presentation or telling strategy used during instruction. The teacher is in control of presenting the subject matter and directs the students through the lesson. A rule is presented with an example and then practice is provided. The teacher focuses the students’ attention on the key points of the subject and may use graphics, diagrams, or other representations to elaborate on the subject.

Generally the expository teaching begins with an introduction and overview of the topic before providing more specific information and detail. This expository strategy sets up the lesson and prepares the students for what’s to come. By moving from the general to the specific, it allows students to understand the increasingly detailed explanations of the information and link those explanations to information that was presented previously as part of the general overview.

Instructional Strategy is designed to assist students in the acquisition of relatively factual

material. This technique is facilitated by the by the use of pre-instructional verbal statements or advanced or conceptual organizers and the sequencing of the content. In the hierarchically arranged sequence, global, overarching concepts and principles of the discipline are presented first in the advanced organizer.

How the expository teaching technique works-

(1) a statement in advance of the instruction (the advanced or conceptual organizer) is provided to the Students

(2) the content is presented in a hierarchically arranged sequence in which the global, overarching concepts and principles are presented first.

The conceptual organizer presents the content at a higher level of abstraction, generality, and inclusiveness than the content of the lesson. It is then followed by a progressive differentiation of ideas or details, concurrently integrating the new ideas with previously learned material. The explanations and clarifications made subsequent to the conceptual organizer are usually deductive arguments.

Another aspect that the expository teaching strategies have in common is that they provide transitions and sometimes a storyline to lead you through the lesson. Expository instruction involves an organized teaching method where information is presented in a specific order. This helps to keep your focus and attention, and lays out all of the information you need to know in a way that helps you to remember it. Once all of the new information has been presented, lessons typically end with a summary. The summary serves as a quick review and points out the most important facts to remember.

Donald Jhonson and Paul Stratton compared several methods of expository teaching with the usual inductive method of teaching concepts in three expository programs, one discovery program and one mixed program set up as follows:

1-      Students were given definitions of terms, similar to those one finds in the dictionary although each term was related to higher order class. Then the students were required to write their own definitions of the terms.

2-      The term was used in sentences which were part  of a short story. After reading the story, the student was asked to complete a sentence which required the use of the term.

3-      Students were given synonyms for the new term-“alacrity means eagerness” and “altercations means squabble.”

4-      In the classification approach, students were given examples of objects and events and were asked to classify them. The students had to discover the correct categories.

5-      A mixed problem was constructed out of materials in the four preceding approaches. This is an example of instruction using the mixed method.

The students who were taught with the mixed method did better than those in all the other groups. The experimenters concluded that the “superiority of the mixed program supports the common practice of teachers and textbooks”.

Programed instruction is a form of expository teaching, especially when the Ruleg sequence is used (Glaser, 1966). In the Ruleg sequence, the student is presented with an explicit statement of the rule (or principle) followed by one or more carefully chosen examples. He is then presented with one or more incomplete examples, which act as prompts to reduce the possibility of incorrect responses.  The incomplete examples also provide the student with the reinforcing activity of directly employing the rule.

The rule-example technique is very frequently used in teaching. The teacher provides the student with a general statement of the principle and then offers a series of illustrations. Glaser suggests that this procedure is widely used because it leads to rapid reinforcement for both teacher and student.

Merits of expository teaching

Ausbel provides a clear picture of the expository teaching merits “The art and science of presenting ideas and information meaningfully and effectively- so that clear, clear stable and unambiguous meanings emerge and are retained over a long period of time as an organized body of knowledge- is really the principal function of pedagogy. This is a demanding and creative rather than a routine and mechanical task. The job of selecting, organizing, presenting, and translating subject-matter content in developmentally appropriate manner requires more than the rote listing of facts. If it is done properly it is the work of the master teacher and is hardly a task to be disdained….Beginning in the junior high school period, students acquire most new concepts and learn most new propositions by directly grasping higher-order relationships between abstractions. To do so meaningfully, they need no longer depend on current or recently prior concrete-empirical experience, and hence are able to bypass completely the intuitive type of understanding reflective of such dependence. Through proper expository teaching they can proceed directly to a level of  abstract understanding that is qualitatively superior  to the intuitive level in term of generality, clarity, precision and explicitness. At this stage of development, therefore, it seems pointless to enhance intuitive understanding by using discovery technics.”

In short we can conclude that the teachers who use expository teaching present information to their students in a purposeful way that allows students to easily make connections from one concept to the next. Students receive the information from an expert, which could be the teacher or another expert, such as a textbook author or educational video. Whenever possible, the instructor uses an advance organizer, which is a tool used to introduce the lesson and illustrate the relationships between what the students are about to learn and the information they have already learned. The structure of an expository lesson is designed to help students stay focused on the topic at hand. Expository teaching is more popular because it is more efficient and takes less time than discovery learning. When combined with practice, it is very successful in teaching concepts and principles. Expository teaching offers the student the best opportunity to obtain an organized view of the discipline he is studying because the teacher can organize the field much more effectively for learning than the novice student can. In discovery learning the concern to teach the techniques of discovery overrides the concern for learning the unifying principles of a discipline.

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

The older positivism of Auguste Comte viewed human history as progressing through three stages: the religious, the metaphysical, and the scientific. His positivism was presented as articulating and systematizing the principles underlying this last (and best) stage. Law, morality, politics, and religion were all to be reconstituted on the new scientific basis. Traditional religion, for instance, was to be replaced by a religion of humanity and reason, with rituals and symbols appropriate to the new doctrine (Simon 1963). Comte’s evolutionary and scientistic perspectives were shared by such men as Herbert Spencer and Thomas Huxley, but contemporary movements of thought have been very little influenced by the older positivism.

Positivism  a philosophical movement in sociology, holds  the view that social phenomena ought to be studied using only the methods of the natural sciences. The system of Auguste Comte designed to supersede theology and metaphysics and depending on a hierarchy of the sciences, beginning with mathematics and culminating in sociology.

So, positivism is a view about the appropriate methodology of social science, emphasizing empirical observation. It is also associated with empiricism and holds that the view that knowledge is primarily based on experience via the five senses, and it is opposed to metaphysics — roughly, the philosophical study of what is real — on the grounds that metaphysical claims cannot be verified by sense experience. Positivism was developed in the 19th century by Auguste Comte, who coined the term “sociology.”

Positivism as a term is usually understood as a particular way of thinking. For Comte, additionally, the methodology is a product of a systematic reclassification of the sciences and a general conception of the development of man in history: the law of the three stages. Comte, , was convinced that no data can be adequately understood except in the historical context. Phenomena are intelligible only in terms of their origin, function, and significance in the relative course of human history.

Positivism is a way of thinking is based on the assumption that it is possible to observe social life and establish reliable, valid knowledge about how it works. This knowledge can then be used to affect the course of social change and improve the human condition. Positivism also argues that sociology should concern itself only with what can be observed with the senses and that theories of social life should be built in a rigid, linear, and methodical way on a base of verifiable fact. It has had relatively little influence on contemporary sociology, however, because it is argued that it encourages a misleading emphasis on superficial facts without any attention to underlying mechanisms that cannot be observed.

Comte held that there is no Geist, or spirit, above and beyond history which objectifies itself through the vagaries of time. Comte represents a radical relativism: “Everything is relative; there is the only absolute thing.” Positivism absolutizes relativity as a principle which makes all previous ideas and systems a result of historical conditions. The only unity that the system of positivism affords in its pronounced anti metaphysical bias is the inherent order of human thought. Thus the law of the three stages, attempts to show that the history of the human mind and the development of the sciences follow a determinant pattern which parallels the growth of social and political institutions. According to Comte, the system of positivism is grounded on the natural and historical law that “by the very nature of the human mind, every branch of our knowledge is necessarily obliged to pass successively in its course through three different theoretical states: the theological or fictitious state; the metaphysical or abstract state; finally, the scientific or positive state.”

The thoughts of Auguste Comte continue in many ways to be important to contemporary sociology. First and foremost, Comte’s positivism — the search for invariant laws governing the social and natural worlds — has influenced profoundly the ways in which sociologists have conducted sociological inquiry. Comte argued that sociologists (and other scholars), through theory, speculation, and empirical research, could create a realist science that would accurately “copy” or represent the way things actually are in the world. Furthermore, Comte argued that sociology could become a “social physics” — i.e., a social science on a par with the most positivistic of sciences, physics. Comte believed that sociology would eventually occupy the very pinnacle of a hierarchy of sciences. Comte also identified four methods of sociology. To this day, in their inquiries sociologists continue to use the methods of observation, experimentation, comparison, and historical research. Many contemporary thinkers criticize positivism, claiming for example that not all data is empirically observableWhile Comte did write about methods of research, he most often engaged in speculation or theorizing in order to attempt to discover invariant laws of the social world.

