Works
Programmed Instruction's lessons for xMOOC designers
University on-line courses rely on presentation as an instructional technique. That needs to change. Suggestions for improving effectiveness are given, drawn from earlier research on programmed instruction. The research showed the importance checking understanding of the content of each screen or point of a lecture. Research, using the "blackout ratio", gave a way to judge the degree to which students respond to critical features of instruction.Ways to improve on-line instruction based on former research on programmed instruction. 2015
Behavior Analysis for Effective Teaching 3rd Edition
A clear presentation of basic principles illustrated with real (not invented) classroom examples that teachers can apply in any classroom situation - kindergarten through graduate school. Draws upon the author's experience teaching third and fourth grade as well as working with prospective and practicing teachers for over 35 years.
Contingencies over B. F. Skinner’s Discovery of Contingencies
(2004) European Journal of Behavior Analysis
This article gives a chronological accounting of the many apparatuses and experiments that B. F. Skinner conducted from 1929-1931. The critical aspects of his apparatuses and recording methods, along with equipment breakdown, provided contingencies that permitted his discovery. They showed him that most of what we do is not a response to a stimulus as in Pavlovian conditioning, but that actions are controlled by their immediate consequences. It was this discovery that launched a new science initially called “the experimental analysis of behavior”, but now referred to as “behavior analysis” or “behaviorology”.
This article gives a chronological accounting of the many apparatuses and experiments that B. F. Skinner conducted from 1929-1931. The critical aspects of his apparatuses and recording methods, along with equipment breakdown, provided contingencies that permitted his discovery. They showed him that most of what we do is not a response to a stimulus as in Pavlovian conditioning, but that actions are controlled by their immediate consequences. It was this discovery that launched a new science initially called “the experimental analysis of behavior”, but now referred to as “behavior analysis” or “behaviorology”.
Precision Teaching and Skinner’s Legacy
An analysis of the features of Precision Teaching taken directly from Skinner’s work, and a review of the other articles in the 2003 special issue on Precision Teaching of the European Journal of Behavior Analysis.