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Version 1.2 – Updated June 2023

Programmed instruction

Overview

  • Influence: Programmed instruction
  • Domain: Technology, School, and Out-of-School Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Technology
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have positive impact
  • Influence Definition: A mode of instruction that provides students with multiple steps with immediate feedback and enables them to work independently, at their own pace, through a graded sequence of controlled steps. After each step, the students test their comprehension by answering an examination question or then they are directed to relearning or to a more difficult concept.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 8
  • Number of studies: 493
  • Number of students: 0
  • Number of effects: 391
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.24
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Dissertation Hartley USA Meta-analysis of the effects of individually paced instruction in mathematics 1977 PI in mathematics 40 0 81 0.11
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis Kulik, Cohen, & Ebeling USA Effectiveness of programmed instruction in higher education: A meta-analysis of findings 1980 PI with college students 57 0 57 0.24
American Psychologist Kulik, Kulik & Cohen USA Effectiveness of Programmed Instruction in Higher Education: A Meta-analysis of Findings 1979 PI in college 56 0 56 0.24
Journal of Educational Research Kulik, Schwalb, & Kulik USA Programmed Instruction in Secondary Education: A Meta-Analysis of Evaluation Finding 1982 PI in high schools 47 0 47 0.08
Journal of Research in Science Teaching Willett, Yamashita & Anderson USA A meta-analysis of instructional systems applied in science teaching 1983 PI in science 130 0 52 0.17
Educational Technology Research and Development Schwalb, Schwalb, & Azuma USA Educational Technology in the Japanese Schools A Meta-Analysis of Findings 1986 PI in Japan 104 0 39 0.43
Dissertation Mitchell USA A comparison of the effectiveness of innovative instructional methods utilized in lower division mathematics as measured by student achievement: a meta-analysis of findings 1987 PI in mathematics 29 0 29 0.15
Conference paper Boden, Archwamety, & MacFarland USA Programmed Instruction in Secondary Education: A meta-Analysis of the Impact of Class Sizes on its Effectiveness 2000 PI in high schools 30 0 30 0.40
TOTAL/AVERAGE 493 0 391 0.23
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