Comte also used the term positivism in a second sense; that is, as a force that could counter the negativism of his times. In Comte’s view, most of Western Europe was mired in political and moral disorder that was a consequence of the French Revolution of 1789. Positivism, in Comte’s philosophy, would bring order and progress to the European crisis of ideas.

In Comte’s view, the evolution of thought throughout history paralleled his “three phases of intellectual development” for individuals as they mature throughout their lifetimes. The first is the theological phase, where natural phenomena are seen as the results of divine power(s). The second, or metaphysical phase sees these as manifestations from vital forces or takes natural processes to be imperfect imitations of eternal ideas. The positive phase is the last in the sequence, and consists of scientific inquiry, as governed by the scientific method. In this phase, one seeks explanations that are descriptive laws; generalizations over several instances that are based on a foundation of positive facts. This phase forms the basis of Comte’s idea of positivism (Positivism). For Comte, it was a rejection of metaphysics in favor of scientific reason . Even his view on the arts shows this preference; he believed that the arts enforced the truths of science . It is important to note that Comte’s positivism was different in many ways to logical positivism. He rejected the idea that there are universal criteria that can be used to distinguish scientific statements from nonscientific ones, and also discarded the reductionist ideal of the logical positivists

The final important thing to know about Comte’s theories in sociology is that he believed the general approach of the field should be one called positivism. For Comte, positivism is the belief that societies have their own scientific principles and laws, just like physics or chemistry. Positivism assumes there are truths about society that can be discovered through scientific studies and that our understanding of society should be based on actual data and evidence.

Comte’s positivist philosophy has an important role in shaping modern sociologists because the general perspective today is that theories and ideas in sociology should be based on scientific studies. It’s the general belief that true knowledge is only found through science. In short, Comte’s idea of positivism is definitely a product of the final stage of society, the scientific stage.

Comte’s positivist philosophy has an important role in shaping modern sociologists because the general perspective today is that theories and ideas in sociology should be based on scientific studies. It’s the general belief that true knowledge is only found through science. In short, Comte’s idea of positivism is definitely a product of the final stage of society, the scientific stage.

Comte believed that positivism could both advance science (theory) and change the ways people live their lives (practice). He argued that the upper classes of his time were far too conservative to advocate positivistic change. Women and the members of the working class, however, were well situated to advocate positivism and help to implement its programs of change. Comte viewed the working class as agents of positivistic change because of their ties of affection to their families, respect for authority, exposure to misery, and propensity for self-sacrifice. Comte thought of his positivism as a counter-force against communism, although the latter could provide a foundation for the former. Comte thought that women would support his positivist program for change largely because women, in his view, were more affectionate, altruistic, and feeling than men. He tended to view men as superior in intellectual and practical matters, and thus better suited to planning and supervising change, while women are better suited to moral matters. Comte did not believe in the equality of the sexes. He saw himself and his protégés as the “priests of humanity” who would oversee the religion of positivism. Some of Comte’s most amusing ideas are found in his plans for the future. Comte envisioned a positivist calendar, public holidays, and temples. He elaborated a plan for his positivist society that included important roles for bankers and industrialists, positivist priests, merchants, manufacturers, and farmers. Comte also envisioned a positivist library of 100 books — titles that he personally selected. He argued that reading other works would contaminate the minds of the people. He also planned to restructure the family to include a father, mother, three children, and paternal grandparents.

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

The business of education today is to teach the growing individuals, so far as their original natures will permit, to perform efficiently those activities that constitute the latest and highest level of civilization. Since the latter consists entirely of activities, the objectives of education can be nothing other than activities, and since, after being observed, an activity is mastered by performing it, the process of education must be the observing and performing of activities.

Programmed Learning is an innovative learning style in the teaching learning process. It is useful in giving instructions in the traditional mode as well as in the distance education mode. Programmed Learning is advantageous in both the modes because it gives systematic and individualized instructions.

Frame Composition

Taber et al. (1965) suggest that a programmed frame could contain the following items:
(1) a stimulus which serves to elicit the targeted response,
(2) a stimulus context to which the occurrence of a desired response is to be learned,
(3) a response which leads the learner to the terminal behavior, and
(4) any material necessary to make the frame more readable, understandable, or interesting
They also contend that it may not be necessary to include each of these components in every frame. Some frames may contain only information with no opportunity for response, some may be purely directional.
A general PI program sequence is characterized by an introduction, a diagnostic section, an organizing set/theory section (to help learner focus on primary elements of teaching/testing section), a teaching, testing section, practice section, and finally, a review or summary is presented to reinforce all of the concepts addressed in the specific program (Bullock, 1978).

Basis of Frame Sequencing

Lysaught and Williams (1963) suggest that Programmed Instruction maintains the following characteristics ,which can provide a solid base for frame sequencing :

 It is mediated.
 Beginning as print-based text,
 Programmed Instruction grew to leverage each new media format as technologies merged and evolved.
 PI is replicable, as its results consistently produce the same outcomes.
 It is self-administrating because the learner can engage in the instructional program with little or no assistance.
 Its self-paced feature allows the learner to work at a rate that is most convenient or appropriate for his or her needs.
 The learner is required to frequently respond to incrementally presented stimuli, promoting active engagement in the instructional event.
 PI is designed to provide immediate feedback, informing the learner of the accuracy of his or her response, as well assisting in the identification of challenges at the point of need.
 PI is identified by its structured sequences of instructional units (called frames), designed to control the learner’s behavior in responding to the PI.

Sequencing of Content

No standard approach exists for the sequencing of content and a variety of models are found in the literature. Lysaught and Williams (1963) describe several techniques, the first of which is the pragmatic approach, or the organization of behavioral objectives into logical sequence. “This order is examined for its internal logic and flow from beginning to end. Often an outline is developed to ensure that all necessary information/steps/components are addressed and that nothing important is omitted”

Another common approach to sequencing content was developed by Evans, Glaser, and Homme (1960), and is known as the RULEG system. The RULEG design is based on assumption that material to be programmed consists of rules or examples. So, the rule is presented, followed by examples and opportunities to practice. In some instances, the reverse approach, EGRUL, is used, presenting the learner with a variety of examples and guiding the behavior to comprehend the rule.
There are two types of frame sequencing in program instruction; linear sequencing and branching sequencing. Skinner invented the linear sequence. Norman Crowder created the branching sequence.

The goal of early developers of programmed instruction was to design the instructional activities to minimize the probability of an incorrect response (Beck, 1959). However, much has been made of the distinction between what some have called Crowder’s (1960) multiple-choice branching versus Skinner’s linear-type program . Crowder, like Skinner (1954, 1958a) likens his intrinsic system to a private tutor. Although Crowder himself claimed no theoretical roots, his method of intrinsic programming or “branching,” was developed out of his experience as a wartime instructor for the Air Force.In a sense they were talking about two very different things. Skinner was writing about education and Crowder was writing from his experience in the teaching complex skills to adults with widely varying backgrounds and abilities. The issue is informative, however. Neither man wanted errors per se.

Linear sequences

The credit of linear programming style goes to B. F. Skinner. Linear programming style is related to “operant conditioning”. Operant conditioning states that human behavior is shaped through suitable reinforcement to the responses. It tells that “A Certain direction can be given to human behavior”, for this purpose activities is needed to divide in small parts and make their analysis. It is a gradual process and the responses are conditioned in a step by step manner.

Linear Programing involves the following features:
o Learners are exposed to small amounts of information and proceed from one frame or one item of information, to the next in an orderly fashion (this is what is meant by linear)
o Learners respond overtly so that their correct responses can be rewarded and their incorrect responses can be corrected
o Learners are informed immediately about whether or not their response is correct (feedback)
o Learners proceed at their own pace (self-pacing)

Fundamental Principles of Linear Programing
Linear programming is based on five fundamental principles-
1. Principles of small step.
2. Principle of Active responding.
3. Principle of immediate confirmation.
4. Principle of self pacing.
5. Principle of student testing.

In this type of sequencing all students read and respond to the same frames. The sequence is linear in that there is a single line or path for all students to follow.
While programming in linear way the information is broken down in pieces of related information and then they are sequenced into meaningful steps. The information which is to written in the steps is planned out. The information should be so written that it should be linked to the information in the next step. The learner has to respond to each step actively and the reinforcement is given immediately. The reinforcement depends on the correctness of the responses given by the learner. If the response is correct a positive reinforcement is given, motivating the learner to attempt more responses which will be positively reinforced
A pictorial representation an example of linear programming –

Each square represents a frame. The student proceeds from one frame to the next until he completes the program. Most linear sequences use the constructed (or fill-in) response.. Many new programs, however, use both constructed and multiple-choice responses. Although most linear sequences use shorter frames than those used by the branching sequences we describe below, the single-sentence or short frame is not an essential characteristic of linear sequences. Markle (1964) developed a linear sequence on programming which contained frames which were paragraphs or longer in length. Even the major characteristic of linear sequences—the use of the single path—is no longer rigidly prescribed.

Lysaught and Williams (1963) show many ways in which a linear sequence can be modified into a multipath program. An interesting variation is the linear sequence with criterion frames. These frames test entering behavior at various points in the program to determine whether the students should go through the sequence of frames which follows. If this is not necessary, the student is directed to a subsequence, which will move him quickly to an advanced point in the program.
Advantage of Linear Programing
 The assumption behind the linear programming is students learns better if content is presented in small units, students response if immediately confirmed, results in better learning, Student’s error create hindrance in learning, Student learns better in Laissez fairy environment.
 Frame size in small steps; include only one element of topic at a time. Each step is complete in itself. It can be taught independently and can be measured independently. Frame structure is based on stimulus-Response-reinforcement. There are four types of frames. Introductory frames, Teaching frame, practice frames and testing frames.
 Responses in linear programming are structured responses and these are controlled by programmer and not by learners. Immediate confirmation of correct responses provide reinforcement, wrong responses are ignored.
 It is used for secondary level students, used for achieving lower objectives of learning especially for recall and recognition, useful for student of average and below average intelligence can be used in Distance education program.

Limitations of Linear programming-
1. No freedom for student to response.
2. Based on learning theories which were formulated by experience conducted on animals. A human being is more intelligent, than animals, he has got an intelligent brain.
3. Every learner has to follow the same path; therefore, student may cheat from one another.
4. Wrong responses are avoided in the program No remedy is provided for them

Branching Sequences

The founder of Branching programming is Norman A Crowder. It is based on configuration theory of learning. It is a problem solving approach. It is stimulus centered approach of learning. As the word “branching” means the subdivision the stem or trunk. The same concept is applied in the branched programming instruction style. The main concept (the trunk of the tree) is sub divided into smaller concepts (the stems of the tree) and further again to other minute details of the topic.
Fundamental Principles of Branching Programming
1. Principle of Exposition,
2. Principle of Diagnosis,
3. Principle of remediation.

Branching programmed learning is similar to linear programmed learning except that it is more complicated because it attempts to diagnose the learner’s response. It usually involves a multi-choice format:

After the learners have been presented a certain amount of information, they are given a multiple-choice question. If they answer correctly they branch to the next body of information. If they are incorrect, they are directed to additional information, depending on the mistake they made. Many CBT training courses are based on the concept of linear or branching programmed learning.

The best known branching technique is called intrinsic programing. Frame size is large. There may be a Para or page in the frame. It consists of rather long frames which often appear as pages in an ordinary textbook. The student reads the page (or frame) and then responds by selecting the correct alternative in a three-alternative multiple-choice item. Each alternative is associated with a page number which directs the students to another frame. Frame structure is Exposition- Diagnosis- Remediation types. There are two types of frames- Home page (for teaching and diagnosis) & Wrong page (for remediation). Responses not rigidly structured and responses are selected by learner and not by the programmer. Confirmation of correct responses provides reinforcement. Wrong responses also help in diagnosis of weaknesses of the learner. Remedy is provided on the basis of diagnosed weaknesses of the learner. Remedy is provided on the basis of diagnosed weaknesses. Error helps in diagnosis of the weaknesses of learner. More than 20% error rate can be accepted. The purpose of Branching programming is to draw out weak points of learner and provide remedy for recovering those weaknesses.
Branching programming is used for secondary as well as higher classes. Higher objectives can be achieved such as multiple discrimination etc. It is useful for students of above average and high intelligence. It can also be used in Distance education programs.
The advantages of branched programming instructions are as follows –
Assumption behind this programming is that a student learns better if he is exposed to whole situation or content. Student errors help in diagnosis. Student learns better if remediation is provided side by side.And a Student learns better in democratic environment.
 In this format the student proceeds to the next frame until he makes an error. The errors branch him to supplementary material designed to give him remedial instruction
 The center of the teaching – learning process is the learner and not the facilitator or the instructor.
 The learner learns with his or her own speed and pace.
 Much of the learning takes place when freedom is give to the learners. In branched programming style freedom is given to the learners so that they can learn at their own pace.
 Learning is done when the new concepts are revised. The learner gets an opportunity to travel to and fro in the newly learnt content. If the responses given by the learner are not up to the mark, the learner can start learning the content from which he or she has not understood. The correct responses are appreciated there by internally motivating the learner to grasp the content till the end.

Limitations of Branching programming
1. It does not consider learning process whether learning is taking place or not. Main emphasis is on diagnosing the weakness of learners and providing remedy to them.
2. There is no sequencing of pages. Student finds it difficult to follow the steps. He does not find it exciting or motivating, therefore he does not want to go through these pages.
3. More emphasis on remediation rather than teaching. Hence, it is only a tutorial approach

The matter or the concept is placed in a logical sequence in both the programming methods. The difference is the simplicity of the presentations of the matter. In linear programming the subject matter is presented in a straightforward and uncomplicated form. It follows a certain direction. Whereas the branched programming follows a complicated format, which does not follow a definite direction, it is like a scrambled book where the pages do not follow the normal sequence. As the linear programming the subject matter is presented in a straightforward and uncomplicated format it is used for fixing of learning and generally meant for the lower classes. But this is not in the case with branched programming. The subject matter is in complicated format generally meant for higher class students.

Mathetics Programming

Another well known, but less widely adopted programming method was developed by Gilbert (1962). This approach, called mathetics, is a more complex implementation of reinforcement theory than other sequencing strategies. This technique is also referred to as backwards chaining,since the design is based on beginning with the terminal behavior and working backwards through the process or concept, in step-wise fashion.
The founder of Mathetics is Thomas F. Gilbert. “Mathetics is defined as a systematic application of reinforcement theory to the analysis and construction of complex repertoires which represent the mastery in subject matter.” It is based on Connectivist theory of learning. It is a reverse chaining approach. It is based on Principle of chaining, Discrimination and Generalization. Mathetics programming is based on assumption.
1. Chaining of responses helps in learning to reach up to mastery level.
2. Reverse chaining of stimuli helps in learning, i.e. from whole to part, from Complex to simple.
3. Completion of task provides motivation to students.
Frames size is organized in small step but in a reverse chain i.e. from complex content to its small, simple units to attain mastery level frame structure is based on Demonstration-prompts-release. There are two types of frames- 1. Demonstration frames 2. Prescription frames.
Responses are structured responses and responses determined by the programmer. Completion of task provides reinforcement. Wrong responses are ignored. Error helps in discrimination but not in learning. Its main purpose is to develop mastery of the content. Main focus is on Mathematics and grammar.
It used for higher classes useful for complex and difficult task, Useful for developing concepts of mathematics and grammar. It can be used in Distance Education.

Limitation of Mathetics programming:
1. Main emphasis on mastery of the content rather than changes in behavior of the learner.
2. Retrogressive chaining of stimuli if not effective for terminal behavior.
3. It is very difficult to develop retrogressive learning package.

The matter or the concept is placed in a logical sequence in both the programming
methods. The difference is the simplicity of the presentations of the matter. In linear
programming the subject matter is presented in a straightforward and uncomplicated
form. It follows a certain direction. Whereas the branched programming follows a
complicated format, which does not follow a definite direction, it is like a scrambled
book where the pages do not follow the normal sequence.
As the linear programming the subject matter is presented in a straightforward and
uncomplicated format it is used for fixing of learning and generally meant for the lower
classes. But this is not in the case with branched programming. The subject matter is in
complicated format generally meant for higher class students.

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

One can gain appreciable insights to the present day status of the field of instructional technology from examining its early beginnings and the origins of current practice. Programmed Instruction  was an integral factor in the evolution of the instructional design process, and serves as the foundation for the procedures in which IT professionals now engage for the development of effective learning environments. In fact, the use of the term programming was applied to the production of learning materials long before it was used to describe the design and creation of computerized outputs.- Romizowski (1986)

Programmed Instruction is probably derived from B. F. Skinner’s (1954) paper “The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching” which he presented at the University of Pittsburgh at a conference of Current Trends in Psychology and the Behavioral Sciences. In that presentation, which was published later that same year, Skinner reacted to a 1953 visit to his daughter’s fourth-grade arithmetic class (Vargas & Vargas, 1992). Interestingly, this paper written in part from the perspective of an irate parent, without citation or review, became the basis for his controversial (Skinner, 1958) work, “Teaching Machines,” and his subsequent (1968a) work, “The Technology of Teaching.” In the 1954 work, Skinner listed the problems he saw in the schools using as a specific case “for example, the teaching of arithmetic in the lower grades” (p. 90). In the 1950s many of the ideas that had surfaced earlier were clarified and popularised.  Programmed instruction was among the first, in historical significance for instructional developments and analytical processes, important to instructional design.  This form of instruction is based on the behavioural learning theories.

The early programmed instruction was often delivered by some form of  ‘teaching machine’  but later it brought the concept of interactive text.  The programmed instruction movement extended the use of printed self – instruction to all school subject areas to adult and vocational education as well (Romiszowski,1997).  Later as the technology developed other media, such as radio, television video and computer, came of use.

Characteristics of Programmed Instruction

When discussing the underpinnings of Programmed Instruction it is easy to get bogged down in conflicting definitions of what the term means, which leads to disagreements as to when it first began, which leads into the arguments, efficacies and origins of particular concepts, and so forth. Since the work (and personality) of B. F. Skinner is included in the topic, the literature is further complicated by the visual array of misconceptions, misrepresentations, etc. of his work. Programmed Instruction, now a days is considered  as a method of teaching in which the information to be learned is presented in discrete units, with a correct response to each unit required before the learner may advance to the next unit, a monitored, step-by-step teaching method in which a student must master one stage before moving on to the next.

Here are some major characteristics of programmed instruction;

A-     The material is divided into small steps known as frames;

B-     Frequent response is required of the student;

C-     There is immediate confirmation of right answers or correction of wrong answers for each response the student makes;

D-     The content and sequence of the frame were subjected to actual tryout with students and were revised on the basis of the data gather by the program author.

A program, however, is the actual instruction. The student’s success or failure depends on the program. Nearly all students are capable of learning when properly programed materials are made available.  A program can be distinguished from a lesson plan or a book. A book is only a source of materials to which the student exposes himself. There is little or no predetermined interaction between the book and the reader in the form of required responses and feedback. A lesson plan is often a skeletal outline of materials and activities the teacher will use in teaching. The actual instruction is something related to but apart from the lesson outline .The programmed materials, as distinguished from programmed instruction, or the actual use   of the materials are simply the educational materials which the students learn. A program accepts the responsibility for the management of the learning situation, the program tries to see to it that the student does learn, and it takes the blame for the student’s failure

Writing and Revising a Program

Central to the roots of Programmed Instruction is the idea that programmers must decide what students should be to be able to do once they have completed the program. Generally, this involves some sort of activity analysis and specification of objectives.

Program writing has three major steps

A-Preparation

B-The actual writing

C- Tryout and revision

The Preparation

The Preparation of a program consists of five steps you should consider before you begin writing it:

A-     Select a unit or topic

B-     Prepare a content outline

C-     Define the objectives in behavioral terms

D-      Construct (and administer) a test of entering behavior

E-      Construct (and administer) a test of  terminal behavior

Select a unit or topic

The selection of a topic can be guided by several factors. First, select subject matter with which you are thoroughly familiar. Unfamiliarity will result in misleading and inaccurate materials and will interfere with your learning how to program the materials. Second restrict yourself to a very small area of subject matter. The tendency of the beginning programmer is to select too wide a topic. The development of a program and the administration of it to the student are usually very time consuming activities.

Prepare a content outline

This outline should cover all the material you plan to teach. It is frequently the product of a careful examination of a number of textbooks and reference sources. An experienced  teacher also has the use of his notes, textbooks , and assignments he has used in conventional  instruction. If you have not taught the material you are about to program, you should consult an experienced teacher  who can supply knowledge, specific examples, and interesting illustrations which may be useful in your program. One of the chief criticism s of programed materials is that they have been published before adequate editing of the manuscript for accuracy and clarity of subject matter and presentation (Soles,1963). Occasionally an individual with some unpolished programing skills and with little knowledge of the subject matter has accepted the responsibility of writing a program. The results can be and have been disastrous. The chief advantage of the teacher as a programmer is that he can combine his knowledge of the subject matter with his new knowledge about programmed instruction.

Define the objectives in behavioral terms

The writing of objectives involves both task description and task analysis. Task description, is the description of terminal behavior. Task analysis examines  the component behaviors the student must acquire in the process of reaching the terminal behavior. It is better to state your objective in general rather than in behavioral terms. The general statement is an instructional goal. You then analyze this goal by asking yourself what behaviors are needed to attain it. You must continue the analysis of behavior until you have reached the probable level of entering behavior.

Construct (and administer) a test of entering behavior

The construction of this test requires you to determine the necessary prerequisite behavior which you will recall but not provide instruction for in your program. The prerequisite behaviors are the bases for writing the items for the test of entering behavior. If you administer such a test to your students early in the development of your program, the test results should indicate at what points your programming must begin. You should write several items for each entering behavior to be certain that the student does not answer an item correctly by only making a lucky guess. In dealing with a group of students you may discover considerable variability in entering behavior. One possible way of handling this problem is to develop a program with branches. The program can direct students with more adequate entering behavior than other to skip the introductory frames of the program and to turn to the advanced frames.

Construct (and administer) a test of terminal behavior

This test, based on your original task description, is used for performance assessment, the fourth component of the basic teaching model. The items should be scrambled and should not  follow the order in which the terminal behaviors were acquired in the program. Administer the test to your students before they study the program. In this way you can discover whether any student have already  acquired the behaviors  your program teaches. Material which the student already knows should be deleted from the program. In the administration of your entering and terminal tests, the ideal result is that all students obtain a perfect score on the test of entering behavior and obtain a zero score on the test of terminal behavior.

The Actual Writing

The Actual Writing of a program consists of five steps you should consider:

A-Present the material frames.

B- Require active responding

C- Provide for confirmation or correction of response

D-Use prompts to guide students response

E-Provide careful sequencing of the frames

Present the material frames

A frame is a small segment of subject matter which calls forth particular student responses. As a programmer your task is to provide those stimuli necessary to evoke the student responses which must be acquired as steps toward the terminal behavior. Not only a frame a unit of subject matter, such as a sentence or paragraph of a chapter, but also it is constructed to call forth particulars and eventually, specific terminal behaviors. Not only is a frame a unit of subject matter, such as a sentence or paragraph of a chapter, but also it is constructed to call forth particular responses and, eventually, specific terminal behaviors. There are four essential parts of a frame;  the stimulus and the stimulus context; the cues or prompts necessary to produce the response reliably; the response or responses the stimulus evokes; and enrichment material which makes the frame more readable or interesting or which recalls previously learned materials to facilitate student response. It is found that short steps are more effective than large steps for initial learning, and the progressive lengthening of steps leads to the best performance on the test of terminal behavior.

Require active responding

An necessary part of the frame is the response the student is asked to make . For the construction of frames, the Stuart Margulies  critical response rule can be used. The student can be expected to know only that portion of the material to which he has responded correctly. He cannot be expected to learn information which he does not use in making an immediate response.

It is important that the student be required to make the critical response. Holland (1960) altered the normal version of a program by choosing different response words which had little relationship with the critical content and which could be supplied by observing trivial cues. The absence of errors made during the study of a program can mislead the programmer into believing that the students are learning more than they are. By making trivial responses they are learning very little.

If you analyze the terminal behavior, you will be able to indicate clearly the critical responses the student should make. The responses in the frame always depend on some important part of the  subject matter, such as understanding a new illustration, recognizing important details  of the subject matter, or acquiring a new term.

The location of the response blank may also be a source of difficulty.  Robert Horn (1963, p.4) argued that the blank should appear a close to the end of the frame as possible because this position spares the student the awkwardness of flipping his eyes back and forth, “skidding around inside frame after frame looking for the relevant material.” It is often helpful at first to write the frame in question form because the question focuses the attention on the form of the required response. It is, of course, entirely permissible that a frame remain in question form. And it is sometimes desirable to use multiple-choice alternatives rather than fill-in blanks.

Weather the response programmed material should be OVERT or COVERT has been the subject of considerable discussion.. Unfortunately, these terms have shifted in meaning and “one man’s overt is frequently another man’s covert”. Actually in overt response the students wrote down their answers on sheet of paper ,, while in covert response students mentally composed a response to each blank in the frame before turning the page to the correct answer. Although the findings on the relative benefits of overt and covert responding have not always been consistent. Richard Anderson (1967) points to two conclusions which have considerable empirical support: (a) Overt  responses facilitate learning when the responses are relevant to the content of the lesson, and (b) Overt responses should be required in the learning of unfamiliar and technical terms.

The reason overt responding facilitate learning is not clear at present. Ernest Rothkopf (1966) suggests that test questions/ frames off a program control what he calls ‘ Mathemagenic  Behavior’- covert and overt behaviors of the student in the instructional situations which give birth to learning. Mathemagenic behaviors include reading, asking questions, inspecting an object, keeping the face oriented toward the teacher, and mentally reviewing a recently seen motion picture. They also include looking out of the classroom window, yawning, turning the pages of a textbook without reading, writing notes to a student in a neighboring seat, and sleeping either in class or either in a library carrel. Some of these behaviors, you can see, are quite unrelated to the achievement of instructional objectives. If it were possible, however, to control mathemagenic behaviors, the control could facilitate learning. Such control can be obtained through the insertions of questions in reading passage.

Provide for confirmation or correction of student responses

You have seen in the preceding examples of frames that the correct response to the frame always appears. Providing the correct response, with which the students compares his own response, has been a standard characteristic of programed instruction. When the student discovers that his response is correct, he obtains confirmation; when it is incorrect, he receives correction. The practical necessity or efficiency of immediate confirmation has never been adequately studied. It does appear that early programmers failed to distinguish between the motivational and informational aspects of immediate knowledge of results.

It is suggested that supplying the correct response may be more important later than earlier in the program, when most of the prompts for the correct responses are withdrawn. The tight sequencing of program frames, so that one frame interlocks with those which precede and follow it, provides a source of informational feedback apart form that provides by the printed answers.

Use prompts to guide Student Response

Prompts are cues provided in the program frame to guide the student to the correct response. They are supplementary stimuli in that they are added to a frame to make the frame easier, but are not sufficient in themselves to produce the response.

Prompts have two basic purposes:  They guide the student to the correct response without over controlling his behavior, and they prevent the student from making unnecessary errors. These  purposes suggests that you must avoid both over prompting and under prompting in writing your frames. A common source of over prompting is the COPYING FRAME, in which the student is asked to make a response given in the frame. In it the student need only copy the important word to respond correctly. The copying frame is a means for producing the response the first time and is useful as an introductory frame. Since it displays the full response, however, it is not a form of prompting. The main disadvantage is that the student can make correct verbatim responses which he conceptually does not understand. The use of copying  frame tends to make  a program dull and reduce the amount of student learning. It is not uncommon that students respond correctly to all the frames in a program and still fail to answer correctly to  the test of terminal behavior. Such a result is usually the result of over prompting and of the liberal use of copying frames.

The use of prompts to guide student responses requires you to withdraw these prompts so that the student can eventually achieve the terminal behavior without supporting cues.

Provide careful Sequencing of the Frames

The sequence, or order, in which your frames appear depends upon two factors: the description and analysis of the behaviors your program intends to teach, and the conditions essential for the learning required by the various tasks.

It is even possible to develop frames which engage the student in problem solving and discovery learning. Kersh(1964) developed a programmed discovery procedure which prescribed conditions under which the student would engage in searching behavior and which specified occasions for the teacher to give verbal approval to the student for the searching behavior he exhibited as he progressed through the program.

All the fundamental learning conditions-discrimination, generalization, contiguity, practice and reinforcement- can be embodied in the frame sequences, of course, can also provide for review and testing whenever these are necessary. One of the major advantages for educational psychologists in studying programed instruction is the freedom allowed in manipulating the fundamental learning conditions.

Tryout and Revision

We have divided the third stage of program development into three steps:

1-Develop the first draft of the program while working closely with your students.

2-Edit the program on the basis of the original try-out with these students.

3-Revise the program on the basis of terminal test performance and student responses to the program frames.

Develop the first draft of the program-

At this stage you should not try to produce highly polished frames. Thomas Gilbert suggests that  you work closely with each student in this stage of program development. Find out where the student makes his mistakes and what you can do about it. Revise the frames or frame sequence until the student learns from them what he is supposed to learn. The first tryout should occur before developing the program very far.

Edit the program

The following suggestions can be taken care of while editing the program:

• Frames should be written clearly in good language
• What is said should be correct
• The response required of the student should be relevant to the purpose of the frame. If the student is to learn to do something, you should make him do it rather than talk about it
• If you use a multiple-choice items, the alternatives should be feasible answers
• Frames should contain sufficient context to make clear what is being presented and what is wanted
• You should not include more points than the student can respond to in one frame
• You should eliminate irrelevant material
• In concept teaching, you should provide a representative sample of illustrations and provide for negative examples as well
• You should make liberal use of thematic prompts and sparing use of formal prompts
• You should make the frames toward mastery as large as  the student can reasonably be expected to handle. Let testing tell you when the step is too large
• The testing should tell you how much practice and prompting to provide

Try out and revise

After this editing you have a fledgling program to try out, It should be neatly typed and carefully duplicated. You will need about fifteen to forty or more students- but use as many/as few as you have When you administer your program this time, resist any impulse to intervene. The program must now assume the full instructional responsibility. You can supply the student with paper which bears numbered blanks. On these  they can check the frames which give them difficulty and give a description of the difficulty. You can also record any questions they ask while studying the program. After finishing the program the students should take the test of terminal behavior. The students’ response records will reveal  which frames were missed. From these records you an make a list of common errors. If you group the items of the test by subunits, you can also determine which sections of the program were ineffective. High error rates on particular frames or particular sections indicate a need for revision. The conventional standard has been the 10 percent error rate. Finally, if you require the students to annotate their copies of the program,  their comments can also guide your revision.

Probably no single movement has impacted the field of instructional design and technology than Programmed Instruction. It spawned widespread interest, research; then it was placed as a component within the larger systems movement and, finally, was largely forgotten. In many ways, the arguments and misconceptions of the “golden age” of Programmed Instruction over its conceptual and theoretical underpinnings have had a profound effect on the research and practice of our field—past, present and future.

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

Ah, mastery… what a profoundly satisfying feeling when one finally gets on top of a new set of skills… and then sees the light under the new door those skills can open, even as another door is closing.

-Gail Sheehy

The concept of ‘skill’ is important in many areas of education. However, despite its widespread use, this concept remains ambiguous and hard to define. At the core of dictionary definitions of skill is the idea of competence or proficiency – the facility, or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training or experience the ability to do something well. While skill is synonymous with competence, it also evokes images of expertise, mastery and excellence (i.e. Superior, even extraordinary, ability).

Skill can be defined as the physically encoding of information, with movement and/or with activities where the gross and fine muscles are used for expressing or interpreting information or concepts. This area also refers to natural, autonomic responses or reflexes.

Characteristics of a Skill

A skill has three characteristics: It represents a chain of motor responses; it involves the coordination of hand and eye movements; and it requires the organization of chains into a complex response patterns.

Response Chains

First a skilled performance involves a chain of motor responses. Motor responses, as distinct from verbal responses, are muscular movements. The movements of fingers, arms, legs, and toes are examples. Each movement can be viewed as an individual stimulus-response (S-R ) association. A skill is a series or chains of such movements, with each link an individual S-R unit which acts as a stimulus for the next link an individual S-R unit which acts as a stimulus for the next link. Gagne uses this illustration, which involves the stating of a car engine by a student driver:

S (start the engine) –R (looking forward and to the rear).

S (sight of clear road) –R (testing for gear in neutral).

S (gear in neutral) –R (turning the key to activate starter).

S (sound of motor catching) –R (release of key).

S(key released) –R (depressing the accelerator).

The R’s in the above example refer to the muscular movements or the motor responses. These responses must be executed in a particular sequence. If you press the accelerator before releasing the ignition key, you create an impressive screeching noise to remind you of the proper S-R sequence The releasing of the key ( which is also a response acts as a stimulus for the next response- the pressing of the accelerator.

The stimulation for each S-R link in a chain is partly kinesthetic. Kinesthetic stimulation is internal muscular tension, which we offer refer to as the right “feel.” When we first learn to shift, most of us rely on visual or external) cues to tell us that the gear is in the proper position. After we become quite skilled at shifting, we rely almost entirely on kinesthetic stimulation and feedback to guide our shifting behavior.

The amount of body movement involved in skilled behavior can vary considerably. Fitts  describes three categories: Some skilled behavior involves gross body movements, such as walking, running, jumping, swimming, balancing, and dancing. Other forms of skilled behavior involve only segments of total anatomy, as in grasping, reaching, and manipulating objects with fingers. Finally, for most of us today, skilled behavior often requires the manipulation of tools or objects or the control of machines, as in writing, typewriting, playing a musical instrument, sewing, driving a car, piloting an aircraft, playing tennis, tossing a ball, and doing assembly work.

Movement coordination

Second, you can view skilled behavior as the coordination of hand and eye movements (Bilodeau and Bilodeau, 1961). Frequently motor skills are called perceptual-motor skills to emphasize the coordination of perception (the eye) and motor acts (the hand). Playing table tennis requires high degrees of hand and eye coordination. In verbal skills, which we will consider in another chapter, the emphasis is on the tongue rather than on the hand or eye. Although we can use this distinction to separate the fields of motor learning and verbal learning, you will see that the two areas have much in common with each other and even with more complex learning types—the learning of concepts and rules.

Response patterns

Third, you can view skilled behavior as the organization of S-R chains into large response patterns. When we discuss many complex human skills we almost have to describe response patterns since there are so many individuals S-R units and S-R chains. We sometimes describe the S-R chains which constitute the large response patterns as subtasks or subroutines. In swimming, for example, the arm strokes, the breathing, and the leg kicks are subtasks or subroutines.  Each of these subroutines represents one or more response chains. Considerable evidence shows that the chains which make up complex human skills are hierarchically organized into larger response pattern; we must learn particular S-R units and S-R chains before learning others, and we must learn all the subordinate chains before we can perform a particular skill. The skill is the total response pattern. The timing, the anticipation, and the smooth flow of response which we observe in the accomplished musician, swimmer, and race car driver indicate that the learning of the S-R units and S-R chains has welded them into a single response pattern.

Classification of skills

We can also classify skilled activity in terms of certain S-R chains characteristics- coherence, continuity, and complexity.

Coherence – Chains are coherent to the degree that successive responses are dependent.

Continuity- Chains are continuous to the degree that the responses are continuous with few pauses in between.

Complexity - Level of the complexity of the S-R chains depends on the number of different stimuli and responses possible in a given block of time and space.

Phases of Skill Learning

Fitts identified three phases- the cognitive, the fixation, and the autonomous- through which the student passes in learning a complex skill. The phases, of course overlap; they are not distinct units. Moving from one phase to another is a continuous process.

The Cognitive Phase-

In this phase the students attempt to intellectualize the skill they are to perform. The student develop plans which guide the execution of the skill. During this phase, the instructor and the student try to analyze the skills and to verbalize about what is being learned. The instructor describes what to expect and what to do. He describes  procedures and give information about errors, which occur with great frequency in this phase.

The fixation Phase-

In this phase the correct behavior patterns are practiced until the chance of making incorrect responses is reduced to zero; the behavior become fixed. This stage lasts for days and months. At the most basic level the student is learning to link together the basic units of the chains. At a more advanced level he is learning to organize the chains into an overall pattern.

The Autonomous Phase-

This phase is characterized by increasing speed of performance in skills in which it is important to improve accuracy to the point at which errors are very unlikely to occur.. In this phase the student also increases his resistance to stress and to the interference of outside activities which he is able to perform at the same time. This is the stage achieved by the expert, for whom the performance of the skill has become involuntary, inflexible, and even locked in.

Hierarchical levels of skill learning.

Every skill has a psychomotor component. In the learning situation there is again a progression from mere physical experience – seeing, touching, moving etc. – through the carrying out of complex skills under guidance, to the performance of skilled activities independently.

Skilled activities are sub divided into hierarchical levels. The six levels from simplest to most complex are:

(i) Reflex movements

(ii)  Basic fundamental movements

(iii) Perceptual abilities

(iv) Physical abilities

(v) Skilled movements and

(vi) Non-discursive communication

Reflex Movements:

At the lowest level of the psychomotor domain is the reflex movements which  every  normal  human  being  should  be  able  to  make.

Reflex movements are defined as involuntary motor responses to stimuli. They form the basis for all behavior involving movement of any kind.

Learning goals at this level include reflexes that involve one segmental or reflexes of the spine and movements that may involve more than one segmented portion of the spine as inter-segmental reflexes (e.g., involuntary muscle contraction). These movements are involuntary being either present at birth or emerging through maturation.

Basic Fundamental Movements:

Learning goals in this area refer to skills or movements or behaviors related to walking, running, jumping, pushing, pulling and manipulating. They are often components for more complex actions.

Basic fundamental movements are defined as those inherent body movement patterns, which build upon the foundation laid by reflex movements. They usually occur during the first year of life, and unfold rather than are taught or consciously acquired. These movements involve movement patterns which change a child from a stationary to an ambulatory learner.

There are three sub-categories at this stage. These are:

i. Locomotors movement: Which involves movements of the body  from place to place such as crawling, walking, leaping, jumping etc.

ii. Non-locomotors movements: which involves body movements that do not involve moving from one place  to another. These include muscular movements, wriggling of the trunk, head and any other part of the body. They also include turning, twisting etc of the body.

iii.     Manipulative movements:  Which involves the  use of the hands or limbs to move things to control things etc.

Perceptual Abilities:

Learning goals in this area should address skills related to kinesthetic (bodily movements), visual, auditory, tactile (touch), or coordination abilities as they are related to the ability of acquiring information from the environment and react.

Perceptual abilities are really inseparable from motor movements. They help learners to interpret stimuli so that they can adjust to their environment. Superior motor activities depend upon the development of perception. They involve kinesthetic discrimination, visual discrimination, auditory discrimination and coordinated abilities of eye and hand, eye and foot.

Perceptual abilities are concerned with the ability of the individuals to perceive and distinguish  things  using  the  senses.  Such  individuals  recognize  and compare  things  by  physically  tasting,  smelling,  seeing,  hearing  and touching.

Physical abilities:

Learning goals in this area should be related to endurance, flexibility, agility, strength, reaction-response time or dexterity. Physical abilities are essential to efficient motor activity. They are concerned with the vigor of the person, and allow the individual to meet the demands placed upon him or her in and by the environment. These abilities fall in the area of health and physical education.

Skilled Movements:

Learning goals in this area refer to skills and movements that must be learned for games, sports, dances, performances, or for the arts.

Skilled movements are defined as any efficiently performed complex movement. They require learning and should be based upon some adaptation of the inherent patterns of movement described in level number two above. This  is  a  higher  ability  than  the  physical  abilities.

There are three sub-levels of the skilled movements. These are:

1. Simple adaptive skills,
2. Compound adaptive skills and
3. Complex adaptive skills.

Non-Discursive Communication:

Learning goals in this area refer to expressive movements through posture, gestures, facial expressions, and/or creative movements like those in mime or ballet.  These movements refer to interpretative movements that communicate meaning without the aid of verbal commands or help. Non-discursive communication can be defined as comprising those behaviors which are involved in movement communication. Every body that is normal can move his limbs and legs. But  must have some level of training, practice and the ability to combine a variety of  movements  and  some  perceptive  abilities  in  order  to  do  diving, swimming, typing, driving, cycling etc.

Basic learning conditions

The most important conditions in skill learning are contiguity, practice and feedback.

Contiguity-

We defined contiguity as the almost simultaneous occurrence of the stimulus and the response. At the basic level of skill learning contiguity is the simultaneous occurrence of the S-R units in chains. At the higher levels of skill learning contiguity is the simultaneous occurrence of the chains which constitute the overall skill pattern.  In lay terms, we often refer to contiguity as timing, coordination, or proper order.

Two aspects of contiguity are important in skill learning. One is the proper sequence of the S-R  units and chains. Unless these units and chains occur in the proper order we cannot perform the skill. The second aspect of contiguity important in skill learning is the need to execute the S-R links in the chains or the chains in the overall response pattern in close time succession. If you recall that each link in the chain and each chain in the pattern acts as a stimulus for the subsequent responses, you see how delay can disrupt the performance of the skill. Delay is failure to present the stimulus needed for the next response in a series of response in a series of responses. Because of the interdependence of the S-R units and chains in learning, the absence of contiguity can be seriously disruptive.

Practice

A second condition of major importance in the learning of skills is practice, an external learning condition. Practice is the repetition of a response in the presence of a stimulus. It sets the stage for corrective feedback and confirming reinforcement. In the learning of skills practice is a way of

1-rehearsing those particular subtasks which are only partially learned;

2- Coordinating the subtasks so that they are performed in the proper sequence and with appropriate timing;

3-Preventing extinction and forgetting of the subtasks; and

4- Developing the skill to the autonomous stage of learning.

Considerable evidence in skill learning proves that practice leads to perfect performance.

Feedback

Feedback is the information available to the student which makes possible the comparison of his actual performance with some standard performance of a skill.

John Annet distinguishes two types of feedback, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic feedback is the information the student obtains through his own actions. Extrinsic feedback is the information the teacher gives to the student about the effectiveness of his actions.

Margaret Robb distinguishes between two modes of feedback- external and internal. Information received through the external sensory organs- that is, through vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste belongs to the external mode. Information obtained from the internal receptor organs, as in the case of kinesthetic feedback, is internal feedback.

Feedback also acts as a form of prompting- giving information to the student before or at the same time he makes his response. It is observed that information comes before the next response in a series may be as important as the fact that information comes after the preceding response. The advance information given to the students was more effective than feedback given after responses were made.

Teaching of skill

John P.De Cecco and William Crowford , suggested the following procedural steps foe skill teaching:

Step One- Analyze the Skill

Step Two- Assess the Entering Behavior of the Student

Step Three- Arrange for Training in the Component Units, Skill, or Abilities

Step Four- Describe and Demonstrate the Skill for the Student

Step Five- Provide for the THREE Basic Learning Conditions.

The first three are preparatory to the actual teaching of the overall skill. The first step requires you to analyze the skill in terms of S-R units and chains or in terms of a hierarchy of patterns of chains. These chains we have called subtasks or component skills. We may also analyze the skill in terms of constancies, coherence, continuity, and complexity. The second step requires you to assess the entering behavior of the student. Here again you are presented with a choice of analytical methods. You can assess entering behavior in terms of S-R units, of component skills ( or subtasks), or of psychomotor abilities. In using the knowledge gained in the assessment of the student’s psychomotor abilities, the teacher must also make an analyses of the abilities required by the skill the student is about to learn. The third step requires you to arrange for student practice of the components of the skill you are about to teach.

The actual teaching of the overall skill gets under way with the fourth step, which requires you to describe and demonstrate the skill and to help the student develop a plan for the execution of it. Both description and demonstration require that the teacher emphasize only the essential characteristics of the performance. Motion pictures are especially useful in demonstrating movement and timing. Whatever the form of the demonstration, it should eventually provide for student verbalization and later for student practice of the skill. The fifth step requires you to provide for three basic learning conditions. You can provide contiguity by a whole or a part method and even by a reverse-part method. Practice should ordinarily be distributed if it is feasible to arrange spaced practice sessions. Mental practice has distinct advantages over no practice and is a useful supplement to physical practice. Finally, the teacher has the responsibility of providing feedback. The need for extrinsic and external feedback in the early phase of skill learning imposes this immediate responsibility.

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.

-Audre Lorde

Verbal learning is the process of acquiring, retaining and recalling of verbal material. At its most elementary level, it can be defined as a process of building associations between a stimulus and a response, with both of them being verbal. At a broader level, verbal learning includes the processes of organizing the stimulus material by the learner and the related changes in the learner’s behavior.

At its most basic level, verbal learning may be considered the process of forming verbal associations. Gagne (1970) uses this example: A child is presented with a three-dimensional object and told it is a tetrahedron. If the appropriate conditions are present, when the child sees this object the next time he will be able to say that it is a tetrahedron. At the most basic level, then, verbal learning is naming—attaching a name to an object. Later we shall refer to naming as labeling behavior. According to Gagne, verbal learning (at this level) is like skill learning in that it involves a chain of at least two links. The first link is the presentation of the object) the stimulus) and the observing of the object (the response). In the second link, the observing response results in certain internal stimuli with give rise to the verbal response—the utterance “tetrahedron.” Gage (p.135) diagrams the simple act of naming:

Ss -à R                       ~                  s -à R

Object                Observing              tetrahedron    “tetrahedron”

The small s’s refer to internal stimuli.

The diagram indicated how verbal learning is related to basic S-R learning. The observing response which enables the child to distinguish one four-sided object from other four-sided objects is acquired through operant conditioning. The second link, which connects the internal stimuli to the actual utterance of the word, is also acquired through operant conditioning. As you will see that considerably more complex verbal associations are possible, involving longer chains and verbal hierarchies.  Verbal learning resembles skill learning in that both involve the chaining of responses. In both chains each link is an individual stimulus-response association and acts as a stimulus for the next link. The major distinction between skill and verbal chains is the type of response. Skill chains involve motor responses; verbal chains involve syllable and word responses.

In describing the nature of verbal learning we saw that it both resembles skill learning because it involves chain of stimulus-response associations, and is distinct from skill learning because it involves verbal rather than motor responses

Suggested Instructional Procedure

Verbal Linguistically talented people flourish in school activities such as reading and writing. They express themselves well and are usually good listeners with a well-developed memory for material they’ve read and recall of spoken information. Language fascinates people with verbal linguistic learning styles, and they enjoy learning new words and exploring ways to creatively use language, as in poetry. They may enjoy learning new languages, memorizing tongue twisters, playing word games, and reading reference materials for fun.

Jhon P.De Cecco and William Crawford describe the verbal learning as a series of seven steps which conform to the four components of the basic teaching model. Step 1 and 2 pertain to instructional objectives. Step 1 requires a statement of the objective and step 2, a type of task analysis. Step 3 provides the student with the appropriate entering behavior. Step 4 through 6 is specific instructional procedures for concept teaching and step 7 deals with performance assessment.

These steps require the teacher to supply the students with statements of instructional objectives, to examine learning tasks for their meaningfulness, to assess entering behavior for meaningful and mediating responses, to provide appropriate practice conditions, to provide knowledge of correct results, to provide conditions which reduce interference, and use suitable methods  of measurement.

Step One

DESCRIBE FOR STUDENT WHAT YOU EXPECT HIM TO LEARN

This step derives from the research on incidental versus intentional learning. The experiment of Postman and Senders showed that incidental learners obtained low test scores than intentional learners. In taking this step you should inform the students prior to the time they begin to study, what aspects of their performance will be assessed. In effect, you should state for them the instructional objectives.

In taking step one two common instructional practices should be avoided. First, the practice of launching the instructional ship in the uncharted waters with no destination specified can only diffuse the student’s attention and cause them to attend to irrelevant.  Although we know that incidental learning occurs without specific and sometimes competing aspects of the instructional materials. Although we know that incidental learning occurs without specific direction, we also know that particular learning  occurs more frequently and more easily when instructions on what to learn are explicit. Second, the practice of teaching one set of materials and testing on quite a different and unrelated set should be avoided.

Step Two

EXAMINE THE INSTRUCTIONAL TASK AND MATERIALS FOR THEIR MEANINGFULNESS

Meaningfulness is word frequency or familiarity. The more frequently a word occurs in the language, the greater its familiarity and therefore, its meaningfulness. This definition suggests that some of the verbal material you use in your teaching will be more meaningful than others. Such lists are often used in the preparation of reading materials for the elementary grades. They can also be appropriately used in the preparation of verbal instructional material, both written and oral, at all educational levels.

One way of performing this step is to make a list of words which occur in the materials you will use and for which you do not plan to provide explicit instruction. These are words you are assuming to be in the student’s entering behavior. A check of your list with a published word frequency count will indicate the like hood of the student’s being familiar with the word. In this way you may discover that the student’s entering behavior is below the level that you expected and that you will have to select more familiar words or provide instruction which will raise the level of entering verbal behavior.

Step Three

ASSESS ENTERING BEHAVIOUR FOR AVAILABILITY OF MEANINGFUL RESPONSES AND VERBAL MEDIATORS

In assessing the availability of meaningful responses, the teacher is attempting to make relatively meaningless materials meaningful. Or, if you prefer less technical language, the teacher is making unfamiliar materials familiar. The definition seems obvious—no one would expect otherwise of any competent teacher. Considerably less obvious are the procedures the teacher must use to perform this function. The performance requires two things: to assess the student’s entering behavior to discover not only which responses are available but also their relative availability and to present the new (presently meaningless) materials in terms of meaningful responses now available to the student. The assessment of entering behavior involves testing the student’s knowledge of material which is related to the new material you are about to introduce but for which you will not provide instruction. If the results of your testing indicate (and in most classrooms this would not be surprising) that the student lacks the prerequisite entering behavior, then you must teach the prerequisites first. Once the student has acquired the necessary entering behavior you can proceed to the next step; that is, you can present the new materials in terms of meaningful responses—those which are available and relatively strong. The actual instruction you provide must bridge the old and the new meanings. Totally meaningless materials (if they exist) require considerable more time to learn. When the teacher does introduce highly novel materials (as in mathematics and some uncommon foreign languages),  he should provide the additional time required for familiarization.

We can now consider the assessment of entering behavior for the availability of verbal mediators (the rest of step 3). This step consists of the following procedures:

1 ) determining which verbal and pictorial mediators may be useful for the instructional task;

2 ) assessing entering behavior to find out which of these (and others) may be available; and

3 ) supplying mediators which may be useful in the leaning of the task .

Step Four

PROVIDE THE APPROPRIATE PRACTICE CONDITIONS

In the performance of this step the teacher must

1)    Provide opportunities for the student to make the necessary responses,

2)     schedule practice on a massed or a distributed basis,

3)    determine the degree of mastery the student must attain,

4)     provide either part or whole practice.

First you can provide the student with the opportunity for making the responses he is expected to learn in several ways; recitation, discussion and programmed instruction.

The recitation method is characterized by assignment, study and report. Recitation allows the individual student to practice overt responses.

It is found that there is greater retention of material for students of high academic ability with discussion procedures and greater retention for students of low ability with the lecture method. There is little opportunity to monitor individual students responses. The discussion method has the further disadvantage of providing only limited opportunity for students to make overt responses; While one student talks, all , all the rest must listen. Unless the teacher provides oral instruction on a one-to-one basis, programmed instruction is one of the few instructional procedures which provides each student in a group of students with the opportunity to respond and to obtain knowledge of results for each response.

Second, you must decide how to schedule the students’ practice. Should you provide massed or distributed practice? The best practice schedule makes the most efficient use of the students’ and the teacher’s time and yields the greatest amount of learning and the longest periods of retention. The criteria are clear, but the procedures for meeting them are not. Certainly, when there is very little time for the learning of new material, massed practice, you recall, the teacher must allow for learning (practice) time and intervals between practices. When you are interested in having your students retain fairly large amounts of material for long periods of time, you should provide distributed practice. If you use a schedule of distributed practice, you must also decide what you will have the students do during the practice intervals.  If the intervals are to be effective, the students cannot be occupied with learning related material, which only interferes with the retention of the practice material . The intervals can, of course, be occupied with the learning of relatively unrelated material or with recreational activities. One could even develop a rather valid argument for periodic recreational activities in the classroom to facilitate student learning.

If you plan your instruction in sufficient detail and with scrupulous respect for time the practice of old material possibly can be combined with the introduction of new material. The student has many opportunities to practice his reading skill in pursuing material of his own choice as well as in reading class assignments. Practice however, cannot be left to chance. Unless you arrange for practice in spelling, reading, writing, speaking, and playing with music instrument, there will often be no practice. Surveying the crowded school curriculum, one is often tempted to recommend a reform in which we teach a few things well, with practice rather than myriad things poorly without practice.

Third, you must decide which instructional should be overlearned, and you must allow the students to practice these tasks beyond mastery. The tasks scheduled for overlearning of a wide array of future tasks. Certain linguistic and mathematical skills and concepts must often be  overlearned so that they can be  automatically applied in more advanced learning.. Overlearning can sometimes be provided by a spiral treatment of the particular learning task. That is, you can return again and again to the same task and require the student to practice it in continuously changing contexts.

Fourth, you must decide whether to require part or whole practice. You should base this decision on the structure of the learning material. Students can learn material which logically divided into parts and recombines into wholes by part practice. Other materials may require whole practice. The standard, again, is learning the most in the least amount of time.

Step Five

PROVIDE KNOWLEDGE OF CORRECT RESPONSES

In this step prompting  or confirmation of correct response is provided. In prompting, you provide the correct answers before the student responds. In confirming, you provide the correct answers after the student responds. With these and any other procedures, however, the student must have some means of discovering the correct answers and the opportunity to compare his own answers with them.

Step Six

PROVIDE CONDITIONS WHICH REDUCE INTERFERENCE

In this step you must reduce the influence of factors which cause interference and forgetting. For it the following points be taken into consideration:

1)    Do task analysis which reduces the major task to a series of component tasks. Such an analysis makes explicit for the teacher the steps the student must take and the order in which he must take them to master the task.

2)    After this task analysis the teacher should present the sub-tasks in such a way as to avoid interference. In the case of pro-active inhibition, interference results when the learning of an earlier subtask interferes with retention of a subtask learned later. The situation is just vice versa in case of retroactive inhibition.

3)    The teacher must find those points in the material he presents which are frequently sources of interference or confusion. Our present knowledge of the effects of stimulus-and-response similarity should assist the teacher in identifying sequences likely to interfere with the retention of materials.

4)    We know that highly dissimilar stimuli and responses prevent forgetting. Through the use of various devices, such as color, symbols, and drawings, the teacher may introduce dissimilarity into potentially confusing materials.

5)    The major source of forgetting is proactive inhibition—what the student has previously learned in our own and other classes. With a fairly standard curriculum for all students, we could identify sources of proactive inhibition. With so much diversity in the entering behavior of our students however, we must identify sources of interference for individual students. As in case of assessing entering behavior for meaningful responses, research on proactive inhibition confirms our emphasis on the careful assessment of the entering behavior of the student as an important basis for planning instruction.

Step Seven

USE SUITABLE METHODS OF MEASUREMENT

You recall that the method of measurement affects how much is retained. How do you decide which method to use? The basis for this decision should be the standard of accessibility specified in the statement of the instructional objective. If the objective requires, under given conditions,  that the student only recognize the correct response in a list of alternatives or reconstruct a list by unscrambling it, you should use only those methods of measurement.  If the standard of acceptability requires recall, relearning, and anticipation, then you should use these more rigorous methods. Ordinarily we reserve the use of the relearning and anticipation methods for the laboratory, but we can easily adapt them to the classroom.

Dr. V.K.Maheshwari, M.A(Socio, Phil) B.Se. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V.(P.G) College, Roorkee, India

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Albert Einstein

In 1956, the American educational psychologist Robert M. Gagné proposed a system of classifying different types of learning in terms of the degree of complexity of the mental processes involved. He identified eight basic types, and arranged these in the hierarchy shown in Figure 1. According to Gagné, the higher orders of learning in this hierarchy build upon the lower levels, requiring progressively greater amounts of previous learning for their success. The lowest four orders tend to focus on the more behavioral aspects of learning, while the highest four focus on the more cognitive aspects.

Learning has been defined as a relatively permanent change in a behavioral tendency, the result of reinforced practice. Learning, an inferred state of organism, should be distinguished from performance, an observed state of the organism, should be distinguished from performance, an observed state of the organism. Learning events consist of stimuli, learner and responses.

The most complete description of Gagne’s classes of behavior appears his ‘The conditions of learning’. Here he distinguishes eight types of learning, beginning with the simple forms and ending with the complex. Although he refers to these classes as learning types, he is primarily interested in the observable behavior and performance which ware the products of each such class.

Signal learning

This is the simplest form of learning, and consists essentially of the classical conditioning first described by the behavioral psychologist Pavlov. IIn this type of learning the animal or individual acquires a conditioned response to a given signal. Pavlov studied such learning in great detail. In it the responses are diffuse and emotional and the learning is involuntary. Examples are the withdrawal of the hand upon sight of a hot object, the salivation of a dog upon hearing food poured into his metal feeding dish, and the tearing of the eyes upon sight of an onion . The signals are the sight of the hot object, the sound of food being poured in the dish, and the sight of the onion. The conditioned responses are withdrawal of the hand, salivation, and tearing of the eyes.

Stimulus-response learning

This somewhat more sophisticated form of learning, which is also known as operant conditioning, was originally developed by Skinner.In this kind of learning, exemplified by animal training, the animal makes precise responses to specific stimuli. At first this training usually requires the use of a leash and a choke chain. As the dog learns particular responses for particular jerks of the leash and chain, his master rewards him with pats and praise. Later the master does not have to use the leash and chain; the animal sits, stays, or lies down upon hearing the simple verbal command. Whereas the responses in signal learning are diffuse and emotional, the responses in stimulus-response learning (often called operant conditioning) are fairly precise. Stimulus-response (SàR) learning may be used in acquiring verbal skills as well as physical movements. For example , the child may learn to say “Mama” on request, or an adult may learn the  appropriate response to the stimulus of a word in a foreign language.

Chaining

This is a more advanced form of learning in which the subject develops the ability to connect two or more previously-learned stimulus-response bonds into a linked sequence. It is the process whereby most complex psychomotor skills (eg riding a bicycle or playing the piano) are learned.In this type of learning the person links together previously learned S-R’s. The links may  involve physical reactions such as an animal learning a series of tricks, each of which gives the cue to perform the next trick.This type of learning often seems to occur so naturally that we do not notice the specific series of events which led to it. Gagne  uses the example of a child who learns to say “doll” at the sight of a doll, then learns to lie down, hug the doll, and say “doll”.

Verbal association

This is a form of chaining in which the links between the items being connected are verbal in nature. Verbal association is one of the key processes in the development of language skills.This learning is a type of chaining, but the links are verbal units. The simplest verbal association is the activity of naming an object, which involves a chain of two links: An observing response enables the child to identify properly the object he sees; and an internal stimulus enables the child to say the proper name. When the child can name an object “ball” and also say “ the red ball”  he has learned a vernal association of three links. Gagne calls another common verbal association translation responses; in these  the learner frequently acquires verbal associations by verbal mediation- an internal link which helps him associate.

Discrimination learning

This involves developing the ability to make appropriate (different) responses to a series of similar stimuli that differ in a systematic way. The process is made more complex (and hence more difficult) by the phenomenon of interference, whereby one piece of learning inhibits another. Interference is thought to be one of the main causes of forgetting.In this type of learning the student must learn different responses for stimuli which might be confused. The student learns to distinguish between motor and verbal chains he has already acquired. Teachers, Gagne suggests, engage in discrimination learning when the devise means for calling each student by his correct name.

Concept learning

This involves developing the ability to make a consistent response to different stimuli that form a common class or category of some sort. It forms the basis of the ability to generalise, classify etc.In learning a concept we respond to stimuli in terms of abstract characteristics like color, shape, position and number as opposed to concrete physical properties like specific wavelengths or particular intensities. In concept learning the student’s behavior is not under the control of particular physical stimuli but of the abstract properties of each stimulus. Concepts have concrete references even though they are learned with the use of language.

Rule learning

. This is a very-high-level cognitive process that involves being able to learn relationships between concepts and apply these relationships in different situations, including situations not previously encountered. It forms the basis of the learning of general rules, procedures, etc.In learning a rule we relate two or more concepts. Rules are, in effect, chains of concepts. We may represent knowledge as a hierarchy of rules, in which we must learn two or more rules before learning a  higher order rule which embraces them. If the student has learned the component concepts and rules, the teacher can use verbal instruction alone in leading the student to put the rules together.

Problem solving

This is the highest level of cognitive process according to Gagné. It involves developing the ability to invent a complex rule, algorithm or procedure for the purpose of solving one particular problem, and then using the method to solve other problems of a similar nature.

In the set of events called problem solving, individuals use rule to achieve some goal. When the goal is reached, however the student has learned something more and is then capable of new performances using his new knowledge. What is learned, is a higher order rule, the combined product of two or more lower order rules. Thus the problem solving requires those internal events usually called thinking.. Without knowledge of the prerequisite rules, the problem can not be solved.